CVT Lag + Jolting forward ? (1.5T EX-L Sedan)

spnewera

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Hi everyone,

Let me first start by saying this is a pretty nice car. I've gotten a lot of compliments about the exterior ("Is that a civic? Wow, it doesn't look like one"), interior ("looks pretty luxurious"), and overall ride quality.

The only real annoyance I have is the CVT lag. The most notable, is when I'm braking to about 10-15 mph, let's say for a red light, and then it turns green suddenly. I'll press down on the gas and have to wait around a second for any acceleration to kick in. It sort of jerks the car forward a bit harshly from then and cruises normally after that.

This will occur upon turning into a street at around 10-15mph-- when I press on the gas again, it'll jerk forward while the acceleration was absent for about 1 second before.

Anyone experiencing this? Other minor issues is that on some days, the car will just fight me when I try to accelerate (assuming it's to save gas from the measure of the CVT), but this is usually in city environments. On the highway, I don't have any problems-- sport mode takes care of me for those things.

I looked around on the forums and only saw this briefly mentioned, but most people waived this off and didn't talk about it too much.
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thepixelsedge

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I know exactly what you're talking about. I think it's a combination of the time it takes for your CVT to adjust its ratio AND the time it takes for the turbo to spool up
 

Billy4202

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I feel some of the same jerkiness, it's especially apparent in stop and go traffic, or as mentioned braking to a slow speed and getting on the gas again. It almost feels like a traditional automatic in this sense.
 
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spnewera

spnewera

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Would anyone with a coupe like to chime in and see if this happens to you?
 

10GenCVT

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Would anyone with a coupe like to chime in and see if this happens to you?
Coupe here, yes it happens to mine as well. I thought I was just being weird on the pedal (pressing the pedal moderately, then pressing harder when it didn't respond quickly) the first couple of times it happened but now I know this is CVT/Turbo lag.
 


haztorks

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It's just the CVT. I've been playing around with early throttle application in corners. It feels weird, but if you give it a good bit of gas around the time you are turning in toward the apex, the car will slingshot out of the corner. :)
 

Billy4202

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It's just the CVT. I've been playing around with early throttle application in corners. It feels weird, but if you give it a good bit of gas around the time you are turning in toward the apex, the car will slingshot out of the corner. :)
Solution: I need to hit them apexes harder, and make faster U-Turns :) Done.
 

domm92

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I've had my civic at my dealership for this jerky transmission 5 times now and they have consistently told me that nothing is wrong and it operates correctly. Then he followed by saying he thinks the car drives perfect and said my perception for this car is off. I'm done bringing it because I'm getting no where. I guess I'll accept it but doesn't mean I'll like it.
 

Ant918

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I've come to realize this is how the CVT feels, it has a slight delay from the input of the driver to the actual car reacting. I had a 2016 Subaru WRX CVT and it did the same thing, hit the gas and there was a slight delay before going.
 

djasonw

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The lag is also attributable to the turbo spooling up. If you keep it in sport mode the rpms will stay higher and minimize the lag. Unfortunately gas mileage will go down.
 


WOPcivic

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I have this same thing happen to me too, and I believe that it's CVT lag. I previously drove a 2013 Nissan sentra with CVT that had around a 2 second lag under the same conditions that was mentioned, which was what made me ditch that car. *shudder* Nissan has one of, if not the laggiest CVTs out there... Now the new civic has a shorter lag than that, so I guess I'll just live with it.
 
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EADGBE

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IMO it's turbo lag. I had a VW Passat years ago that exhibited the same behavior - you'd get into the gas, there'd be a moment where you'd wonder what was up and why you weren't accelerating, and then you'd take off like a rocket.
 

BlueTouringNY

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It's no big deal. Put it in non econ mode and it will go faster quicker. Put the car in low and bring it all up all the way up to 70 miles per hour. Wow! This can turn into a screaming machine at the click of a lever.

On hot and humid days the turbos not quite so quick but, no big deal.
 

Bodiblue

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You know what bugs the hell out of me? Try cruising at engine idle speed, think its like 8mph or something
Now lightly apply the brakes till ur almost stopping at 2mph
Feel the car shift to neutral?
Let go of the brakes
Feel the car shift to D and jerk you forward
Touch the brakes
Feel the car shift to N
Rinse and repeat

This only happens when creeping along in traffic but damn does it bug me
 

BlueTouringNY

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That is not OK and should be fixed. There is a torque converter that kicks in at lower idle and when the revolutions become higher and the car moves forward, the torque converter locks up, it should

Sounds like you have a torque converter hi Revolution situation
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