My biggest beef with the CVT

[gtman]

A little background. My first manual transmission was back in '84 (yea I'm old lol) with my lil red CRX. I followed that with an Integra with a manual and then a Civic with a manual... on and on. You get the gist... I prefer stick shifts. Well, when I was ready to buy my '17 Civic turbo, no manual was available with the upper trims so I gave the CVT a try. And for the most part I can deal with it except for one glaring problem...

And it's a big one and almost a safety issue. The terrible CVT lag when going from light throttle to a heavy press on the accelerator. It makes accident avoidance moves VERY dicey. Combined with the turbo lag, it seems like nothing happens for a full second.

So my question is, would upgrading to +6 tune help with this problem or would a tune not make much difference in this lag?

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[batman900]

From browsing, the tune does seem to help a lot with this issue. Have my k-tuner on the way and the lag is something I'm looking forward to getting rid of or at least minimizing.

 

[17siturb0]

It will run a little better, but the tune itself will not eliminate cvt lag. That’s there to stay. That’s not something you can tune out. I can see what you are saying though, you are probably looking for gear changes to be a little bit more quick, a good example being the new 10 speed auto on the new 2018 2.0t accord sport. Check out the WR POV of that. Youll get a good feel of what the CVT should of been like in our civics. Instead the new accord got the stronger and faster CVT transmission.

 

[360glitch]

The tune won't change anything with the CVT but can greatly improve throttle response and how quickly the turbo spools. It's all limited by the stock ECU tune.

 

[Dicecube]

I've owned a 91 turbo MR2. So I can agree, don't forget about drive by wire and FWD

 

[turbo lover]

I don't think it's the CVT. Look at the 5-60 times from Car & Driver, the manual transmission loses 0.7 of a second compared to 0-60, but the CVT only loses 0.4 seconds. The CVT actually has less lag than the manual.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-honda-civic-hatchback-15t-manual-test-review
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-honda-civic-hatchback-cvt-automatic-review

 

[gtman]

I don't think it's the CVT. Look at the 5-60 times from Car & Driver, the manual transmission loses 0.7 of a second compared to 0-60, but the CVT only loses 0.4 seconds. The CVT actually has less lag than the manual.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-honda-civic-hatchback-15t-manual-test-review
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-honda-civic-hatchback-cvt-automatic-review

Yeah the CVT keeps the car in the power band but 5-60 times are different than the problem I'm talking about.

I'm talking about this:

You're driving along and you need to quickly pass someone. On other non-turbo, non-CVT cars I've owned (manual and traditional automatic) I was confident in my moves with my car. I knew what gear to be in or how hard to press the accelerator. With this turbo and CVT, you press the throttle hard and nothing happens... and then it kicks in. The problem is you almost have to anticipate the lag and that's not something you can really time in an emergency type move. It's partly the slow way the stock tune spools the turbo and CVT lag. It's very annoying and frustrating.

 

[turbo lover]

It's turbo lag. Look at the times, the manual is even laggier. If it's the CVT causing the lag, then we would most likely see it suffering more lag in the 5-60 time than the manual does.

 

[gtman]

Well if it's only turbo lag, Ktuner here I come.

On the other hand I still think there's some CVT lag involved. It's as if it takes a second for the CVT to figure out what to do when you mash the pedal down.

 

[Myx]

And it's a big one and almost a safety issue. The terrible CVT lag when going from light throttle to a heavy press on the accelerator. It makes accident avoidance moves VERY dicey. Combined with the turbo lag, it seems like nothing happens for a full second.

I hope the video I provided you on the technique I use on my Honda Fit CVT helps. Good luck!

 

[Civics4Ever]

Don't know if you have econ on but it does help throttle response if you take econ off. There is Turbo lag and some CVT lag. But I think it's more in the turbo than the CVT. You may also want to downshift to S for your passes.

 

[gtman]

I leave Econ off. It is probably mostly turbo lag but I definitely think it takes some time for the CVT to adjust from a part throttle to a full throttle change.

 

[Billy4202]

If you're trying to make a really quick pass econ off and "S-mode" works well. Before I got used to anticipating the turbo lag I've definitely made a dicey left turn or two, inadvertently spinning the wheels in the process. It was somewhat entertaining lol.

 

[neteng101]

Not sure about this CVT lag - I'd say you're talking about turbo and throttle lag... default tune doesn't really react too quickly. Having been on the +6 psi tune since almost new (I think I had reflashed before I reached the 1k miles mark) I can't say I've ever felt the car not reacting to my throttle inputs - though the CVT changes the way the car gains speed, its a very different power application feel compared to a stick shift or traditional auto. Much more linear so you don't necessarily feel the acceleration as much as the speed just builds.

 

[17siturb0]

You will never be able to get the 1.5 civics cvt to change gears faster. That’s not tunable. That’s the way the trans works. It’s slow as hell and it’s there to stay. Honda did not intend for this cvt to shift fast cause it’s a economy car. I’m sorry cvt fellows.

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