Several technical questions about CVT and more..

[nullptr128]

Hello!

As I am just buying X 1.5 CVT (Sport Plus version), I'd like to ask for a several questions - some of them are practical, while other are just pure curiosity. Its quite hard to find any technical informations about the car, so excuse me if questions like that were already asked on this forum - I dig some pages before I've posted

1. How does engine not stall when car is not moving, in this particular CVT? Does it feature "autmatic friction clutch" like in DCT transmissions, that disengages when car is coming to full stop and gently reengages when brake pedal is lifted? Or there is a hydrokinetic clutch (torque converter) that allows engine to spin even when wheels are stationary? Or perhaps there is another way in CVTs to overcome this problem (however I cant imagine belt slipping etc.)?

2. Related to question number 1 - is "inching" bad in this car? By inching I mean lifting brake slightly or completely for car to move forward. Does this produce increased wear or may damage transmission or its components or its completely safe to do so? Because in DCT transmissions this is considered bad habid as those transmissions rely on cluth slipping in order to "emulate" inching behaviour.

3. I havent driven automatic car for many, many years so I am not sure if this my fault or just car behaves this way. On test drive, sometimes I felt like I had an argument with transmission - my engine RPMs were rising as I pushed the pedal, which made me lift because I felt its now accelerating too quick and this resulted in sudden drop of RPMs - I couldnt find any sweet spot. Is that car specific or I am just not used to automatic transmissions and I'll learn how to control it? Now I am driving Civic VIII with manual transmission so pushing pedal results in straightforward car response, on test drive with CVT and turbo lag I felt like car cannot figure what I want it to do

4. How to properly deal with reverse gear? Should I avoid switching to reverse until car comes to complete stop or its not an issue in CVT transmission? Last AT I remember I had in Mercedes W124 and I know that it was serious mistake to launch the car before gear engaged (however this oldie was always giving feedback that its ready because it tried to move the car on brakes). And if I should come to complete stop before engaging opposite direction gear, how long should I wait until its engaged? Its like half second, one second or two seconds?

5. On every 0-100 move from Civic 1.5 (like this ) I see that there is some weird behavior of engine RPM between 4.5 - 5.5 k. It looks like its "gain" is slowing down for a brief moment. I am if the first gear of CVT is handled differently or its getting disconnected from torque converter or its just HUD issue? Edit: I think there is certailnly something changing with ratio as doing 0-70 km/h on first gear seems a lot.

6. I know this CVT features "fake shifts" but I would want to ask if they are present there all the time? Because when I was calmly test driving I didnt noticed fake shifting, it was more direct response to accelerator pedal. Does it behave like standard CVT unless I am flooring it or I was too excited to notice shift points?

7. What does ECO mode in reality do? It does something with engine map, gearing ratios or it does limit amount of fuel burned or it reduces resolution of throttle pedal or what? I've watched/read several sources but none of them provided reliable answer.

Thanks you!
Cant wait when car finally arrives

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[PowerPerLiter]

The cvt has a torque converter similar to a conventional automatic trans. I'm pretty certain it's a lockup converter too. They are solid transmissions but prefer to learn to your driving style and be driven that way consistently.

 

[PowerPerLiter]

The fake shifts are not really present at light throttle.

Eco actually does quite a bit. Cycles ac compressor more often to reduce load (less ac output which is probably 97% of people's problem with ac not cooling)
Allows the car to lose more speed up a slight grade with cruise control on before it tries to get back up to speed more aggressively (rolling hill highway). Increases throttle numbing. Probably alters some things in the ecu to reduce turbo spool.

Will also notice the trans feels "tighter" with eco on with less slip feel. Computer will use the torque converter lock up more. Car will seem to coast and glide more.

 

[Gruber]

Hello!

As I am just buying X 1.5 CVT (Sport Plus version), I'd like to ask for a several questions - some of them are practical, while other are just pure curiosity. Its quite hard to find any technical informations about the car, so excuse me if questions like that were already asked on this forum - I dig some pages before I've posted

1. How does engine not stall when car is not moving, in this particular CVT? Does it feature "autmatic friction clutch" like in DCT transmissions, that disengages when car is coming to full stop and gently reengages when brake pedal is lifted? Or there is a hydrokinetic clutch (torque converter) that allows engine to spin even when wheels are stationary? Or perhaps there is another way in CVTs to overcome this problem (however I cant imagine belt slipping etc.)?

2. Related to question number 1 - is "inching" bad in this car? By inching I mean lifting brake slightly or completely for car to move forward. Does this produce increased wear or may damage transmission or its components or its completely safe to do so? Because in DCT transmissions this is considered bad habid as those transmissions rely on cluth slipping in order to "emulate" inching behaviour.

3. I havent driven automatic car for many, many years so I am not sure if this my fault or just car behaves this way. On test drive, sometimes I felt like I had an argument with transmission - my engine RPMs were rising as I pushed the pedal, which made me lift because I felt its now accelerating too quick and this resulted in sudden drop of RPMs - I couldnt find any sweet spot. Is that car specific or I am just not used to automatic transmissions and I'll learn how to control it? Now I am driving Civic VIII with manual transmission so pushing pedal results in straightforward car response, on test drive with CVT and turbo lag I felt like car cannot figure what I want it to do

4. How to properly deal with reverse gear? Should I avoid switching to reverse until car comes to complete stop or its not an issue in CVT transmission? Last AT I remember I had in Mercedes W124 and I know that it was serious mistake to launch the car before gear engaged (however this oldie was always giving feedback that its ready because it tried to move the car on brakes). And if I should come to complete stop before engaging opposite direction gear, how long should I wait until its engaged? Its like half second, one second or two seconds?

5. On every 0-100 move from Civic 1.5 (like this ) I see that there is some weird behavior of engine RPM between 4.5 - 5.5 k. It looks like its "gain" is slowing down for a brief moment. I am if the first gear of CVT is handled differently or its getting disconnected from torque converter or its just HUD issue? Edit: I think there is certailnly something changing with ratio as doing 0-70 km/h on first gear seems a lot.

6. I know this CVT features "fake shifts" but I would want to ask if they are present there all the time? Because when I was calmly test driving I didnt noticed fake shifting, it was more direct response to accelerator pedal. Does it behave like standard CVT unless I am flooring it or I was too excited to notice shift points?

7. What does ECO mode in reality do? It does something with engine map, gearing ratios or it does limit amount of fuel burned or it reduces resolution of throttle pedal or what? I've watched/read several sources but none of them provided reliable answer.

Thanks you!
Cant wait when car finally arrives

1. It has a torque converter like any automatic transmission.

2. Inching is actually stellar in this car IMHO. It seems like I don't even have to completely stop at red lights- I keep going extremely slowly. No extra wear. Just like sitting immobile with the brake pedal all the way in. Btw. I would never buy a car with a DCT. No mater how great things they can do, I consider them a technological absurdity.

3. I don't understand your issues with accelerating. It has perfect control. Why are you looking at the rpm and reacting to it? Just look ahead and go. There is a slight feeling of delay when taking off, and if you compensate for this by stepping hard on the pedal, it will soon be going fast after the turbo spools up. This car will simply not jump forward in the first moment like a 2.4L N/A engine of the same nominal power would. You just need to wait a sec. Or tune it crazy.

4. There is nothing to deal with regarding the reverse gear. Like with a conventional AT, never change the gear to the opposite direction when the car is moving, no matter how slowly. Just stop completely, reverse the gear and go. No need to wait any amount of time.

5. The CVT does not have any gears except in the simulated 7 gearswith paddles in S drive (or temporary in D).

6. See 5. "Fake shifts" are in S drive, but only after you activate the paddles. In D there are absolutely no shifts. When you are flooring it, whether in D or S without paddles, the CVT may seem to change the ratio faster (suddenly) at some points, reacting to available vs. required power, but there are absolutely no set shifts or gears.

8. As Honda says, ECON changes the behavior of both the engine and the transmission. It will keep lower rpm in exactly the same driving situation. The most noticeable driving effect is that you have to step on the pedal more to get the same effect, and top acceleration / turbo boost are harder to obtain. It also affects cruise control to minimize acceleration.

 

[Schmullis]

Hello!

As I am just buying X 1.5 CVT (Sport Plus version), I'd like to ask for a several questions - some of them are practical, while other are just pure curiosity. Its quite hard to find any technical informations about the car, so excuse me if questions like that were already asked on this forum - I dig some pages before I've posted

1. How does engine not stall when car is not moving, in this particular CVT? Does it feature "autmatic friction clutch" like in DCT transmissions, that disengages when car is coming to full stop and gently reengages when brake pedal is lifted? Or there is a hydrokinetic clutch (torque converter) that allows engine to spin even when wheels are stationary? Or perhaps there is another way in CVTs to overcome this problem (however I cant imagine belt slipping etc.)?

2. Related to question number 1 - is "inching" bad in this car? By inching I mean lifting brake slightly or completely for car to move forward. Does this produce increased wear or may damage transmission or its components or its completely safe to do so? Because in DCT transmissions this is considered bad habid as those transmissions rely on cluth slipping in order to "emulate" inching behaviour.

3. I havent driven automatic car for many, many years so I am not sure if this my fault or just car behaves this way. On test drive, sometimes I felt like I had an argument with transmission - my engine RPMs were rising as I pushed the pedal, which made me lift because I felt its now accelerating too quick and this resulted in sudden drop of RPMs - I couldnt find any sweet spot. Is that car specific or I am just not used to automatic transmissions and I'll learn how to control it? Now I am driving Civic VIII with manual transmission so pushing pedal results in straightforward car response, on test drive with CVT and turbo lag I felt like car cannot figure what I want it to do

4. How to properly deal with reverse gear? Should I avoid switching to reverse until car comes to complete stop or its not an issue in CVT transmission? Last AT I remember I had in Mercedes W124 and I know that it was serious mistake to launch the car before gear engaged (however this oldie was always giving feedback that its ready because it tried to move the car on brakes). And if I should come to complete stop before engaging opposite direction gear, how long should I wait until its engaged? Its like half second, one second or two seconds?

5. On every 0-100 move from Civic 1.5 (like this ) I see that there is some weird behavior of engine RPM between 4.5 - 5.5 k. It looks like its "gain" is slowing down for a brief moment. I am if the first gear of CVT is handled differently or its getting disconnected from torque converter or its just HUD issue? Edit: I think there is certailnly something changing with ratio as doing 0-70 km/h on first gear seems a lot.

6. I know this CVT features "fake shifts" but I would want to ask if they are present there all the time? Because when I was calmly test driving I didnt noticed fake shifting, it was more direct response to accelerator pedal. Does it behave like standard CVT unless I am flooring it or I was too excited to notice shift points?

7. What does ECO mode in reality do? It does something with engine map, gearing ratios or it does limit amount of fuel burned or it reduces resolution of throttle pedal or what? I've watched/read several sources but none of them provided reliable answer.

Thanks you!
Cant wait when car finally arrives

- CVT is tested and strong and can handle the 21 psi Ktuner ECU tune.
- Simulated gear shift in "S" mode
- Inching OK
- Come to a full stop before going from forward to reverse or reverse to forward
- ECO mode dampens throttle response, reduces A/C load. The car will coast with foot off the accelerator, vs D mode. Only use it on the highway, with low traffic volume on the road while on a long trip. Otherwise, gains in MPG are minimal and car response to accelerator inputs is slowed.

Enjoy! Just drive it.

 

[zroger73]

Eco actually does quite a bit. Cycles ac compressor more often to reduce load (less ac output which is probably 97% of people's problem with ac not cooling)

A minor correction: The 10th Civic's compressor does not "cycle". It uses a variable-displacement compressor that is always "on". It maintains the evaporator temperature just above freezing by varying the flow of refrigerant instead of cycling off and on.

 

[nullptr128]

6. See 5. "Fake shifts" are in S drive, but only after you activate the paddles. In D there are absolutely no shifts. When you are flooring it, whether in D or S without paddles, the CVT may seem to change the ratio faster (suddenly) at some points, reacting to available vs. required power, but there are absolutely no set shifts or gears.

Are you sure? I have watched a lot of youtube movies where it does seem to do fake shifts even when driver is in automatic mode (no manual gear shifting).

Thanks for all answers!

 

[turtleboy84]

Are you sure? I have watched a lot of youtube movies where it does seem to do fake shifts even when driver is in automatic mode (no manual gear shifting).

Thanks for all answers!

theres no set gear ratios in the car and so i think the only fake shift would be from maybe accelrating quickly and having the cvt try to catch up with a good gear ratio.

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