Detroit Rescue Plans Revealed

On Dec 10, 8:30*am, miles > wrote:
> HLS wrote:
> > Lloyd is not wrong, IMO. *But we are dealing with some mighty broad
> > assumptions
>
> The only way more gears can give better mpg is in conditions where speed
> varies constantly up and down such as city driving.
>
> The new CVT transmissions such as found on the Caliber do not get better
> mpg. *The CVT effectively is infinite gears yet the Calibers mpg is
> subpar compared with other vehicles with traditional transmissions in
> its class. *My guess is that the power loss through the CVT is more than
> any gains from the ideal ratio being achieved.

Car & Driver seems to agree -- they did a test last year and claimed
the power needed to run the pump which moves the CVT belt/pulley took
enough power than no savings was achieved. However, Nissan seems to
disagree (and by most accounts, they're the only ones to really get a
CVT to work well).