From: "Gary Wiltshire" 

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 07:30:35 +0300, Antti Kurenniemi
 wrote:

> "Robert Comer" 
wrote in message
> news:4177d677$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> I'm not sure, that CVT is a special case, not really an automatic, and
>> definitely not a manual -- never drove one to know how they react.
>
> I had a '75 Honda Civic that had CVT transmission for a while, in 1993 or
> thereabouts. They were called rubber band gears at the time, because
> unlike
> todays models they were actually using a rubber band. I think almost all
> of
> the CVT's today use a chain that is not actually pulling but pushing the
> engine momentum to the wheels. I think Volvo and Renault used to make
> CVT's
> in the 60's and 70's as well.
>
> It is a really cool thing to drive (I've driven a new Nissan Primera
> with a
> CVT), and are very fuel efficient, because the enginne can be kept at or
> close to the optimal rpm at all times. I suspect that if they were more
> widely used, it could be simple enough to even build (or tune) engines
> that
> are "optimised" for a very narrow rpm area.
>
>
> Antti Kurenniemi
>
>

The Honda Insight with CVT is good on gas but still not as good as the manual model.

--
Gary Wiltshire

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