My wife drives a new Sentra with a CVT tran, and while I don't get behind the wheel too often, I quite like it. I was hesitant on the CVT when we went shopping for her, but it's a great compact car. I find it quite peppy despite the review below from 'Wheels'. We drive up a monster hill to get home....as long an upgrade as you will find in central Ontario...if you can figure out where, and the Sentra CVT hauls us up the hills with out any difficulty.
CVT: PROS AND CONS
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the CVT-equipped Altima Coupe 3.5 SR and Altima Sedan I recently road tested, in the Sentra you’re more aware of the unique characteristics of this type of transmission. In the V6 Altimas there’s more than enough torque on tap so that you rarely need to plant the gas pedal to the floor, resulting in the CVT holding the engine at maximum rpm until you ease off the gas. But in the less powerful Sentra, you have to work the 2-liter 4-banger hard when accelerating and merging with freeway traffic or when making a passing maneuver on a two-lane highway. This results in a sustained and strained high rpm scream from the engine, but on the other hand there’s no sudden downshifts like you hear and feel with a traditional automatic transmission. The transition from cruising to acceleration is therefore quicker and smoother with Nissan’s CVT and it should do a better job of optimizing fuel economy given its infinitely variable gear ratios and ability to perfectly match engine speed to driving conditions.
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