Quote:
Originally Posted by crysalis_01
I believe the other issue besides the frailty of CVT's is that their parasitic losses are much higher than that of a conventional automatic. So beefing up the belts to withstand more power would only exacerbate the issue. To make them stronger would end up causing losses in drive train efficiency.
So if we can give the onboard computer enough gears to keep the engine at optimal efficiency while allowing for decreases in transmission parasitic losses, then CVT's might become irrelevant.
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This article (not sure its accuracy, plus it's 7+ yrs old) suggests automatics are slightly less efficient than CVTs (14% loss v CVT 10-12%):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/195202379/...rnative-to-CVT
I always thought CVTs were going to be the eventual transmissions for all small/medium cars.