Have you ever wondered about the way a bad transmission can cripple your car!? And we are not thinking about old two speed or three-speed automatic transmission systems, we are actually talking about the new CVT transmission. Used by many manufacturers of today, the CVT transmission definitely provides great comfort, fuel efficiency and reliability, but the fact is that the CVT transmission is far from good. To get to all these levels of fuel efficiency and reliability, the CVT definitely does not provide you with the best the engine can deliver.
The Fast Lane Car hosts from the US were quite interested in finding out just how much the CVT transmission can cripple car performance. In a true US fashion, they went to the drag strip. Driving the Scion iM with the CVT and the Scion iM with the six-speed manual, the duo went out to produce quite an extraordinary video.
If you are unfamiliar with these cars, the name Corolla Hatchback will probably get you excited. These are actually rebadged Toyota Corolla hatchbacks we have in Australia. Powered by 1.8L CVVT engines, these machines are not exactly adapted for use on the drag strip, but this is the best place to show off their capabilities. In a rather slow and unexciting race pictured in this video, you can actually find out about the real world performance differences between the same car with a CVT and with a Manual. The blue one has CVT and the other one enjoys a six-speed manual transmission which definitely gives the driver better control of the car.
