How do you explain CVT to laymen?
Okay, since we now have a new CVT thread to pump, let me ask, how do you explain CVT to people who are not familiar with the concept?
I have an acquaintance who seems to be having a difficult time grasping the concept of "not having gears". Last time he rode in my car, many months ago, we got into a discussion comparing sticks to automatics, and I tried to explain that I don't have gears in my transmission. It went like this:
"okay, but you do you have to push in a clutch and change gears?"
>"There are no gears to change."
"Okay, but do you have to do anything to keep the car moving forward besides hitting the gas? No? Then its an automatic."
>"Okay, but realize that I don't have any gears."
"Are you saying that besides manual and automatic transmissions, there is now a third class of transmissions, called CVT?"
>"Yes."
Then recently, we picked up right where we left off. While carpooling to work:
I accelerated to pull up behind and then pass a car.
"Hmm. That was interesting. It sounded like something was wrong with your transmission. Like it was stuck in gear and didn't want to upshift."
>"Oh boy, here we go again. We went through this last time, I don't have any gears."
So I totally made up this description just to give him something to visualize. Even if it was totally off the wall, it still made him get a little closer to accepting that we just don't have gears in our cars. Don't laugh, people. Okay, maybe a little.
"Picture two cones, laying on their sides. They are pointing in opposite directions, but they are side-by-side. They slide back and forth. There is a belt draped between them. As I drive, I need varying amounts of torque. The CVT constantly slides the cones back and forth to ensure that the right combination of diameters is attained to provide the torque that I need while optimizing the workload on the engine."
Luckily I was able to finish that description seconds before getting onto the highway. I took the opportunity to show him a 20mph to 80mph acceleration while holding the tach at about 3k before it started to fade in the low 2's.
>"See? N-O G-E-A-R-S"
"Yeah, that's pretty amazing."
We'll see what happens next time we get together and he rides with me. Finally, does anyone else get a little freaked out when they hear an automatic shifting (or see it on the tach?)