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So, when we got to New Zealand our first rental car was a Nissan Premera with only 18 km on the meter. Awesome to have a brand new car! 
I had never heard of a Premera, but then again I hadn't heard of most cars that were on the road down there. Many very nice vehicles that just aren't available in the States, unfortunately. They have several models of CARS that can actually tow BOATS, which simply doesn't exist in the US (which, sadly, is what I want right now and the MO is the closest thing).
Anyway, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, turn signals on the right side of the steering wheel, and driving on the left side of the road, I was a little tense the first couple days.
On the 3rd day, after we got out of the busy town of Auckland and started driving on these steep, curvy, narrow scenic roads, I noticed that the transmission was so smooth on this car. It just kind of popped into my head that I wasn't getting pissed off at an automatic transmission like I usually do. So I floored it going up hil to see what it would do. Guess what? It has a CVT! :2:
Now, normally, of course, I would have noticed this right away. My excuse is that I was a little distracted trying to unlearn all the instincts that tell me to drive in the right lane.
Anyway, I was very impressed, especially on the hills, with how the CVT performed. Really convinced me that my decision to buy a MO is the right one and that I'll be happy with it when I finally have it in my driveway.
When we got to the South island we switched rental cars and ended up with a Mazda 6. Sweet car, much more powerful and better cornering than the Premera, but the automatic tranny really PISSED ME OFF! :3: Always searching for the correct gear to be in, jumping when it downshifts. Thankfully it had a "manual-mode" like the SE Murano so I could force it to stay in a particular gear when I wanted. That just convinced me even more than the CVT is the way to go. And also convinced me further in my belief that conventional automatics will be going away and the transmission of the future will be CVTs.
I had never heard of a Premera, but then again I hadn't heard of most cars that were on the road down there. Many very nice vehicles that just aren't available in the States, unfortunately. They have several models of CARS that can actually tow BOATS, which simply doesn't exist in the US (which, sadly, is what I want right now and the MO is the closest thing).Anyway, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, turn signals on the right side of the steering wheel, and driving on the left side of the road, I was a little tense the first couple days.
On the 3rd day, after we got out of the busy town of Auckland and started driving on these steep, curvy, narrow scenic roads, I noticed that the transmission was so smooth on this car. It just kind of popped into my head that I wasn't getting pissed off at an automatic transmission like I usually do. So I floored it going up hil to see what it would do. Guess what? It has a CVT! :2:
Now, normally, of course, I would have noticed this right away. My excuse is that I was a little distracted trying to unlearn all the instincts that tell me to drive in the right lane.
Anyway, I was very impressed, especially on the hills, with how the CVT performed. Really convinced me that my decision to buy a MO is the right one and that I'll be happy with it when I finally have it in my driveway.
When we got to the South island we switched rental cars and ended up with a Mazda 6. Sweet car, much more powerful and better cornering than the Premera, but the automatic tranny really PISSED ME OFF! :3: Always searching for the correct gear to be in, jumping when it downshifts. Thankfully it had a "manual-mode" like the SE Murano so I could force it to stay in a particular gear when I wanted. That just convinced me even more than the CVT is the way to go. And also convinced me further in my belief that conventional automatics will be going away and the transmission of the future will be CVTs.
