Nissan goes 40% CVT
The future is CVT, at least in Nissan’s eyes. Nissan is ramping up CVT installations up to almost 40% of total vehicles sold, which are about 400,000 vehicles a year in North America alone.
Nissan’s CVT gearbox is called Xtronic CVT. The 2007 Nissan Versa small sedan and hatch will feature this as an option. CVT is a stepless gearbox system which allows infinitely variable gear ratios because it uses variable belts instead of fixed gears for transmission.
Nissan’s Xtronic CVT-M6 is available here in Malaysia in the Nissan Murano. It has a manual 6-speed mode.
Another unique feature of the Xtronic CVT is the elimination of the ‘rubber-band’ feeling with other CVT transmissions. This rubber band feeling is when you press the accelerator from a stop. The RPM goes up kind of high before settling down again, just like a clutch that’s being released slowly. Nissan’s Xtronic CVT has some logic control that prevents this.
Ironically Nissan’s shift_ future doesn’t require any shifts at all! 
October 5, 2005 @ 1:58 pm
Good design!! Hope to get one soon!
October 5, 2005 @ 2:52 pm
The last sentence was almost as good as Gmail’s Wifi=GSpot.
October 5, 2005 @ 3:36 pm
Perhaps it can be called….. GShift
October 5, 2005 @ 4:30 pm
the advance of technology has improve the driving experience tremendously…shift_the_future is indeed true!
October 5, 2005 @ 5:37 pm
CVT is the way to go~
October 5, 2005 @ 8:52 pm
i guess all cars are veering toward cvt tech after all…whether or not toyta follow suit is js a matter of time unless they built a higher tech/alternative. the honda city alrready came with CVT, the tomor tech ( i know its been around awhile but only now cars are widely adopted) at todays price….somemore luxurious interior…if not city privce is for better valued, i dono wht is then…
October 5, 2005 @ 10:00 pm
Naruto : Avid Honda fan?
Don’t flame me yet , I like Honda too. And basically every maker which I feel they make their cars correctly.
October 6, 2005 @ 12:56 am
MIT Lancer has CVT too….
December 22, 2005 @ 12:15 pm
[...] The car comes with two engine options, both jointly developed with Renault. The low-end option is the HR15DE 1.5 liter, which makes around 109ps at 6000rpm and 15.1kg/m torque at 4400rpm. The higher spec car has the MR20DE 2.0 liter, which makes 129ps at 5200rpm and 19.1 kg/m torque at 4000rpm. What’s nice about the MR20DE is that 90% of it’s maximum torque is available from a low cruising speed of 2000rpm. The MR20DE is also mated to Nissan’s Xtronic CVT transmission. [...]
February 8, 2006 @ 3:12 am
[...] The new 2007 Nissan Sentra was developed together with Renault using Renault’s Megane II platform. It’s powered by a 2.0 liter 135hp engine, hooked up to a 6-speed manual transmission. For those who don’t like clutch pedals, there’s also an X-tronic CVT option, which reaffirms Nissan’s commitment to CVT technology. [...]
June 25, 2006 @ 11:09 pm
[...] Nissan’s Xtronic CVT is a continuously variable transmission which is “stepless”, but also offers 6 virtual gears for those that prefer the feel of a normal gear changes. The same MR18DE and CVT combo in the Nissan Wingroad featured paddle shifters on the steering wheel, so this new Versa might offer the same. Would be a really good plus point if it did, since it is geared towards spirited driving. [...]
September 11, 2006 @ 2:31 am
[...] 4 engine options are available for the 2007 Nissan Qashqai – a 1.6 liter 115PS petrol unit with 160Nm of torque and a 2.0 liter 140PS petrol unit with 200Nm of torque. The remaining 2 are turbodiesels, a 1.5 liter with 106PS and 240Nm of torque and a more powerful 2.0 liter turbodiesel with 150PS and 320Nm of torque. Different gearbox options are available depending in gearbox choice – but generally there are 4 different choices – a 5-speed manual, a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed automatic and Nissan’s X-Tronic CVT transmission. [...]