Thoughts on CVT (one-gear) transmissions?

CVTs offer greater efficiency of your normal hydrostatic transmissions. This leads to less strain on the engine and can actually help with performance.

The Optima does not have DUAL exhaust. It has a DUAL outlet style exhaust. Same with Nissan. This is nothing more than an aesthetically pleasing appearance and not one for added performance.

I'm car shopping and I'v got it down to the VW Jetta, Nissan Ultima, and more recently the Kia Optima.
No Mazda 6? 

Mazda's "Skyactiv" slushboxes are often cited as among the best in the business. The 6 is also one of the most fuel efficient non-hybrid sedans out there.

Plus, it has the dual exhaust tips (as dksix noted, it's a single exhaust, with two tips coming out of the muffler).

CVTs seem like they'd be boring drive
On paper, they [seem] to perform better, but any gains are not that great IMO, and most people feel it isn't worth putting up with the added engine buzz while accelerating. To be fair, not all CVT's are created equal (same goes with any transmission type). There are crappy CVT's, and there are... less crappy CVT's.

FWIW, I tried a CVT car a couple years back (a friend's Lancer) and I didn't care for it... at all.


They say genius skips a generation. Mom's a genius, so I guess I'm a genius too

I might consider a Mazda now that you've pointed it out. They have both the 6-speed transmission AND the duel output which I like, and even better gas mileage than the other cars. Are they as reliability category as as say...Honda?


Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Are they as reliability category as as say...Honda?
No less reliable than a Kia... And certainly more so than any VW (which aren't exactly known for their reliability).

And while they may have above average reliability overall, Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus have their own histories of issues.

Anecdote: For years an uncle of mine (a huge stickler for reliability) only drove Corollas. In 2010 I convinced him to try out the Mazda 3 (2010 was the debut year for the 2nd gen. 3--the "smiley face" one). He couldn't believe the difference in driving "feel"/fun between the Mazda and Toyota. So much so that he bit the bullet and bought the Mazda.

He figured that even if the Mazda ended up being less reliable, the "zoom-zoom" factor more than compensated for it. Plus, the 3 is Japanese... and assembled in Japan, so any drop in reliability likely wouldn't be precipitous.

6 years/~60k miles later, the car has [so far] proven to be at least as reliable was his earlier Corollas. About 6 months in, a TSB was issued for a noisy A/C clutch (no-cost replacement). His fuel bill is a bit higher, but you have to figure he has about 30-40% more hp to play with. Maintenance cost is more or less similar (oil, filters...). The only big repair bill came recently when he had to change the front brakes--both the pads and rotors (rotors probably went bad because he didn't swap the pads early enough). The shocks/struts will also likely need replacing soon (but that's true of ANY vehicle).


http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2016-mazda-6-sedan-official-photos-and-info-news
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2017-mazda-6-debuts-with-g-vectoring-control-more-luxury-news


They say genius skips a generation. Mom's a genius, so I guess I'm a genius too