narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
But...but...but...rechargeable flashlight cargo area light!
Just get a Superb instead
But...but...but...rechargeable flashlight cargo area light!
Even I wouldn't buy a car for it's flashlight... :lol:
..that CVT with available AWD tho....
/ducks
Chrysler chose the CVT from Jatco as a relatively last minute choice, when the Chrysler 6-speed dual clutch transmission was not coming along as planned. There is nothing wrong with that CVT, except that it has a fairly small overall gear ratio, between 4-5; other transmissions can have overall ratios between 4-7, so a smaller engine can have its power amplified by a wide overall ratio transmission. With the fine fuel economy at final drive ratios, and heavy amplification of the lightly powered, but fuel efficient, engine for acceleration needs in "lower gears," it would be a fine combination.
To make the World Engines sprightly they need(ed) a wider overall gear ratio, and the CVT couldn't deliver that. So the cars came across as noisy, thrashing, machines with little performance. That hurt sales. The (Fiat) dual clutch DCT 635 will cure that problem, as will the arrival of improved WGE engines featuring direct injection, Multiair, and turbocharging.
Yeah, that's been tried before. The only ones that weren't expensive failures in the long run were the Nissan system in the Murano, etc., and this:
The Mopar CVT and CVT2? They were terrible. http://www.allpar.com/mopar/transmissions/CVT.html
To that add the fact that five years after the above was written, we now know that the Jatco CVT/CVT2 is a fragile, finicky, low reliability box that's got bunches of people thinking about lawsuits.
Justy!
That was sarcasm :lol: 93Flareside's moaning CVT is but one example of how bad it is.
Another ford you may not have considered but your work might: C-Max Hybrid.
Dealers have them around here and they're used by AT&T, ComEd and Nicor gas. There's a few privately owned ones. They're about as popular as the flex is.
The c-Max also has less cargo space. That's one of things we also have issues with on the Patriot.
Yeah, well...
I know it's likely a bit smaller than the patriot but Chevy Trax?
Despite a cool name, the Trax is an unadventurous alternative in a segment known for bold designs. It offers a roomy and flexible cabin and is powered by a 138-hp, 1.4-liter turbo four with a six-speed automatic; take your pick of either front- or all-wheel drive.
http://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/trax
This is a 3200lb CUV powered by a 138hp, 148lb-ft I4 which is BUZZZZZZZZZY and noisy on highway runs. That's the same weight but about a third less power than the 'underpowered' Patriot he has right now (at the same weight), but with bonus NVH and annoyance thrown in for free.
Fuck the Cherokee and its 9 gears of useless-ness.
Pretty sure your 6th gear is OD, this is actually longer than my Z's gearing I can go into 6th at 35 w/o any shudder or complaint from the car. They likely went with a European style gearing where top gear is still low enough to be able to accelerate relatively quickly to overtake w/o having to change down.On that note I want to gripe about the gears in the new Mustang. The transmission is, for the most part pretty good. The controls and modes are great, for an auto it's got a ton of options. Even just in drive I still have the ability to click the flappy paddles to change gears as I want, and it will continue in those gears until it determines normal driving is occurring at which point it will resume with normal auto operation. It's pretty good at that, no complaints there. The sport mode is more manual gear change oriented for sure, and holds the gears much longer but still will change them automatically once you hit certain speeds.
My gripe is the actual 6 gears themselves. They're all really short. It will be in 4th gear at 30mph from just gentle acceleration, then 5th at about 35, and doesn't go into 6th until 45. The problem is at highway speeds of say 75 mph you're running at 2k rpm in 6th gear. Click the cruise control up to ~80 to match traffic and you're running 2300-2500 rpm. Why? It gets a little bit of a drone from those higher rpms which can be a bit annoying with low highway noise. I'd much prefer running 1750-2000rpm at highway speeds, not only would it be quieter, but the gas mileage would be noticeably better as well. I guess the setup they have is more oriented toward city traffic where the gearing helps a little at lower speeds, but it seems silly on the highway. Does anyone still do overdrive gears for highway speeds? Those needs to make a comeback.