Just rented a CVT Sentra

[pete c]

Had it 2 days for a work trip to northern NH. Mostly highway driving. I drove going up, 65-70, most of the time, trying to drive for mileage. Averaged 43+, according to the computer. My refill calculations seemed to back this. Car drove, handled nice. Plenty of room, power.

I have rented CVTs before and have always hated their drone, but, once you look at it from an efficiency point of view, it is kind of fun. I would accelerate lightly, keeping the revs around 1200. This is extremely efficient.

The wife drove most of the way home (not so efficient) often over 80 mph and the thing still was around 40. Not bad at all. I am starting to reconsider my opinion of CVTs due to the way they work to wring every last bit of mileage out of the engine. A well driven hyper-miled manual will still beat them, but you definitely have to work at it. Now please give me a MT in a small 4 cylinder that turns 1900 rpms at 75mph like this thing does.

How is the longevity of these things?