Continuously Variable Transmission

Automakers are in the midst of a love affair with the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The gear-eliminating transmissions boost fuel economy, improve performance and are less complex (and hence less expensive), allowing automakers to achieve CAFE regulations and pad the bottom line at the same time. To the enthusiast driver, however, nothing has contributed to the decline of the modern automobile quite as much as the CVT. The gear-less transmissions produce more sound than fury, and feel to many of us exactly the same way that a failing automatic transmission feels. Do we need to...