Thecar

I just read a news story about a fatal crash during an illegal street race, where one driver lost control of his Nissan Altima. Is it weird that my first reaction was "Ugh, who races a car with a CVT?"

LeX2K

The same judgement that went into buying a Nissan Altima.

EZZ

You can drive slow cars fast too. Even crappy Corollas will do 100mph easily.

Thecar

Yes they will, but how useful will that be in a street race (unless both drivers are driving corollas I guess!)

I mean, a Prius can probably do 100 as well, but even a rolla might win that race...

mmarshall

There's nothing crappy about a Corolla. Show me a sedan that is more reliable in actual service. Vehicles are not to be debased just because they are not race cars.


It's not necessarily the best car in its class, but the Altima tends to be underrated. Except for the (possible) long-term reliability of the CVT, it seems pretty solidly-built. I've seen lots worse.

mmarshall

I would not say you are weird for having that reaction, but I think a better one would have been simple disgust at the morons who continue to do this kind of dangerous action on public roads. Vehicle-racing on public roads is outlawed (and reckless-driving laws in place) for a reason.

Thecar

This is not a thread about driving cars at normal speeds and valuing reliability.

Thecar

I am in complete agreement. The driver was actually from the town next to mine, and we have had idiots on our small road going well in excess of the limit (and I have a small child, which makes me even more sensitive).

mmarshall

True, but I'm responding to those who IMO debase these vehicles for unfair or irrelevant reasons.

Stroock639

maybe he's saying that even a crappy example of a corolla will do 100 mph because they're so good

EZZ

I rented a crappy Corolla and it did 100mph. It was a base model and really crappy drive.

Stroock639

when i say good i mean good as "a car" and not much more haha... but just being "a car" is all it needs to be, it's like the perfect "a car"

tex2670

Nissan's been selling the Altima for over 20 years, long before they used the CVT. Without having seen the article, I would have guessed that it's an older model that's been modified to aspire to be Fast N Furious.

Toys4RJill

I have heard multiple times on many different podcasts (many times) that a CVT will outperform an automatic if the engines were the same. Same with a CVT over a manual

LeX2K

I've worked on a few they are poorly made would never buy one.