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I wonder it it will have a CVT like many other Subies? This is a fairly large heavy vehicle, and, adding the weight of 7 people to it, that's going to be a lot of stress on a CVT.
I wonder it it will have a CVT like many other Subies? This is a fairly large heavy vehicle, and, adding the weight of 7 people to it, that's going to be a lot of stress on a CVT.
That's a good question. The 2006-2014 Tribeca utilized a 5-Speed Auto but everything in the line-up currently employs CVT or MT. The only exception is the BRZ with an optional 6AT.
I wonder it it will have a CVT like many other Subies? This is a fairly large heavy vehicle, and, adding the weight of 7 people to it, that's going to be a lot of stress on a CVT.
I doubt it'll be any heavier than the Infiniti QX60, which is also three rows and uses a CVT.
Nissan and Infiniti have also had troubles with their CVTs, though I agree that they are better now than before.
They've improved, but the CVTs that Nissan has had issues with are on all their cars, not just heavier SUVs/CUVs, so I don't see any correlation between vehicle weight and CVT issues.
My Highlander has a CVT, but it's a bit of a different animal with the "eCVT" and hybrid drivetrain.
They've improved, but the CVTs that Nissan has had issues with are on all their cars, not just heavier SUVs/CUVs, so I don't see any correlation between vehicle weight and CVT issues.
My Highlander has a CVT, but it's a bit of a different animal with the "eCVT" and hybrid drivetrain.
I wish Toyota and Lexus wouldn't call it 'eCVT'. Just call it what it is, a Power Split Device or PSD transmission.
Nissan and Infiniti have also had troubles with their CVTs, though I agree that they are better now than before.
Originally Posted by JDR76
They've improved, but the CVTs that Nissan has had issues with are on all their cars, not just heavier SUVs/CUVs, so I don't see any correlation between vehicle weight and CVT issues.
My Highlander has a CVT, but it's a bit of a different animal with the "eCVT" and hybrid drivetrain.
On belt-and-pulley CVTs (the type of CVT that Nissan, Subaru, Honda and Toyota use), which do not have gears with teeth, the metal belt can only handle a certain amount of torque before it starts to slip on either or both of the input and output pulleys; the metal belt is used to transfer torque from the input pulley (connected to the engine) to the output pulley (connected to the driveshaft).
If the torque coming from the engine is too great for the belt, the belt will slip on the input pulley (just as too much torque to the drivewheels will cause wheelspin).
If the vehicle is too heavy (i.e. requires a tremendous amount of torque to get the vehicle moving), the belt will slip on the output pulley (like a slipping clutch on a manual transmission, the engine will be spinning but the car will not move).
Nissan uses CVTs only with their smaller engines (4- and 6-cylinder engines up to about 3.5-litre in displacement) because the torque output from their larger engines would be too much for the CVT to handle, meaning that it would constantly be slipping.
The QX60 / Pathfinder is a problem because it is a big, heavy vehicle, with an engine that outputs the greatest torque that a belt-and-pulley CVT can handle. The belt could slip on the input pulley if torque from the engine is too great and/or it could slip on the output pulley if trying to move the loaded vehicle from rest.
Honda and Toyota only use a CVT with their 4-cylinder and smaller engines, not their V6s. Audi, which used to use a lot of CVTs no longer uses CVTs. These are all because belt-and-pulley CVTs cannot handle torquey engines (V6s or forced-induction 4-cylinders).
Six years ago (late 2010, January 2011), there was speculation that the 2Gen Tribeca and the 3Gen (current) Highlander would share a platform, or at least large parts of it (given that the Tribeca uses a longitudinally-mounted flat engine and the Highlander uses a transversely-mounted I4 or V6).
That was at about the time when Toyota and Subaru were jointly developing the 86 / BRZ, and the current-generation Highlander was still in development and not yet introduced.
There has been no other speculation, and a complete vehicle generation has passed (the 4Gen Highlander would now be in development) since then, so I am guessing that this Tribeca is a uniquely Subaru product.
09-19-16, 01:22 PM
Subaru's three-row Tribeca replacement spotted
This is a fairly large heavy vehicle, and, adding the weight of 7 people to it, that's going to be a lot of stress on a CVT.
