Car CVT

[lee1969GB]

Hi There, Its been a while , Has anyone tried using a car engine and CVT drive in a buggy, like used on some Audi's, Nissans etc? thinking of the 200 bhp plus engines. I used a honda jazz engine and cvt drive which was very strong but only 82 bhp. I am looking for a engine/CVT trans for my buggy to replace the MR2 engine and manual transmission I have in my buggy.
Most of these engines use one ECU for engine and gearbox so very difficult to mix and match.
Thanks Lee.

[Nutz4sand]

I worked for Chrysler (So I would never buy one!) but they make a CVT tranny in thier lil four bangers like the Patriot, the Compass and the Caliber. I do not know how much electronics are needed to make it work so you would have to do some homework.

Older Subaru Justys could be gotton with a CVT and they were decent enough reliable and might be a lot simpler. The engines were only three cylinders but if your buggy was light enough. They were not to bad of a slouch and even touted by Subaru as peppy for what they were.

There are others of course. These are the first that came to my mind.

I would call a few tranny shops to see which CVT's in cars get worked on the least and then see if those cars have enough power to make you smile. Plus the tranny shops might be able to help with which have the least electronics.

[LiveWire]

Ford 500 was available in CVT on a V6. I think they are all electronically controlled. They take throttle position into account so that they will shift into a high gear for cruising rather than screaming the engine. It is probably just a servo though. If you used a computer from a manual, you could probably hard wire a simple controller for the CVT. The servo could probably even be replaced with a more generic one if controlling it proves difficult.

[rpierce]

New nissan Maxima is CVT. And its at least 275 hp.

[chrishallett83]

Yeah. Nice V6 FWD transaxle, so it'd be a real good mid-mount. Bit bigger than what you had but should be super nice to drive.

[lee1969GB]

Nissan maxima sounds like it would be good but need to wait a few years for a crash damaged one at the right price.

These modern car CVT set ups work on fluid being pumped in and out of the clutches to open and close them all controlled by the ecu. Thats how I understand it.

[chrishallett83]

Yeah, you need to find an insurance write-off that's been rear-ended. Just leave all the factory computers and such intact, bolt 'em on to the buggy.

[RC51 Rhino]

 My wife drives a 2008 Altima 2.5... It's got plenty of power but we have had the recall blues with this car. The idler pulley bolt broke off with my niece driving on the 405 freeway. Nissan told us it was then wasn't then was a recall 27 days before we finally got it back (30 makes it a lemon, no?) Then in April they had to replace the whole trans! Got the car back and it overheated and the AC didn't work!! They tried to blame that on my wife? She hadn't gone 10 miles! They have fixed it all now, I'm waiting on the next problem...I don't know about a buggy motor/trans!

[lee1969GB]

My wife drives a 2008 Altima 2.5... It's got plenty of power but we have had the recall blues with this car. The idler pulley bolt broke off with my niece driving on the 405 freeway. Nissan told us it was then wasn't then was a recall 27 days before we finally got it back (30 makes it a lemon, no?) Then in April they had to replace the whole trans! Got the car back and it overheated and the AC didn't work!! They tried to blame that on my wife? She hadn't gone 10 miles! They have fixed it all now, I'm waiting on the next problem...I don't know about a buggy motor/trans!

Sounds a bit frigile for a buggy.

[chrishallett83]

The QR25DE in the Altima is an entirely different engine to the VQ35DE in the Maxima.

Copied straight from the Good Book, Wikipedia:


Concerns

Manufacturing, design, and assembly flaws

The QR25DE sold in the United States has been subject to a significant number of problems in its lifetime. A variety of mechanical flaws have led to numerous technical service bulletins, recalls, repairs, and outright engine replacements.
Vehicles with the QR25DE may ingest material from a damaged pre-catalyst resulting in increased oil consumption.
Power valve screws in the intake manifold may become loose and result in unstable idling or power loss.
In June 2006, it came to Nissan's attention that approximately 85,000 Altimas and 2,000 Sentra SE-Rs equipped with the QR25DE and built between January and May 2006 may experience unusually high oil consumption. This can lead to premature engine failure and possibly a fire. While Nissan investigates the problem, owners of the affected vehicles are being advised to check their oil frequently (every 700 mi (1,100 km) [1127 km]), and dealers have been instructed to place the affected vehicles on sales hold.

The revised QR25DE found in the 2007+ Sentras, Altimas, etc. may have the above issues fixed.

2007+ QR25DE

The revised QR25DE found in the 2007+ Sentra, Altima, Rogue, etc. has a number of improvements over the older QR25DE. These include:
A simpler, larger diameter single path resin intake manifold replaced the old dual path design. No more troublesome butterfly valves. (Note: California emissions models do have a swirl control valve located in the intake)
Revised piston crown shape to support a higher compression ratio of 9.6:1.(10.5:1 in Sentra SE-R Spec V.)
The balancer system has been moved back slightly from the crank pulley to a more central location in the block. This also means JWT's balance shaft removal kit for the 1st gen QR will not work.
Revised cam shaft profile.
Reinforced connecting rods.
Iridium tipped spark plugs for improved combustion characteristics.
Reduced friction likely through Nissan's extensive use of coatings on pistons, bearing journals, etc.
Additional engine mount on the top of the motor, pulley side.
Oil consumption issue resolved from older QR25DE.
Higher rev limit and improved power output.

Whereas the VQ engines are well-regarded as to pretty much everything. Honoured by Wards on their 10 Best Engines list every year from the engine going on sale to being usurped by the twin turbo VR38DETT from the GTR.