CVT's In Drag Racing?

Dave Gantz · 01-10-2014, 06:40 PM

A friend just asked me if these would be any good for racing. Beats me. I'm guessing not, because I haven't heard of any. But I'm out of touch anymore.

SSDiv6 · 01-10-2014, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Gantz

A friend just asked me if these would be any good for racing. Beats me. I'm guessing not, because I haven't heard of any. But I'm out of touch anymore.

If you are talking about the Cadillac CTS-V, the weakness is the differential assembly. They tend to disintegrate even when raced in stock form and when you do mods, the tend to break even faster.

Alan Roehrich · 01-10-2014, 07:37 PM

No CVT that I aware of, anywhere in the automotive industry, is suitable for use as a drag racing transmission.

rustang · 01-10-2014, 10:59 PM

Kinda wondered about this as well. We have a Ford 500 with a CVT. It's cool how the tach needle just sets at 6500 and the car just keeps accelerating.

ss3011 · 01-10-2014, 11:00 PM

A CVT is a continuously variable transmission. There are several way to accomplish this, but the most common way is a pair of variable pulleys and a segmented metal push belt. Works kind of like a snowmobile belt and pulleys, but the push belt , pushes on the belt, instead of a rubber belt CVT, which pulls on the belt. Some CVT's have torque converters, and some have starting clutches. This transmission has the potential to be a very good racing transmission, and would allow you to calibrate the ratio curve to keep the engine at peak power for the complete run. The key to this will to find a transmission that has the capacity to deal with the shock of a high stall torque converter. Right now Nissan is the class of field, and uses a Jatco CVT. Most of the Big Three have tried CVT's, but have backed off, in favor of multi-speed automatics.

Dave Gantz · 01-11-2014, 10:06 AM

Thanks for the info. I kinda figured they were no good for it, or else they would be out there.
I guess most of the trannies be made in production cars are multi-speed, as opposed to cvt anyway.

01-10-2014, 06:40 PM	#1
Dave Gantz Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Verrry South Jersey Posts: 537 Likes: 134 Liked 251 Times in 125 Posts	CVT's In Drag Racing? A friend just asked me if these would be any good for racing. Beats me. I'm guessing not, because I haven't heard of any. But I'm out of touch anymore.

01-10-2014, 07:37 PM	#3
Alan Roehrich Veteran Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 5,090 Likes: 1,534 Liked 1,758 Times in 398 Posts	Re: CVT's In Drag Racing? No CVT that I aware of, anywhere in the automotive industry, is suitable for use as a drag racing transmission. __________________ Alan Roehrich 212A G/S

01-10-2014, 10:59 PM	#4
rustang Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 19 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: CVT's In Drag Racing? Kinda wondered about this as well. We have a Ford 500 with a CVT. It's cool how the tach needle just sets at 6500 and the car just keeps accelerating.

01-10-2014, 11:00 PM	#5
ss3011 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Southeast Michigan Posts: 908 Likes: 70 Liked 238 Times in 113 Posts	Re: CVT's In Drag Racing? A CVT is a continuously variable transmission. There are several way to accomplish this, but the most common way is a pair of variable pulleys and a segmented metal push belt. Works kind of like a snowmobile belt and pulleys, but the push belt , pushes on the belt, instead of a rubber belt CVT, which pulls on the belt. Some CVT's have torque converters, and some have starting clutches. This transmission has the potential to be a very good racing transmission, and would allow you to calibrate the ratio curve to keep the engine at peak power for the complete run. The key to this will to find a transmission that has the capacity to deal with the shock of a high stall torque converter. Right now Nissan is the class of field, and uses a Jatco CVT. Most of the Big Three have tried CVT's, but have backed off, in favor of multi-speed automatics.

01-11-2014, 10:06 AM	#6
Dave Gantz Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Verrry South Jersey Posts: 537 Likes: 134 Liked 251 Times in 125 Posts	Re: CVT's In Drag Racing? Thanks for the info. I kinda figured they were no good for it, or else they would be out there. I guess most of the trannies be made in production cars are multi-speed, as opposed to cvt anyway.