CVT TRANS

whitekizashi · Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:55 am

Picked my new white xls three weeks ago and am loving it ,fantastic to drive through the hills,handles great and very comfortable. One little thing that bugs me is the CVT trans when i drive as an auto which is most of the time goes into 6th gear at about 45 to 50 kph and this seem to make the engine labour a little. If you drive it and change gears with the paddle shift it will not go into 6th gear until you are doing about 70 to 75 kph . Has any one else noticed this . I took it back to the dealer and he said he thought it was ok but after i pushed the issue he has agreed to investigate it further, I am hoping it just a adjustment in the CVT computer.

Minority · Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:03 am

It is a known problem (or in Suzuki Australia's terms a "characteristic") of the CVT implementation with the Kizashi. Some people find it a real issue, me included, some people don't seem to notice it at all. There are many links in various forums discussing this "characteristic".

http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... =12&t=1097

http://www.suzuki-forums.com/suzuki-kiz ... s-lag.html

Good luck and if you get a solution from Suzuki I would be interested to here about it.

whitekizashi · Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:18 am

Thanks Minority its good to no its just not me . The Dealer has not been much help as yet but after a bit if jumping up and down he is now at least looking into the issue. have also emailed suzuki austarlia and am waiting on a reply from them. Iwill keep you posted. I love every thing else about the car went for a drive through the adelaide hills on the weekend and the car is fantastic to drive.

Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:10 pm

I do believe it is a 'characteristic' as said. If this is your first CVT, it may take quite some time to get used to. It did for me.

That said, our 2011 SX4 has the same CVT trans, no paddle shifters, and there's nothing to 'get used to' so to speak and drives/operates as one would expect (w/o any 'characteristic'). My wife never once complained about it being different to drive or any thing like that compared to our other 2008 SX4 with a conventional 4-spd auto. In fact it is MUCH smoother operating.

Minority · Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:57 pm

Vibration was not a "characteristic I was expecting in a $40,000 car (yes that's what the top of the range SLS cost in Australia when they were released). Neither my son's $15,000 Mitsubishi Colt or my wife's $20,000 Kia has as much vibration as the Kizashi!

Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:19 pm

Wow, I love my Suzukis, but they're not a $40k car, never will be. (I suppose that's all relative to the exchange rate). I personally wouldn't pay the kind of coin they're asking for them here in the states now days. I'm convinced the vibe thing can easily be curred by a reflash that Suzuki appears to be unwilling to do. Most likely because fuel economy will suffer and then customers will be angry about that. That's why I appreciate the paddle shifters. I use them often when I want to get moving quickly and smoothly.

Northernstar · Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:10 am

same here. my kizashi wont shift into 6th gear until 70kmph in manual mode. i am ok with that but the little vibration here and there just drive me NUTS!!

whitekizashi · Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:02 am

I have been driving the Kizashi with the paddle shifts and using 5th gear (or 5th gear position on the CVT) and it is super smooth at 60kph it makes me wonder why Suzuki did not make the trans with a sport or economy switch , with al the electronics in the car 1 more switch may have solved this issue. The car is still great to drive and i hope Suzuki can fix it at some point. Still waiting on Suzuki Australia to respond to my emails.

Minority · Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:08 pm

whitekizashi wrote: makes me wonder why Suzuki did not make the trans with a sport or economy switch , with al the electronics in the car 1 more switch may have solved this issue.

Yes that way they could have great "official" economy figures and have a much nicer car to drive! Even without this it would be better car if the "manual" shift points were better spaced - 1st to 4th are very close with a big gap to 5th and a HUGE gap to 6th! (and that would be possible with just a re-program of the ECU/TCU)

whitekizashi · Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:24 pm

Got a reply back from Suzuki Australia about the CVT trans this is what they say . In response to your enquiry as to the performance of the transmission in your Suzuki we can confirm that this an operational characteristic of the vehicles transmission design and is consistent with this make and model.

We wish to advise that this characteristic will not cause any adverse effects on the reliability and/or performance of your Suzuki. In summary, your Suzuki is performing with in its design specifications.

Thank you for referring the matter to us. We are pleased to be able to reassure you that your Suzuki will continue to give you safe, reliable motoring for many years to come.

I have a 5 year warranty on this car but the email sounds like it is the standard line sent out to all who complain.