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Old 12th April 2020, 21:10   #46
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by Ricky_63 View Post
In my experience, you need torque not high revs in any incline situation, specially mountains. Rishikesh tough is very mild. Driven there in a 800 in the 80's & 90's without breaking a sweat

My son has driven my Creta Diesel in the hills in Uttrakhand & Himachal, Never EVER had a problem. my Creta is a 1.6 MT
I have been to Shimla and Mussorie few times myslef in my 800 during late 90s and early 2000s

Torquey diesel will be surely preferred for mountains, but wanted to discuss and understand Seltos IVT behaviour specifically for occassional trips to hills as it meets all of my main requirements otherwise.
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Old 12th April 2020, 21:56   #47
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

While a CVT/IVT would get the job done, it wouldn't really be an ideal marriage especially with a full load of adults, that too without any advertised hill assist feature.

As pointed out by multiple others - the engine would revv hard but it wouldn't translate to real world speed gains.

That being said, if it's a one off trip for you, and your primarily buying for city drives, then I suggest you can still consider the IVT model, because its indeed the most value for money variant in the line up that actually has most of the important features that even the top variant has.

Do let us know the final decision you made. 🙂
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Old 12th April 2020, 23:36   #48
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

Hi! Welcome to Team BHP.

I own a Honda Jazz CVT Petrol. I live in Guwahati and keep doing trips to Shillong and beyond. Trust me, the Jazz does not break a sweat when it comes to taking on very steep inclines fully loaded. Be it when in motion or from a stop in the mid of the incline. It does it's job effortlessly and with aplomb. My suggestion, go for the petrol.
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Old 13th April 2020, 09:03   #49
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by MaanSingh View Post
I have been to Shimla and Mussorie few times myslef in my 800 during late 90s and early 2000s

Torquey diesel will be surely preferred for mountains, but wanted to discuss and understand Seltos IVT behaviour specifically for occassional trips to hills as it meets all of my main requirements otherwise.



I own a Seltos IVT. I have been to mussoorie and to a spot (don't remember the name) where the slopes were even steeper with 5 adults. As far as I have observed mussoorie's slopes are much steeper than Shimla and many others.


It performed extremely well and even though there is no hill assist in the car there was no rolling back in start stop traffic while going up. The car performed much better than even manual for that matter. I never felt that it has to struggle to go up. I tried in manual mode too but found auto mode was better as you dont need to think about which gear the car did that job perfectly.


You won't regret your decision with Seltos IVT in my opinion.
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Old 13th April 2020, 10:15   #50
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by MaanSingh View Post

..This is my first post and wanted some guidance on buying Seltos IVT Petrol.
This CSUV or cross-over (whatever is the best description) meets all my budget and travel requirements (mostly city) and would be a good match for my next upgrade.

I just have one doubt though, can it climb steep hills like Shimla, Rishikesh etc. for some weekend trips with 5 family members and luggage?
I mean can CVT\IVT chain\belt provide enough torque without belt-slip or wheel-spin over the years?
Or is it prone to this flaw sooner or later due to Physics involved ?
....
Thanks,
MaanSingh
Hi MaanSingh

I have owned various automatics since 2011 - Petrol - 4 speed TC (Corolla Altis), 7 speed TC (E200) and more recently CVT (BRV) and Diesel - 8 speed ZF (320d).So can speak from experience.

Specific to your query:
-Autos, in general, have a natural hill hold , in the sense that in 'D' mode, the car tries to move up on an incline. if you don't press the throttle, it will kind of stay in place and not roll back/down.

-Yes the CVT can handle steep inclines in manual mode (BRV has paddle shifters and a S mode ). Some examples of steep incline
- there is a shorter route from Dharamsala to Mcleodganj used by locals, very steep with tight hairpin bends. The BRV performed quite well .
- drive to Padri pass (less known/frequented pass from HP to Kashmir)
- steep incline (near Dalhousie) last summer on a make-shift kutcha road (due to a landslide )when some hill drivers couldn't climb even in 1st gear.

As for front wheel spin, as some members have mentioned - it has more to do with FWD cars+more weight on rear end on an incline+tyre tread/grip.

Separate point - CVT has been the most fuel efficient amongst all the petrol automatics I've owned. I live in NCR and get 12-14 kmpl in city and 14-16 kmpl on highways.

Hope this answers.
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Old 13th April 2020, 10:20   #51
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

Sometime I wonder what it takes to make a car hold up on those steep slopes? Is it that difficult to get the technology for 10+ laks cars.

Can we get this fitted as an aftermarket accessories, specially for AMT cars?

Experts please help!
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Old 13th April 2020, 10:36   #52
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by MaanSingh View Post
I am not too concerned about high revs or it's noise on uphills. Little bit of under-performance or low speeds do not bother me either as weekend trips will be for recreational purpose only. Main concern is it should not stall or roll-back on hills as that will be a saftey concern.
Welcome to the forum MaanSingh
Can you find any steep inclines going into basement parking area or something similar, do a stop and start in the middle of the incline to get a feel, though this can't simulate your exact issues.
Does Seltos CVT come with manual mode ? Some CVTs implement a fake step mode, so in manual mode, you can control the up shift. It will always downshift whenever the revs drop down. 1.5L Petrol motor + CVT should be adequate for all your needs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hiren.mistry View Post
I guess the size of the engine matters, a 1.2L engine mated to a CVT will not be fun on the hills but a any engine upwards with 1.5 should not be a cause of concern.
I agree hiren, I have done a couple of Bangalore-Kerala trip over the mountain roads/Western Ghats in our Altis CVT and I haven't found any issues. Driving has always been easy. Mine comes with hill climb assist feature, so I don't know how much that is helping on inclines.
What I like about CVTs are, they are amazingly smooth.
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Old 13th April 2020, 14:00   #53
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Recently spoke to the owner of a Seltos IVT, a coffee estate/homestay guy who had recently purchased his car to be used in the hilly regions of Coorg. He was NOT happy with his purchase decision - CVT by nature tends to just over-revv and under perform in heavy inclines.

In the Seltos range - 1.5 Diesel + 6-speed torque converter should be your pick IMHO.
We have Duster 110 PS AMT. We also have a very similar problem. We move it to the Manual Mode when doing some hill climb.
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Old 13th April 2020, 14:07   #54
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

Maan Singh, CVTs would give you smoothest drive and best FE, too. Even 1.2 L Baleno and Jazz CVTs perform well in hills. They may have lower cc than 1.5 L of Seltos, City, BRV but then they also weigh less. Especially, Baleno. You might wanna check with TBhpian Coolboy who posted y'day about hill drive in his Baleno CVT, posted under Baleno official review. I'm sure he will have good things to say about this car.

And, if your budget permits Seltos IVT then nothing like it. Trust me, an automatic, whether TC or CVT, would outperform its manual variant up a slope. Honda Activa/Dio are CVTs. Try racing an Activa up a slope in a similar powered manual geared motorcycle and you will get your answer. The m/cycle will lose steam every time he changes gears up a slope.
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Old 13th April 2020, 17:09   #55
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

I can share my experience as an owner of honda city with CVT. On hills, automatic is a big pain in the neck. The throttle response is pathetic and when you need absolute control, the power and torque is just not there.
Therefore, whenever i drive in hills, i switch to manual (sports) mode and use the hand controls to upshift and downshift gears. Once you get used to it, then you start enjoying it and it gives much greater control on hills while driving -specially uphill.
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Old 14th April 2020, 04:55   #56
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

Quite an interesting thread.

I drive a 2016 2.4L Honda Accord CVT and have done some extensive drives on flat surfaces and hilly terrains as well.

The most recent hill ascent was driving to the top of Mt Washington, NH. Its quite a steep incline at places and you have stop a go traffic, since a lot of cars have over heating brakes ( mine included ).

My observation: If you are light footed and gently ease the car into motion without asking too much, the car will rev in and around 2K, with a smooth acceleration and no wheel spin.
Ocassionally, it might rev to 3K, but will instantly drop on a gear change. I believe today's CVTs and automatics are fairly smart and can detect the output required and accordingly manage the engine rev / output. I am sure the same is for the cars sold in India. Today's cars are fairly advanced in technology.

I am light footed by nature and a fairly sedate driver. I did notice other cars / vans who tried to jerk into motion with heavy acceleration or something , and they did have a little wheel spin. Quite frankly, that road and place was not the place for any stupid antics!
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Old 14th April 2020, 19:08   #57
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by autobahnjpr View Post
Therefore, whenever i drive in hills, i switch to manual (sports) mode and use the hand controls to upshift and downshift gears. Once you get used to it, then you start enjoying it and it gives much greater control on hills while driving -specially uphill.
Hi Sir,

Now that you say so, I will try using the paddle shifters on my glc. I have never really tried using it earlier.

But all our automatics have a Low Gear mode, which is essentially for conditions like this, isn't it. Have you tried using the Low Mode and what's your observation vis-a-vis using the manual mode / paddle shifters ?
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Old 14th April 2020, 22:36   #58
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by nikhilarni View Post

But all our automatics have a Low Gear mode, which is essentially for conditions like this, isn't it
I may be wrong but dont think Seltos IVT/CVT has low gear mode.
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Old 15th April 2020, 08:57   #59
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by VKumar View Post

In the last visit, I was driving the City only to McLoedganj, and we had to drive uphill on the khada danda route, because the main road was closed. The surface was wet, because snowfall happened just 2 days back. We have driven throughout that route (wet concrete route it is, very narrow and very steep) uphill, not even once the City gave any issue like rolling back, wheel spin (the car is running on 195 Section MRF Perfinza)
Quote:
Originally Posted by FAIAAA View Post

- there is a shorter route from Dharamsala to Mcleodganj used by locals, very steep with tight hairpin bends. The BRV performed quite well .
Thanks for the response, the one being talked here is indeed an extremely challenging route, especially when vehicles keep coming from opposite side at points. I too have experienced the same route in a fully loaded City CVT, but I don't use the s mode either, I tried with D mode and found that after moving for sometime, the ECU stabilized quite well.

Any way, for anyone looking for the route, its steepness, and why people consider it notorious (Especially when the surface is wet), here is a video of the same:

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Old 15th April 2020, 16:40   #60
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Re: Is a Petrol CVT suitable for driving on steep hills?

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Originally Posted by VKumar View Post
....I too have experienced the same route in a fully loaded City CVT, but I don't use the s mode either, I tried with D mode and found that after moving for sometime, the ECU stabilized quite well.
That's quite a steep climb I would say. Gradients always appear less steep in a video. So, if it is this steep in video then it should be substantially more than seen here. No way an MT City could have done any better than your CVT City. In such steep gradients, the moment you change gear in an MT, your car will be bogged down, unless you are an F1-driver quick with shifts. Yous acceleration form zero is also very impressive, at that point where a Scorpio blocked your way.
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