the murano has a cvt, it's awesome, you floor it and keep a steady 6500 rpm lol it's fun an you don't feel it shift.

 

That's the whole concept of the CVT's. However, it is much easier said than done. I've driven many different Murano's and a few different A4's quite a few miles in all of them and the vehicles don't stay at constant rpms. Try as it may, the variables to get the maximum performance, comfort, and gas milage all play a role in the fluxuation of the rpms. The tranny's rather work in rpm ranges for the given vehicle speed and throttle position.

If you could ef around and tweak the computer that controls the CVT, and work out a way for it compunicate with the ECU much quicker, then i don't see why your ideas couldn't be realized. Keep in mind i am in no way an engineer of this technology nor do i pretend to know more than the average person with an insatiable desire for knowledge could find out. These are just opinions of mine i have developed from personally interacting with CVT's and having access to some knowledgable people.

 

You're exactly right. This is the very reason I was suggesting that this could have some seriously cool applications in motorsports.

 

from what i had read in various sources, the CVTs life span is reduced in direct relation to the additional strain you put into the tranny. if you use a power adder to double the output of the motor, you half the lifespan of the tranny.
personally i don't like the concept, and it would freak me out to floor it and hold 6500rpm (or whatever) for more than a few seconds. but it does open the door to a motor built for specific efficiency, like a generator or refridgerator, and then apply a variable gearing as was mentioned above.

and i got really bored one day and got a prius in GT2, drove it in reverse at 114mph... wonder if that translates to real life... the meter maids in dallas i saw drove prius(es?), maybe i should have asked if i could borrow one.

 

Zate, you want it to sit at the HP peak, not the torque peak.

Also, for motorsport applications, there are a few driveability issues. Basically comes down to you're taking away one of the sensorary inputs for the driver. When you're driving a real track, you sort or program yourself to know that you should be in the bottom of 3rd gear through this turn, or you should downshift here...or whatever.

with a motor that always sounds the same, it's MUCH harder to know JUST how much to slow down going into turns.

This is what I learned this past year, while I was talking to one of the really fast A-mod autocross guys at Nationals. Their car for reference is 1000 lbs, 230hp, and has MASSIVE downforce.