Insight CVT Problems?

[OuttaSight]

I dunno about during acceleration, but I felt a slight shudder when pulling away from auto-stop at lights a couple of times on my test drive. I just put this down to the car starting to roll forwards on electric only and the ICE firing up once road speed got to the idle speed of the engine to allow it to fire up "smoothly".

If it tried to fire up while at a near stand-still but with the clutch fully engaged it would possibly kangaroo. My Accord has a traditional torque converter so stalling speed isn't an issue, as the transmission never really engages much below 1000 RPM anyway.

If the CVT has a start clutch, does that mean it can wear out? How long should it last? Provided you keep to the schedule for replacing the fluid in a torque converter, they last forever. My Accord has done almost 150,000 miles on the same transmission with only two ATF oil changes. It does have a lock-up clutch and a gear change clutch pack but they seem indestructible compared to all the manuals I owned where the clutches gave out after 70,000 miles or less.

[oobflyer]

We test drove the Prius today, but I soon realized that I couldn't compare the smoothness of the CVT transmission (to the new Insight) during the initial acceleration because the Prius doesn't use its CVT transmission during initial acceleration. The electric motor pushes the car up to 25/30 MPH before the gas engine even turns on. And at that point I couldn't feel any transitions or "jerks".
It was a tough decision, but we ended up only paying $1000 more for the Prius (base model) and they threw in some discounts on the extended warranty and alarm system that more than made up for the extra $1000.
Anyway - thanks for the info and happy hypermiling!

[Cobb]

True once its at operating temp, before that its burning dino juice below 35mph unless you stomp it. The prius does have better gas and brake feel, but it has this strange upside down boat feeling when going over bumps, ruts and off/on ramps. Never mind the squeal from the electronics at low speeds. Also when you start and stop it it pumps the engine coolant back and forth from the insulated bottle in the fender area.

With careful driving you can get upwards to and above 100mpg.

Originally Posted by oobflyer

The electric motor pushes the car up to 25/30 MPH before the gas engine even turns on.

I almost got a prius, but the toy dealer was not interested in taking a tacoma in trade like the honda dealer. The honda dealer told me they sent the truck to auction at that and had given me more than blue book for it.