What keeps our car (CVT) in place when you place the car in park?

It sure isn't the front tires because when I picked up my car and it was in park the front tires spin free like the wind. The rear wheels only lock when you pull the parking brake up so what in the world keeps the vehicle from rolling away? Subsequently I put blocks in front of the front tires when I picked up only the rear of the vehicle on an incline but it did not roll and it stayed still even without touching the blocks. I'm am puzzled.

On most other front wheel drive automatics I had, the front wheels had a play in them but locked when the vehicle was in park.

 

The open differential is most likely at play there. Did the wheel on the other side of the car spin in the opposite direction? On an open differential, it normally will if the input is locked (i.e. transmission in park). Of course, I'm assuming you had the entire front end in the air (both front wheels off the ground). If you only had 1 wheel in the air, then you shouldn't be able to spin the wheel.

 

Same deal here. I had my entire car on jack stands to rotate the tires, and the front wheel spun when I went to take off the lugs. I pulled the e-brake for the rears, but had to have the gf get in to press the brakes for the fronts. I did not check the other side for opposite rotation however....

 

The CVT has a weight on wheels principal with the open diff. One wheel will spin independantly when both wheels are off the ground but the will not spin togther. If you have a friend on the other wheel try and spin it in the same direction you are, it will not move.