hello I new to the lancer world, I have a 2009 DE CVT when i'm getting on the car it will go to 6k RPM and stay it wont shift. But if in just cruising its fine. Any help is welcomed.

 

So when you floor it the rpms peg at 6k but your speed continues to climb, right?

This is normal. The cvt doesn't really shift. There are no gears, just a belt and some pulleys that smoothly change ratios when given a load. So when you go WOT the engine will stay at peak power while the cvt transitions from low to high "gear" ratios, as opposed to a standard automatic that stays in one gear till the rpms climb to max limit and then shift to a new gear. In wot the cvt will not drop rpms to shift, thus there is not torque drop like manuals and tq-converting autos. Just a smooth application of power and tq.

when you're just putting around, the rpms will bounce a bit because it's going to the most efficient ratio. Even then the cvt will not have any shift shock. So yeah, that's just how a cvt acts.

 

thank you very much. is it normal for it be sluggish, i know its not the bigger 2.4 or the turbo. it just feels like there really nothing there.

 

yeah that's normal too. The lancer has a drive by wire throttle that delays the time it takes to go wot no matter how quickly to floor it. It does this to be fuel efficient and to keep the cvt happy by ignoring driver input to keep power delivery smooth.

The cvt also saps a lot more power than it's 5 speed brother. In 2009 the 2.0L was rated at 154hp at the crank, but power at the wheels for cvt's can be as low as 110hp to 120hp depending on the dyno. Mine pulled 111hp in 3rd gear while in sport mode (via a gts floor shifter). If you see a cvt dyno pulling in the 130 range, it's either a 2.4L or a 2.0L when pulled in D range. Dynoing a cvt in D throws erroneous high readings since the gear ratio is constantly changing in D.

so a combination of fuel saving nanny throttle, high drivetrain loss, and a somewhat chunky curb weight leads to under whelming pickup at low rpms.