I have a 2012 Nissan Versa with a 1.6 Engine/CVT transmission. When going down a steep hill the RPMs rev up to at least 3000 or more…is this normal for a car to do this?
CVTs will cause an engine (particularly a small engine) to run at very high revs when accelerating. That is the nature of a CVT. As to deceleration, this could be a case of compression braking that is programmed into the transmission, or it could be a fault.
It is possible that the service manager at your dealership would know the answer to this question, but it is equally possible that he would just give you some type of BS statement in order to get rid of you. Service managers have been known to spout BS–especially if they don’t really know the answer to a technical question.
;-))
I would be very curious about what your Owner’s Manual has to say about the operation of the CVT when driving down a steep incline. What does the manual say regarding this topic?
In case the manual doesn’t have anything to say on this issue (which I personally doubt), a phone call to Nissan’s customer service staff should yield a legitimate answer. The Owner’s Manual contains the toll-free phone number for contacting them.
If you don’t find the answer that you are looking for through the dealer or the Nissan customer service number…I have a plan for you. Just go to a Nissan dealer and drive a couple of Versa’s with the same engine/transmission combo. Take it down a steep hill and let us know what happens. If they rev to 3K or more you know it’s in the design of the vehicle. If not…the dealer needs to fix your Versa.
You also might take note while you are driving if the increase in RPMs only happens after you first touch the brake pedal.