Does anyone make a good CVT?

I mean something that you would actually WANT to drive for just the sake of driving?

Conventional torque converter type automatic transmissions seem to be going the way of the Dodo (as far as conventional passenger cars go anyways), with CVT's becoming the go-to tranny of choice for many (most?) manufacturers marketing here in North Am ...
I can't stand 'em ... had one in a Nissan years ago and HATED it. Replaced it with a Hyundai equipped with a 6-speed conventional torque converter. MUCH better driving experience. Sadly though, the next model year, the 6-speed was replaced by a CVT ...

Rented a '22 chevy malibu last year it was surprisingly good compared to the toyota corolla, nissan juke and hyundai elantra i have driven earlier.

I will say the Subaru CVT in my wife's 2019 Forrester is not horrible. No reliability problems yet and I have not found any significant buzz or history about common issues with them either.
She has adapted quite well and likes it. I am still on the fence. The car is slightly underpowered for my liking so I am not 100% sure if it is the CVT driving characteristics or the low engine power that leave me just a little flat on the car. I don't seem to mesh with it well.
It certainly goes down the road well and has proven to be a great road trip car so far but I think I still prefer a traditional auto, or better yet a manual.

The Nissan CVT is well known to be absolute trash. It was Trash when it rolled off the assembly line and only got worse from there. That is pretty much the story with any Nissan product made in the last 30 some odd years (with the possible exception of the Frontier). Horrible company with bad engineering done more by bean counters than actual engineers. Horrible business practices and their management of the supply base is a joke.

I totally agree,we had a Juke,should have been called the Junk. Problem plagued pos. The pathfinder my sister had lived in the shop. Never again,they are the GM ( garbage motors don't get me started on my horror stories about them ) of the Japanese manufacturers.

I've had a Freestyle, Pathfinder, and 240hp Lexus NX(Rav4). A Rav4 Prime (and Lexus going up) may sound stupid with a muffler delete, but 300+hp would drive fun regardless.

I can't disagree more. I'm on my 3rd Nissan. My wife's 2009 Altima with CVT was one of the most comfortable driving cars we've owned. Still comfortable at the end of a 700 mile day. Our 2013 Murano drove really well with no issues with the CVT. I even towed with it for a few thousand miles. When we bought the first Nissan, I asked about the CVT. The salesman told me they were awkward when paired with a small motor. I drove a few and agreed. Our Nissans had the biggest powerplants available and we never had any CVT issues. We drove each of them over 100,000 miles. Daughter still drives the Altima.

My '22 Frontier has a 9 speed auto. I would have preferred the CVT if available.

You dodged some very big bullets with pre-'14 Nissans. There are even class action lawsuits.

The problem history on Nissan CVT is well documented and long.

Nissan being trash is my personal, although well researched, opinion. I worked directly for Nissan. I worked for two direct suppliers to Nissan including on imbed inside the Nissan Factory. Many thousands of hours inside their various plants in an engineering capacity. Horribly run company, horrible to their suppliers, poor business ethics, cut corners absolutely everywhere they can, to the detriment of quality. I was asked by leadership and by senior engineering staff to falsify data to allow parts to pass on more than one occasion. Left the automotive industry a few years ago because all of my options for employment in my area were directly tied to Nissan and I had more than enough of their nonsense.

I bought my kids Nissan Versa Notes, a 2014 & a 2015.
The 2015 has this "fake" shift point thing.
While they are FAR from engaging to drive, I do find the one with the fake shifting less annoying to drive than the regular CVT one.
Particularly so if you put your foot into it.

Wife had a '13 Avalon Hybrid that was good, smooth seemed fast or enough power and the downhill and/or light braking to recharge was likeable once you got used to it.
Now has a '19 Highlander Hybrid, same, comfortable to drive, smooth and will use fake gears for downhill braking that works well. Braking to charge battery is not as noticeable but is there.
I like them both, her gas mileage is not as good as it should be cuz she uses the gas like a Boston cab driver. On and off the gas pedal driving at a steady speed will give me whiplash. If it were an auto trans it would be downshift, then up then down....

It would be interesting to know the cost to build an 8-10 speed vs a good CVT tranny. component replacement in this day and age is crazy !

I drove a CVT once and loathed it. The car sounded like a refrigerator operating overtime, and was about as much fun and engaging. “No, I’m a stick shift kind of guy,” I said, until, i drove a Porsche PDK, and bought a twin-clutch Audi S3. I have seen the light, and it is F1 style technology. My most recent experience was the M3 and M5, both Competion Packages, at a BMW Experience Day (great fun!) The cars were unbelievably responsive and FAST.

Honda CVT’s are quite nice. Daughter has a 2015 Fit, wife has a 2017 CRV.

My mother had an 06 or 07 vintage AWD Murano with the VQ35 engine and CVT. She had no problems from the car that I can remember in the 6 or so years she owned it, no transmission problems anyhow. You could tell when the torque converter locked up and it was rubber-bandy when accelerating but the car had plenty of power for what it was. Renault has definitely not been the best thing that has ever happened to Nissan, I will agree with that however.

My in-laws both have (2019 I think?) Honda Fits, with CVTs and having driven them, yeah they drive with the typical wind up and start to accelerate feeling that you get from a CVT. I think that's more to do with the fact that they're powered by tiny engines that are outclassed by some lawn equipment. They haven't had any problems with either car in 5 years or so outside normal maintenance.

While a CVT will always drive weird compared to anything, and Nissan certainly did not do them any favors in gaining widespread popularity, there are plenty of other small car transmissions that have been equally as bad. The ZF-9HP, Ford Powershift, VW DSG with bad mechatronics, rattling dual mass flywheels, etc.

No

Same experience here wifey has a 2015 CRV it drives like a regular auto trans to me. Daughter had a 2008 Jeep Patriot CVT, you could tell that was a CVT when driving it same Jatco unit that the Nissans use luckily it was sold before the inevitable transmission grenade happened.

I H-A-T-E CVTs…. I can’t stress that enough. We had a 2018 or 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited. Had a CVT, but you would never know it.

-B

My experience with Subaru CVTs is that with the 2.0 engine, you definitely know you're driving a CVT. With the bigger engines, it drives like an automatic.