Living in central PA we have our fair share of hills, and even on some of the mildest ones i feel like breathing a sigh of relief upon reaching the top.

This, together with the feeling of uncertainty in the cvt as to what level of gearing should be adopted lead me to contact my local dealer.

Their reply was that these sensations are normal for this vehicle, and "the car will not run correctly until its done at least 3500 miles, and more likely 5000 miles"

I have read a few of the "cvt" posts on this site, but wonder if someone has some feedback as to whether this 2.5 engine will ever behave better than a substantialy smaller one?

I'm Very happy with the performance of this vehicle, but maybe once you explain what the problem is we can try to help you out. (And the other question I have is, Did you test drive this vehicle before buying it??? If you're so unhappy with how it drives why in the world would you buy it? I guarantee most on here will say they're quite happy with it).

"crazy power and acceleration" is certainly not a phrase that currently i would describe my Rogue to have....Dont get me wrong, i love the car and was simply trying to acertain if the sluggishness that i'm experiencing is a trait expected in the running in period.

the car is a smooth ride on the highways, and sometimes without realising i can be going faster than i realised. My concern is about responsiveness when the pedal is dropped, and the fact that when climbing a hill it stays at the same point in the gearing when accelerating, therefore causing the vehicle to slow considerably (appologies if i didnt explain that well).

As for a test drive...yes we test drove a different vehicle at the dealers which had a few miles on it. The route we took was a reletively flat one. and i didnt notice the issue.

As a sidenote, it appears that the issue is more significant when the engine has travelled some miles, than when its driven cold

also remember that the ECU "learns" your driving habits and therefore performs in that way...so if you drive with a heavy right foot then it will learn that and be prepared with faster "gear ratios" if u drive conservatively then it will go for the higher MPG

most likely the ECU has learned that u drive coneservatively(especially since u mention the breakin period)

I have not been able to determine if the CVT computer has any 'self learning' capability. The manual does not show any or how to reset it if required.

I think the other comments are valid. ie. The CVT tries to obtain the best fuel efficiency under most conditions by running the highest 'gear' it can. Sometimes it feels sluggish as a result For a roughly 3400lb vehicle equipped with a high torque (at low rpm) 2.5L 4cyl, the Rogue does well. It's surely not a V-6 or V-8, but it doesn't consume gas like one either.

My suggestions? Try the following for those really steep hills:

If you have the paddle shift option: Select a lower gear for climbing hills.
If you don't: Use the overdrive lock or low gear.

Finally,

The engine will not produce the best power or fuel efficiency until fully broken in. This can take up to 4000mi (6,400km). Give time for your vehicle to break in... you will surely notice a difference.

If you have the paddle shift option, you can use Philip advice either in City or on Highway, but if you don't have it like me, use only Philip advice in City or you will have a big rpm surge at high speed (with may be a slow down if you hit the limiter) and you may not like it (rough ride).
At highway speed, you'd better use wife's rogue advice and anticipate the climb by gaining some speed and rev before.

My wife used the Rogue last week and was really impressed with the power of the engine and the brakes... but she used way more fuel than me when I took my car back on Sunday (between 2 and 2.5 LHK, that is not a so small difference).
So yes, you can have a lot of fun with this car (and she has): it is light compare to competition with a impressive torquey and powerful engine, but you will have to refuel more often.
With PA hills, you may have to compromise your fuel economy to get going, like with any other cars you may own.

I'd use the gas peddle.

If you want lower gearing and hence more power at any given moment, just step down on the throttle and the CVT will very quickly and smoothly select a low gearing and you'll feel yourself rocket forward. It's the simple, you don't need to take your eyes off the road, and it works. Problem solved.

If your used to a regular automatic transmission you'll definitely feel its different as you don't feel that kick when you press on the gas...the CVT gradually picks up the gear without that sensation, so you may feel like its less power when in reality its just a smoother transition from gear to gear.

Some people like to feel that kick that rocks you from back to forth because its a feel of acceleration.

The CVT doesn't offer that feel which again some may prefer as its smoother.

So when going up a hill it may feel that much less powerful when in reality it is responding to acceleration properly....what I'm saying is its more of a feel than performance you're probably experiencing.

That's how I felt....the car was performing fine, just the feelings, like on occasion you get a bit of a surge from a stop (Torque Converter engage or disengage while stopping at a signal or starting at it), the vibrations, the acceleration etc...

That is probably the biggest issues to driving a CVT... our brain 'thinks' we are not traveling as fast because there is no correlation to engine noise, 'shift shock' and speed.

Nissan actually did a lot of reprogramming of the CVT to get a more 'natural' feeling while still retaining it's benefits. Things like ramping engine rpm up slightly while accelerating and the simulated 'downshift' shock when you press hard to accelerate.

Yup, that was my initial reaction to the CVT....I'm not giving anyone any kind of technical info.

This is all my personal experience with the CVT so far.

And like Philip said its more of a brain thing than mechanical thing....you expect certain mechanical reactions but when they don't occur you may feel its mechanical problem.

at first When I would accelerate I had to look at the RPM and speedometer to make sure I was accelerating because the feel was so minimal, it felt like there was no power.

Its the same thing as getting used to the infamous CVT vibration, it bothers the hell out of people at first because it doesn't feel right...but your brain gets used to it.