CVT Transmission staying "engaged"

[bhermis]

I have an SL with the CVT and I'm wondering about something.

When going 40 mph and then releasing the gas and coasting it seems like the transmission stays "engaged" which means that the tires are still linked back to the engine, i.e. the transmission does not disengage from the engine. It causes the vehicle to slow much more quickly than it should. When I continue coasting without stopping the transmission seems to disengage around 10mph and I can feel the car actually move forward.

Am I crazy here or does anyone else have this issue?

[CodeRed]

I feel the same thing with my automatic transmission.

[BBISHOPPCM]

It's supposed to stay "engaged," if it's freewheeling, that's a problem.

[bhermis]

The only reason I post this is because my previous car, a 2000 pontiac grand am, did not seem to do this. It would only make sense to me to disengage the engine so you are not running all the valves and pumping air through the engine...

[motoguy128]

I guess you've never driven a manual transmission. The CVT is behaving very similar to this. The CVT has something similar to a torque converter to get the engine up to at least 10mph and allow you to go into neutral and reverse. Unlike an automatic, there is not gear changing, so after 10mph, the engine is connected directly to the wheels. This allows for better control, reduced wear on the brakes and better overall economy. Newer traditional automatic transmissions lock-up the torque conveter as much as possible for better economy. The previous generation transmissions (like on you Pontiac) rarely lock-up except at freeway speeds. This allows a much higher dear ration ot be used, but it very ineffecient and results in slugish performance and increases brake wear.