Experience with Auris 1.2T Multidrive S?

[nielshm]

I have ordred a new Auris 1.2Twith Multidrive, and delivery is in a month or so. I seek experience about the Multidrive transmission. Whats it like in a daily driving cycle? I drive 90% on countryroads and in town. The rest is freeway/german autobahn. 

There's a lot of Youtube videos showing how the engine revs to the limiter when accelerating, but they're all "pedal to the metal" -videos. On the highway/freeway, do you use the manual shift option, to avoid high engine revs, or is'nt that necessary when accelerating in a normal or steady pace?

I have tried the Auris Hybrid, and I found it a bit underpowered at high speeds (and with high engine revs), but the 1.2T is a lot stronger and with a much higher torque. I feel that the Avensis 1.8/2.0 and the new 1.2T are quite similar in power and avaiable torque at normal driving speeds. The Avensis with the Multidrive gearbox usally gets quite nice reviews.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Niels - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

[alan333]

In the Avensis it's a great box to drive in town, but it can be revvy on motorways, especially on hills.  During normal acceleration the box 'changes up' at about 2000 - 2500 revs, but if you accelerate harder it'll hold til 3000 revs or higher, and it'll also do this on a motorway incline to maintain 70 mph.  The 1.8 valvematic doesn't have much low down torque tho, which IMHO is why it does the high revs thing - so that it has plenty power on tap..  I don't know much about the 1.2 Auris but I believe it's got a turbo - as you say, it has more low down grunt and they've possibly tweaked the cvt box to suit.

I rarely ever used the manual shift - just let it do it's own thing...it does it pretty well.

[nielshm]

Here's something usefull. A very nice video at normal speeds and with a realistic driving pattern. 

I find the engine very smooth and car very quiet. 

 

[nielshm]

On 8/3/2016 at 10:25 AM, alan333 said:

In the Avensis it's a great box to drive in town, but it can be revvy on motorways, especially on hills.  During normal acceleration the box 'changes up' at about 2000 - 2500 revs, but if you accelerate harder it'll hold til 3000 revs or higher, and it'll also do this on a motorway incline to maintain 70 mph.  The 1.8 valvematic doesn't have much low down torque tho, which IMHO is why it does the high revs thing - so that it has plenty power on tap..  I don't know much about the 1.2 Auris but I believe it's got a turbo - as you say, it has more low down grunt and they've possibly tweaked the cvt box to suit.

I rarely ever used the manual shift - just let it do it's own thing...it does it pretty well.

How do you experience the CVT when its cold, like below freezing point? Does it take something special to heat things up, or is it just start up and drive off? 

[alan333]

Start up and drive off

[TomdeGuerre]

When it's below zero I usually start up and let the engine run in Park while I clean off the windows etc which will get the fluid part circulated. When I'm ready to go I tend to shift it through Reverse then Drive before back into Park then finally into Reverse to get out of my drive but that's just my preference because the fluid has been below zero all night. Also when I start up in the morning I usually switch on then wait a few seconds just to let the electronics stabilise before I hit the starter.    

[TomdeGuerre]

On ‎03‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 5:09 PM, nielshm said:

Here's something usefull. A very nice video at normal speeds and with a realistic driving pattern. 

I find the engine very smooth and car very quiet. 

 

Your car seems to drive very well, certainly not too noisy and very smooth and I'm sure you're well satisfied with it. I don't fancy the 1.2 Turbo engine, however, and I'm really ticked off that Toyota have done away with the bullet proof 1.6 vvti engine that I've been running in various forms over the past almost 12 years with zero problems.

[nielshm]

34 minutes ago, TomdeGuerre said:

When it's below zero I usually start up and let the engine run in Park while I clean off the windows etc which will get the fluid part circulated. When I'm ready to go I tend to shift it through Reverse then Drive before back into Park then finally into Reverse to get out of my drive but that's just my preference because the fluid has been below zero all night. Also when I start up in the morning I usually switch on then wait a few seconds just to let the electronics stabilise before I hit the starter.    

Thank you for sharing. It's nice to hear that things actually can be rather simple. That's the curse of the internet, everything can be made a huge problem, and blown out of proportions. 

With the insane price tags on cars here in Denmark, I have to make the right choice. A Auris like that costs around 30.000 pounds. 

[TomdeGuerre]

£30,000 for an Auris 1.2T????? You're kidding! They were advertising 2015/2016 (65 reg) Auris 1.8 Hybrid Icon in a newspaper I have dated Feb 5th 2016 for £13,988. Frankly I'd buy one of them rather than the 1.2 Turbo any time.

Niels you say 90% of your driving is country roads and town, you don't say whether it's mainly town driving. That's my problem with the 1.2T, our car does a lot of short runs (it's her chariot basically) and that's the type of running that will kill a turbo. Year ago they used to be able to buy a kit with a little reservoir (about the capacity of an oil filter) that would charge up with engine oil whilst running and then discharge through the turbo every time you shut off to help cool it down and lubricate the bearings. Damned if I'll buy a turbo to go to the supermarket though.   

[nielshm]

15 minutes ago, TomdeGuerre said:

£30,000 for an Auris 1.2T????? You're kidding! They were advertising 2015/2016 (65 reg) Auris 1.8 Hybrid Icon in a newspaper I have dated Feb 5th 2016 for £13,988. Frankly I'd buy one of them rather than the 1.2 Turbo any time.

Niels you say 90% of your driving is country roads and town, you don't say whether it's mainly town driving. That's my problem with the 1.2T, our car does a lot of short runs (it's her chariot basically) and that's the type of running that will kill a turbo. Year ago they used to be able to buy a kit with a little reservoir (about the capacity of an oil filter) that would charge up with engine oil whilst running and then discharge through the turbo every time you shut off to help cool it down and lubricate the bearings. Damned if I'll buy a turbo to go to the supermarket though.   

That seems to be the price as it stands ready to run on the  street with a bit extra equipment. Hybrid didn't work for me, I have to tow a 500 kg. trailer once a week or so. My driving pattern is 25% town driving, 65% country road, and 10% motorway. I know, that turbos needs  cooling, being a former owner of a old diesel, I have never just shut off the engine. Many don't are, I do.

[Heidfirst]

 a lot of modern turbos are water-cooled.

Denmark's registration tax, as I understand it, is over 100% of the cost of the car. Iirc Norway tax on new cars (other than EV) is similar.

[nielshm]

3 hours ago, Heidfirst said:

 a lot of modern turbos are water-cooled.

Denmark's registration tax, as I understand it, is over 100% of the cost of the car. Iirc Norway tax on new cars (other than EV) is similar.

The registration tax is 105% + 25% VAT for cars up to 10.000 £ (Production price) For cars costing more than 10.000 £, the registration tax raises to 180% + 25% VAT.

The cheapest Aygo is 9.000 £, the new Porsche 911 Turbo is 400.000 £!!! EV's like Tesla used to bee tax free, but from this year, a registration tax is gradually being implemented., witch has stopped to sale of EV's to a totally.

[nielshm]

FINALLY I got my new Auris 1.2T, and the Multidrive gear is a great match for the new engine. The car seems much more nimble than the new Avensis 1.8 I Manual, that I borrowed for 2 days.  Gearbox reaction is almost imperceptible, but I still need to learn is an appropriate press on the accelerator.  Disadvantages? Not really no, but uses the car seems to use much gasoline, if I am not consistent in my driving style, drive up to the desired speed and level out. Driving and trying to gain  2 km / h more or less, seems like something that swallows a lot of fuel.  Conclusion must be that I do not understand the many motoring journalists who do not like or directly discourages Toyota CVT gearboxes.  The Toyota salesman has even bought a little older Avensis with Multi Drive, and internally in the Toyota organisation,  he asked if the gearbox could cause problems with some years of age. There has never been anything wrong, it's hard to find any Toyota mechanic who has even tried to open a gearbox.

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Congratulations! Enjoy you new ride! 

I would be interested in the gas mileage this 1.2T engine can achieve, so if you don't mind, why don't you register an account and place I link in your signature, so you can keep us posted with its everyday real life mileage?

[nielshm]

30 minutes ago, Auris 1.6 vvt-i said:

Congratulations! Enjoy you new ride! 

I would be interested in the gas mileage this 1.2T engine can achieve, so if you don't mind, why don't you register an account and place I link in your signature, so you can keep us posted with its everyday real life mileage?

Well of course, No problem. 

[Konrad C]

3 hours ago, nielshm said:

FINALLY I got my new Auris 1.2T, and the Multidrive gear is a great match for the new engine. The car seems much more nimble than the new Avensis 1.8 I Manual, that I borrowed for 2 days.  Gearbox reaction is almost imperceptible, but I still need to learn is an appropriate press on the accelerator.  Disadvantages? Not really no, but uses the car seems to use much gasoline, if I am not consistent in my driving style, drive up to the desired speed and level out. Driving and trying to gain  2 km / h more or less, seems like something that swallows a lot of fuel.  Conclusion must be that I do not understand the many motoring journalists who do not like or directly discourages Toyota CVT gearboxes.  The Toyota salesman has even bought a little older Avensis with Multi Drive, and internally in the Toyota organisation,  he asked if the gearbox could cause problems with some years of age. There has never been anything wrong, it's hard to find any Toyota mechanic who has even tried to open a gearbox.

 

1 hour ago, Auris 1.6 vvt-i said:

Congratulations! Enjoy you new ride! 

I would be interested in the gas mileage this 1.2T engine can achieve, so if you don't mind, why don't you register an account and place I link in your signature, so you can keep us posted with its everyday real life mileage?

If the car is brand new, then the engine may still be running in, if that term still exists with new engines these days. 

[nielshm]

It must be run in for a 1000 miles, according to the sales man, that mens not driving with more than 4000 rpm. 

I"ve read somewhere else, that fuel economy is at it best at 7000 miles. 

[nielshm]

Is it normal to experience high revs when the engine is cold? When started up in the morning, its hard to keep revs lower than 3000 rpm when accelerating to 45-50 miles. Shift paddles cant override and lower the high revs. 

Whit a normal gearbox it would be easy to use higher gears to maintain low revs, to protect the cold engine. 

[TomdeGuerre]

High revs when cold is something you’ll have to put up with when you run a smaller engine - they simply do not have the piff to run well when cold what with the small capacity (only 300cc per cylinder) and all the emissions equipment that is mandated. That being said, 3,000 does seem a bit excessive but maybe things will settle down as the engine runs in.

Incidentally, it’s less harmful to have a new engine revving fast and lightly loaded than it is to have it at low revs and heavily loaded.

[Konrad C]

I drove a friends RAV4, '15 model with 2 litre Valvematic and CVT. The car was in "Eco" mode and I switched between auto and manual, to show my friends the functions. When accelerating in normal traffic, the 'box changes up early and just reach 2000 rpm, if that. I live nearly fast roads and the revs were very low. I tried harder acceleration and still was in the mid to upper 2000, but not reach 3000 rpm.

Manual mode is easy using the steering paddles. I noticed the 'box drop down to lower gears if the speed drops. 

Now with what I have learned about the different engines and model configurations, it seems the CVT gearbox and ECU are matched to the engine characteristics. The higher the torque the earlier the gearbox changes to a higher gear. If the torque peak is high up the revs, then the 'box will aim for that when demanded.

The 1.2 turbo has a lot of torque, but only when the turbo is fully engaged. So the engine has to reach revs that the turbo will work, so the 'box will set the correct gear. Turbo lag will be factored in. 

I think Multidrive is great and wish I had bought my Avensis with it.    

[nielshm]

31 minutes ago, Konrad C said:

I drove a friends RAV4, '15 model with 2 litre Valvematic and CVT. The car was in "Eco" mode and I switched between auto and manual, to show my friends the functions. When accelerating in normal traffic, the 'box changes up early and just reach 2000 rpm, if that. I live nearly fast roads and the revs were very low. I tried harder acceleration and still was in the mid to upper 2000, but not reach 3000 rpm.

Manual mode is easy using the steering paddles. I noticed the 'box drop down to lower gears if the speed drops. 

Now with what I have learned about the different engines and model configurations, it seems the CVT gearbox and ECU are matched to the engine characteristics. The higher the torque the earlier the gearbox changes to a higher gear. If the torque peak is high up the revs, then the 'box will aim for that when demanded.

The 1.2 turbo has a lot of torque, but only when the turbo is fully engaged. So the engine has to reach revs that the turbo will work, so the 'box will set the correct gear. Turbo lag will be factored in. 

I think Multidrive is great and wish I had bought my Avensis with it.    

Well, Multidrive is a great thing, but takes a while getting used to.

The high rev think, is only for the first 3-4 min., then the car feels more normal, and can be accelerated with lower revs 2000-2500 rpm.

However, I do notice something strange, and I want to ask the dealer about it: When driving very slowly around corners or in parking lots, it feels like the car "brakes" when speed droppes below 15 mph. Speed droppes quickly from 15 to 5 mph. It's like driving up hill at low speeds, and I did'nt notice anythink like that in the first week or so. When I lift my foot from the accelerator, I would expect to car to roll easy with a minimum of engine braking. 

[alan333]

9 hours ago, nielshm said:

However, I do notice something strange, and I want to ask the dealer about it: When driving very slowly around corners or in parking lots, it feels like the car "brakes" when speed droppes below 15 mph. Speed droppes quickly from 15 to 5 mph. It's like driving up hill at low speeds, and I did'nt notice anythink like that in the first week or so. When I lift my foot from the accelerator, I would expect to car to roll easy with a minimum of engine braking. 

My Avensis cvt did this so I thnk it's normal.

[nielshm]

On 22/4/2016 at 7:30 PM, Auris 1.6 vvt-i said:

Congratulations! Enjoy you new ride! 

I would be interested in the gas mileage this 1.2T engine can achieve, so if you don't mind, why don't you register an account and place I link in your signature, so you can keep us posted with its everyday real life mileage?

Right now, my experience is, that the small engine swallows a lot of fuel every time you accelerate, even at a steady pace. The cars own fuel-meter says somethink like 20-25 l./100 km. with revs not exceeding 3000 rpm. On a straight road without any wind, driving 80 km/h (GPS) I can't get the comsumption lower than 5 l./100 km.

 

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

1 minute ago, nielshm said:

...comsumption lower than 5 l./100 km.

 

Well, if you can average a 5/10, this is pretty good. This is my all time average with the HSD.