Will I ever like my Icon CVT

[Wheelyscott]

Evening all, I've had my Icon 2.0 for a month now and well, just cant get used to it!! I've had manual VW / Skoda / Seat diesel cars for the last 25 years and wanted something different so that i wouldn't compare. I've always been struck by the quality of Toyota so had narrowed my choice of new vehicle down to a Mazda CX30 Skyactive X( 2l) or Corolla. I did indeed reserve a CX30 at Motorpoint and then cancelled in favour of the Icon as i knew the ride quality would be more favourable on the 16" rims of the corolla. It has enough spec for me. I test drove an Excel and loved the extras but they weren't worth an additional £3k.

The build quality is great and bodywork too and with 60mpg who would complain. I just cant get used to firstly not having a manual gearbox but then the CVT clearly doesn't work in the same way as a conventional automatic. Its great around village and town and being the 2l, does have some extra BHP and response, particularly in sport mode. What i find weird is when i get out onto the motorway and having to give it some welly it just doesn't feel like any other car i have driven. There is an awful drone noise at 1900 revs, in any configuration / EV mode. I've tried the sequential gearing / paddles and its marginally better on the motorway but i understand its only pretend anyway - is this true?

Perhaps this is the price to pay for a rushed test drive.

The car provides a lot of typical Japanese quality and apart from the pathetically small ventilation controls / buttons, it has everything you need. I just wonder if i will ever get used to driving it...I'm still looking back to motor-point and auto-trader for that Mazda. Funnily enough the Mazda sales guy said CVT's were awful which i guess he would do being another manufacturer altogether. Enough of my waffling, be good to know if others have had similar experience and whether it is worth persevering. Cheers 

[forkingabout]

You will get used to it eventually once you have adjusted your driving style to suit a Toyota hybrid.

I owned a CVT equipped Rover Metro many many years ago so I knew roughly the CVT noise experience I would get from buying a Toyota hybrid with E-CVT.

I've lost count of the amount of different petrol / diesel vehicles both manual & auto I've driven or owned over the years. 

I wouldn't bother with the flappy paddles, why buy an automatic & then still change your own " artificial " gears? Stick it in D & just drive the thing.

Missus has had 2 x petrol manual cars then bought a Yaris Cross hybrid earlier this year, didn't take her long to get used to the auto way of life, just rev & go. 

 

[Obsidian Estate]

I'm happy with my Corolla. I came from sporty manual cars (200 GT RCZ and a GT86) so thought I'd miss manual, but I don't. It makes day to day driving easy.

[badlywornroy]

Wheelyscott,

I am in a similar place with my 2022 Corolla 1.8 Design. Purchased from a Toyota dealer just 2 months ago with 7,000 miles done. It is immaculate . . . . but I guess I do regret buying it ?  I too have driven VW Group diesel vehicles for the last 15 years, I traded in a 2020 Golf estate with 30,000 miles for this Corolla. First & foremost I do not like the ride. This Design spec rides on 17" wheels and on poor broken surfaces I feel every imperfection. Maybe on 'premium' tyres it will improve ? Yes I had a test ride but I guess the Toyota sales guide kept me on good surfaces ? I never thought to suggest we ride on some bad roads. Call me a miserable ' old git ' but I find all the ' tech ' on this car annoying and some of it totally unnecessary. The lack of storage space and ' cubby holes ' on this Toyota is also pretty poor. I drove a Skoda Yeti for many years (a great little car) with so much storage space compared to the Corolla. The engine noise and ' motorway' drone I hope to learn to tolerate / ignore. I did have a month to exchange it at the same dealer but . . . .  here is the catch . . . my wife loves it 😍  Yep ! my money purchased it but I haven't admitted to my beloved my thoughts on this car, she certainly knows I am not enamoured but I am keeping quiet and will accept her enjoyment of the car as some recompense.

[sportse]

They are different to ordinary gearboxes, but ok once you get used to them. 
 

if you set the accelerator position and hold it, the revs will be stable and the speed will catch up. Rather than a normal car that accelerates quickly to start and then drops off, the Toyotas keep the same acceleration. It can feel slow but isn’t, it’s just a different feeling. Similarly if you floor the accelerator there is a delay, so it’s better to use progressive accelerator if you want more. 
 

I mostly drive mine in normal mode on the motorway as it’s quieter/more relaxing. Sport mode is too quick to rev up. 
 

I came from a VW DSG automatic, the feel on those is much different to Toyotas. 

[TonyHSD]

These cars if you don’t love them at first sight when you have tried them even you drive two life’s you still not gonna like them, there is no other way around. 
Toyota hybrids no matter engine size or bhp all drives the same and they are not suitable for high speed and high load applications.
They are the best for slow, easy and and relaxed driving style.  
Fast motorways, high hills, quick accelerations and twisty roads forget it. Also not suitable for aggressive driving. Police in London hates them while I believe finally police has the best cars for town patrol. 
For all of you that don’t get used  to from day one I promise you you will never do and best way is to exchange for something different like you have had before or go electric, you may be surprised how fast those cars can go.