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I am planning to purchase a new 2020 HONDA CR-V vehicle Dec 2019 - Feb 2020. I was wondering if 2020 CR-V touring would have paddle shifters?
No info on 2020’s yet
If they follow the eu, the shifter will be gone to hondas full push button system. No paddle shfters though.

Honda/acura ones are generally meh anyway, very delayed.
 

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2017 CRV Touring - Pearl White w Black Interior
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One more thing to break or malfunction, that is more a fun factor feature then something actually needed. :p

Seriously though... my guess is no... simply because the CRV is a utility vehicle, not a sport vehicle. It is true that SUVs in general are becoming more car like, and a few companies are pushing actual sport versions of some models.. but Honda is not one of them. Honda reserves "sporty" for their Acura SUVs, just like they often use the Acura line to roll out new technology ahead of pushing it into the Honda brand. Premium pricing points on Acura give them the margin to do this.

As a mid-life refresh interval....you may very well see the shifter gone in 2020 and replaced with a pushbutton array.. as I think Honda is moving that direction for all it's CVTs.
 

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CVT always have set points, like virtual gears. You just don't feel the transition from one fixed gear ratio to another, it's "slipping" through them.
 
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CVT always have set points, like virtual gears. You just don't feel the transition from one fixed gear ratio to another, it's "slipping" through them.
Not quite sure I’m following the above.....there are no gears, just 2 pulleys (a driver and a driven) and a belt. Infinitely changing rather than slipping, no?
 
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Right. The CVT, in principle, is a transmission of infinte number of gear ratios and cone positions. In reality the "gear changes" or shifting from one ratio to another are made in preset position of the cones. I have no experience or indepth information on the modern hybrid car CVT which have so much more infrastructure like electric motors etc so you might not really feel the jerking (I suppose) but in regular CVT you can actually feel the transmission shifting at certain acceleration/RPM level.

My first CVT car (1st generation Honda HR-V) it was advertised as 7-speed CVT and you could count the shifts if you knew what to look for. For an average driver there was a smooth rubber band pulling you to speed. It's extemely smooth compared to Toyota or Subaru CVTs I have driven. In my current CVT-equipped Toyota you can also feel the shifts and they are much more defined, one could even think it has a regular automatic with a high stall speed torque converter. In acceleration it will first give you the smooth pull and right away when it notices there's no more accelerator movement it drops down "a gear or two" and next as low as possible just like a regular automatic. The changes are always identical in identical conditions as they are predefined. It also has a manual shifter where you can shift through all the change ratios for whatever reason, in reality it's a useless feature. The ECU is perfectly capable of deciding the ratios itself. I only use the SPORT mode where it immediately excludes the bottom couple of ratios and runs the engine at higher RPM. With paddle shifters you could actually find some use to the manual shifting of the CVT.
 
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Not quite sure I’m following the above.....there are no gears, just 2 pulleys (a driver and a driven) and a belt. Infinitely changing rather than slipping, no?
mrtns point I believe was that while it feels like it is infinitely sliding the tension bands as needed for speed vs engine rpm and torque... in reality the CVT is electronically controlled and as such.. there will be particular sequence points in the band adjustments for the full range of driving demands. Probably several dozen if I had to guess.. with many of them representing a set or series that move sequentially to a perceived demand. This gives the perception of infinite micro changes vs a traditional 4 or 5 speed transmission.

Plus... since the CVT is electronically controlled as a part of the whole powertrain electronic control system the engine and transmission can work in closer harmony, and it can also be reprogrammed by the dealers if there is need for product wide adjustments after release to the field. No more need to swap out tranmissions in masse just because you got a shift interval or other move wrong in the design.

I really like the 1.5T + CVT in the gen5. It is particularly attentive to needs for additional power when driving normally and hitting an incline grade.. even in slow speed city driving. I have this one overpass I drive frequently near my home.. and the CVT recognizes the additional demand and will smoothly upshift to get to a better spot in the torque band.. and the only indication of this is a move of a few hundred rpm on the tachometer. It's literally glass smooth.
 

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I agree the CRV CVT is glassy smooth in comparison to a "normal" auto. Back to the paddle shift, seems to me that a CVT would have to have a manual mode to make paddle shifters work. We all know Sports mode keeps the revs higher, so with a little reprogramming a paddle shifter sympathetic set up is possible.
I just don't see the need.
And if you are wondering wife's car has paddle shifters. Only used them one when climbing and descending a steep mountain road. All she ever does is use "D"
 
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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
Thanks to all of your replies. (sorry for the delay). Now that the 2020 CR-V specs are out (and the vehicle itself is available), I now know that there are no paddle shifters available. I still plan to proceed in buying a 2020 CR-V Touring AWD. Any suggested options I should include?
 

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If you see interior cabin photos of the 2020 CRV with paddles no doubt this will be a Hybrid model. Paddles are fitted to provide some control of how much engine regeneration is used to recharge the battery. The higher the regen the higher the braking effect from the engine, very useful when descending hills as well as providing an increased battery charge. I've noted that in magazine reviews the paddles have been dismissed as pretty useless but from experience I use them automatically before hitting the brakes when slowing the car on a gradient.
 

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Discussion Starter · #13 ·
Regarding the European CR-V, I believe they have paddle shifters (and maybe even manual transmission) for some years.

Regarding the 2020 CR-V Hybrid, according to the early specs, it appears that it will have paddle shifters (I believe mainly to assist in charging the batteries). I am not interested in a Hybrid. It's a shame they couldn't include paddle shifters with the normal gas model (Honda offers it in HR-V, Pilot and Passport). I would guess since RAV4 does not yet have paddle shifters, Honda didn't find it necessary to include.

I have driven and owned manual transmissions all my life except for my current vehicle (2010 TSX) with automatic (and paddle shifters). I use the paddle shifters mainly for occasional down shifting for compression braking when slowing down. It keeps me more engaged in the driving, and helps with my brakes.
 

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According to the automobiles.honda.com website, in the US all trim levels of the Passport comes with: 9-Speed Automatic Transmission (9AT) with Shift-By-Wire (SBW) and Paddle Shifters

The Pilot has two transmission offerings, depending on trim level.
The LX, EX, and EX-L have: 6-Speed Automatic Transmission (6AT)
The Touring, Elite, and Black Edition have: 9-Speed Automatic Transmission (9AT) with Shift-By-Wire (SBW) and Paddle Shifters
 
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