I have a hypothetical question about gearing

Let me start by saying I’m not an off-roader. I drive a Prerunner, but I really follow the various discussions that I come across. I have a pretty good understanding of the mechical issues and was pretty “hands on” in my younger days. Part of that was by necessity, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve been able to afford to drive much more reliable vehicles. But, I digress.

One recurring theme seems to be the need to regear after the addition of taller than stock (and heavier) tires, and I do understand that. We have a rear differential with a fixed ratio, and a transmission that has fixed ratios for each gear.

I’ve been doing some reading online lately about expedition or overland builds and came across a number of guys building up Subaru Forresters. It occurred to me that the CVT transmission some of them use would just about eliminate the need to regear when adding bigger tires. Although they do have a fixed final drive ratio, having infinitely variable gears would, or should allow the engine to remain at a usable, constant rpm.

Now I’m not talking about rock crawling here, and I’m not even concerned about whether the transaxle itself would stand up to the rigors brought on by the larger and heavier tire. I was just curious about what others thought about the viability of the CVT transmission in that kind of setting.