Typical automatic gears eat up 12% of cars power while CVTs use 18% minimum.
so suppose you have a 118 hp engine but with CVT then you are actually left with less than 100 hp only.
This is the main point why i didn't buy CVT brv but manual as i need all its power for climbing from Chilas to Babusar top.
Regarding Abbotabad to Nathiagali, I went there in my 1.3 corolla 2008 old shape. I had a brand new clutch original replacement and still was not able to shift to 2nd gear in most places. Oh i speeded upto 40 in first but as soon as i shifted to 2nd gear, the speed dropped to nearly 0.
on reaching nathiagali i was searching for a mechanic and i told him my problems and he told me that cars are usually run on only 1st gear in this side of the route. Maybe second gear for larger engines car, but mostly in 1st gear, and that my car was perfectly alright.
maybe i will try this incline in my brv manual sometime to check how much 118 hp works compared to 83 hp of my old car but only if i get somehow stuck in this route.
otherwise i will use the hazara motorway to reach mansehra directly and go from there.
there isn't anything much to be found in both Abbotabad and Nathiagali. Once you visit Nathia gali, then you don't need to visit it again.
At one time in the 1990's Abbotabad used to boast foreign cloths and i do remember buying from there with my father, but now everything (nearly) that you can buy over there is purchased by them from Shah Alam Market Lahore.
I even visited NLI Market in gilgit with the hopes of finding foreign items but even they told me that they buy from Lahore.
But one of my friends has told me that foreign material is available in Sost only and that too is costly due to 3-4 months season only. But I will check IA this season as i am planning to visit Khunjarab
