Initially, the Justy was equipped with a 1.0 or 1.2 liter EF three-cylinder engine and either a manual transmission or a continuously variable transmission with either front wheel drive or on-demand four wheel drive. The CVT technology (a pushbelt system) was employed because with a conventional automatic transmission, performance would have been unacceptable due to the small 3-cylinder engine and due to driving conditions in Japan, where the speed limits realistically don't exceed in urban areas, the Justy was an affordable choice. In North America, because of the long distances, the CVT was considered unreliable, but this has not been the case in other countries.