Dream

I thought engine stall was a bad thing...

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

for 3-5k your better off trading your Z in.

JDUB34

it is a bad thing... did i say it was good somewhere in my post?

capnfrantic

I don't think many MT drivers have actually tried the AT, that is the problem. Nissan did a hell of a job with this! The more I drive it the more I like it. Manual mode does take some time to get used to. But I drove a MT Z for a while and don't feel like I lost anything with the AT at all. Actually after driving both you have to be damn good to keep up with a AT in straight line acceleration. JMO

BigMike

I was thinking about your quandary yesterday while driving home in Atlanta traffic in my 6MT Z. I wouldn't trade the 6MT for 5AT just because of the traffic. I'm usually in stop and go traffic for 15-30 minutes each way to work every day.

A couple years ago I bought a used Jeep Wrangler with about 8k miles on it. It seems every damn Jeep I looked at had an AT (same thing with looking at new Z's). This Jeep had everything I wanted on it and was priced right to boot, BUT, it had an AT. I bought it thinking, its still a Jeep and would be fun. Well, it never did feel like a Jeep and I only kept it 6 months.

I'd hate to see you buy the AT and then regret it. As far as how great a job Nissan did with the AT, yeah well, they might have, but its still an AT. I just sold my wife's car - an A4 Quattro with a Tiptronic. I've driven 911's and Boxsters with Tiptronic too, and I'll bet money the Nissan AT isn't better than the Tiptronic. It didn't feel like I was driving a Porsche and I've owned two MT Porsches (please correctly pronounce it Porsh-a LOL). I even read a review that some big time sports car champion wrote about the 996 Turbo in AT and MT after racing them both around the track. He preferred the AT and had faster times. He can have them, I'll keep the MT.

My view, and this is strictly MY OPINION, AT's were put in the Z for larger market share - women and old men. My $.02

Good luck and enjoy whatever you decide to buy.

BigMike

Aggro_Al

You bet I'm getting defensive and I'll tell you why. Your previous statement before the one I quoted here is not an opinion or an observation. It certainly isn't a fact or humor. It's not even a misconception or a lie. The sole purpose of your previous statement was to boost your ego and to put those down that don't share your view on the 6MT. If that isn't fanboy speak, then tell the forum what the real purpose of your statement was. That kind of stuff doesn't belong in a forum where people are trying to share their experiences and knowledge in a generally friendly, socialable way.

You mentioned that the 5AT can't manually select gears like the 6MT but you forgot to tell us why not. Now if you can provide information as to why the 5AT can't manually select gears that would be a contribution to the forum. So please, inform us why it can't be done and I will apologize for calling you a fanboy.

I own the 5AT Z and I've driven the 6MT Z on many occasions. I think that both transmissions are great. I'm very familiar with the capabilities of the Nissan 5AT and the 6MT and with most other types of transmissions out there. Just ask anybody who has been on this forum for a while. Please don't belittle me or others that don't share your views with statments like "u don't know shifting in a manumatic 5AT" and not back it up or explain why.

BTW: F1 cars do not use a paddle clutch. There is no such thing. F1 tranny uses paddle shifters. The F1 tranny uses an electro-hydraulic clutch just like the Nissan 5AT.

bixby

iTrader: (2)

Personally I would get the stick. I've been driving 100+ miles a day (2.5 to 3 hrs) for almost 20 yrs and always in a Z and always a MT. But I love driving a stick.

This car (or any sports car) is the most fun with a MT. So you just have to ask yourself if you'll be happy driving in stop n go, constantly changing gears and working a clutch.

The other think to consider is HILLS! Do you have a lot of sloping roads to travel and how comfortable will you be doing it. It takes a lot of practice to 1. not roll back into a car behind you who is right on your a$$ or 2. not burn up your clutch. Considering where you live this may not be a huge problem though. Not like driving in San Francisco anyway.

JDUB34

heres alil exerpt "The clutch is hand operated, and exists as two paddles, on either side of the steering wheel, and the gear changer is also on the steering wheel in the form of two paddles, one on the right for an upchange, and one on the left for a downchange"

taken from this site..take a look.. there are also many more just like it to prove that there are paddle clutches on F1 cars... F1

and if anyone is a fanboy here.. its you... maybe even alil bit of 6MT envy im feelin from you..

the reason why a manumatic isnt a TRUE manual is because the clutch is automated... in a 6MT you have to manually engage and disengage the clutch...

im not saying a MT is faster than an AT or anything like that... i just feel it takes more skill to operate a MT, thats a fact... sure there are more downsides like stalling the engine, grinding the gears, rolling backwards trying to start from a steep incline... but when everything is clicking its very satisfying..

Livn-4-Tdy

I don't think the AT is preferred by women and older men.... just an option like with any other car for ANYONE.

wahoo5

There is nothing wrong with prefering an auto over a manual, but this statement is just wrong. An F1 and several street cars, such as Ferraris, the BMW M3, Aston Martins, etc, have an electro-hydraulic clutch and a manual transmission that you shift with paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel. The 350Z, and lots of other cars, offer an automatic transmission that allows you to manually select gears. There is no clutch, electro-hydraulic or otherwise.

No flames; just facts.

Faluzure

Personally, I think females who can drive a MT have much more appeal to me. I don't know, I just find it attractive...

Livn-4-Tdy

me too! ......even though I love to drive MT, I got an AT...still a very fun car to drive!!

BigMike

Right, my wife can drive a MT as good as anyone, but she'd prefer an AT. My statement wasn't saying that women and old men drive AT cars. My statement was the AT in the Z expands their market share to those people.

Look at sports cars that only come in MT like the Z06. I'll bet you can guess the gender/age breakdown for those cars.

Livn-4-Tdy

I'm sure the gender/age breakdown for ANY sports car are Male...but the whole hobby and love of cars in GENERAL is a male dominated category. MT or AT..doesn't really matter.

hypeiv

iTrader: (2)

stick fan boys keep me from showing up to Z and other import meets... i just get to much shiv for driving an auto and don't like to hang out with people like that. Its not rocket science driving a stick... I can do it I just choose not to... same way I chose to buy a car with an electric starter and not a hand crank.

If I knew Z people where this anti auto I would have seriously considered a different car. And the way you guys talk I am sure it would be good riddance to the "auto *****" if I left... one member on this forum has the username "autois4pussies" or something like that.

bixby

iTrader: (2)

Must be a geographic thing. I know for a fact no one here in No. Cal cares if you drive an AT or MT. We're just out to have fun & admire this beautiful car and see what mod's everyone has.

As far as I'm concerned, more power to you if you choose to drive an AT. I'm sure the car is just as much fun to drive to you at an MT is to others. Some, like my wife who drives a MT extremely well just think it's to much work and takes the enjoyment out of it for them. To each their own.

If you guys want to continue flaming each other perhaps you should start your own thread.

gburch

I checked with my local car club and they have a lot of AT members. I specifically told them i drove AT and would like to come to the club but didn't want immature kids/adults constantly questioning why I drive AT. I am there to have fun not explain my decisions to someone who only asks to belittle me. So if you are on the west coast of FL don't worry the car club seems very friendly .

Aggro_Al

JDUB34 thank you for making this post something that can be discussed.

You are right that there are manual clutch control on each side of the steering wheel but this manual clutch is not used for gear shifts nor is it a "paddle clutch", it's a "clutch paddle". The paddle is the activating lever for the manual clutch it is not the clutch. This clutch is only used when the car is at the starting line, at the pit or if the car is in a spin. That clutch is like shifting the car into neutral on a standard manual and/or to prevent the engine from accidentally engaging.

There is another set of paddles that are the gear shifters and this is controlled by an electro-hydraulic clutch which is automatic.

You are also correct in recognizing that the auto trannies have automatic clutches. That is part of the reason why they are called automatic transmissions. Even though the 5AT doesn't have a clutch pedal that doesn't mean that the driver can't manually choose when to shift or manually keep the transmission in a given RPM/Power range like the 6MT.

As far as 6MT envy, I like the 6MT there's nothing wrong with it I just prefer to drive the 5AT. Both trannies are great.

JDUB34

uh.. same thing... sorry i put the word "paddle" before the word "clutch"..didnt realize this was english 101...

anyways... truly manually shifting the gears isnt only about picking which gear u want to be in like your 5AT but it also involves manually engaging and disengaging the clutch.. which u dont do on your 5AT which is why i dont regard "manumatic" to be truly manual..

Aggro_Al

All multi-gear transmissions be it in a car or some other machine has at least one clutch. The clutch is what makes it possible to have more than one gear.

The F1 and it's brethren like the SMG are automatic transmissions. The shift command is electronically controlled. The driver of an F1 or a Tiptronic transmission only gets to choose when they want to shift. They are sequential automatic transmissions as opposed to standard automatic transmissions which has very limited manual control. The actual shift process is handled by a computer that controls a hydraulic valve body that in turn activates the clutch. Almost all F1 and Tiptronic transmissions have a full auto-mode which allows the transmission to handle the whole shift process including when to shift. One exception that comes to mind is Toyota's SMT. It has no auto-mode.

The F1 transmission use the parts of the manual gearbox and use the technology from the torque converter autos to automate the shift process. On the BMW SMG, the manual gearbox and the SMG gearbox are exactly the same. What makes one an automatic and the other a manual is pretty obvious, the 6MT requires the the driver to manually operate the clutch and manually change the gear, on the SMG the driver just tells the computer he wants to shift and the rest of it is automated or it can be fully-automated. BMW's Dealer Manual calls the SMG an automatic transmission. In the US, it doesn't help that SMG stands for "Sequential Manual Gearbox" but almost everywhere else in the world it's calls the "Sequential M Gearbox" after the M Series BMW.

Here's a link to one of BMW's Dealer Manuals on the SMGII. It's a pretty good read for people that are interested in the SMG. In the manual they call the SMG and all-automatic transmission.

BMW SMG Dealer Manual

I'm not sure why you think that the Nissan 5AT doesn't have an electro-hydraulic clutch. They started using electronic controls for shifting in mainstream cars with torque converters in the 70's. By the 80's, every torque converter based transmission had electronics that controlled the shifting. The Nissan 5AT has at least six clutches so I'm not sure where you got the information that it doesn't have a clutch. What it doesn't have is a clutch pedal.

Here's a short course on automatic transmissions.

Automatic Transmission Primer

In the link above you'll see some of the controls and clutches the auto transmission uses. The Nissan 5AT is even more advanced than this. It is one of the most advanced sequential autos on the market. Many exotics don't have an auto as advanced as the Nissan 5AT.

Also, there is no techical reason that Nissan could not have added paddle shifters to the steering wheel. The most likely reason for not adding them was probably cost.