I have been searching to find the min upshift points and max speed for each gear. I think I remember seeing it before on here, but can't find it. Does anyone know this information or know which post mentions it?

 

Paging Aggro Al....

 

That information can be found in your manual. Max speed in 1st is 35mph; 2nd is 60; 3rd is 85.

 

Thanks, but those shift points in the owner's manual you list are for the 6MT, not the 5AT. Anyone else know, because I can't find that info in the owner's manual.

 

i dont believe shift points should be put in word on paper because the perfect shift point is dynamic in relation to how you want to drive. also if you want to find the max speed at shift each, than go out and test it out. drive WOT till you hit like 3rd gear. and keep a mental idea of how fast you top out in each gear.

 

Interesting. I checked the 2004 owner’s manual and there are no recommended shift points for the automatic transmission.

Minimum: If you're interested in best mpg, I suggest leaving it in the auto mode.

Best acceleration: Manual mode and shift at redline.

 

What he said...

 

Yup

 

+1 ^

 

WOT??

 

wide open throttle

 

3rd is not 85 btw its like 96 somewhere around there i believe

 

And all this time, I thought that people who bought cars with automatics, just put the lever in D. LOL
MJD

 

ic what you're saying. The speeds that I mentioned are the recommended max speeds. Those are pre-redline speeds I would think.

 

The minimum shift points from what I can tell are:
2nd-5mph
3rd-15mph
4th-25mph
5th-32mph

Since I don't typically redline each gear, I have no idea what top speed is for each gear, but I think 3rd is higher than 85, because I'm pretty sure I've come close to that and wasn't redlining but I don't remember for sure.

 

If you're in manual mode and redline any gear except 5th... what happens? Will it bring you into the next gear or will you bounce off the rpm limiter or what?

 

Manual mode upshifts and downshifts to protect the transmission if you do not. For instance, if you decelerate, the transmission will automatically downshift once you are no longer within the acceptable range for that gear. Conversely the transmission will upshift if you keep giving gas and hit the redline for a gear that is wound out. The only difference to this is that if you are already in full auto and in 5th gear, then switch to manual mode, the transmission will downshift to 4th.

 

Are you sure about the upshift part? My AT has always downshifted automatically in manual mode, but it's never upshifted automatically. It was always my understanding that the fact that it won't doesn't upshift by itself was one of the features that made it unique compared to other manumatics (because it gives more of a sense of driving a true manual).

 

actually i believe it will or at least mine has. but it only happens if you really
push hard well into redline. if you don't upshift it will automatically throw you
into the next gear. i assume WOT into redline. but it is a delayed response.
it takes a second or two for it to happen. i assume as to not intervene to
much unless it thinks you just going to cruise under those conditions. but
when it happens the car catapults like a rocket into the next gear.

similarly, if you are in a much higher gear than you need to be it will begin to
progressively bring you down. for example, if you are in 4th and begin to slow
to a crawl it will bring you down conservatively to a lower gear. maybe 4th to
third, but not all the way down to 2nd. but i don't believe it will ever drop you
to first. as would be the case in a real true manual. you wouldn't really ever
want to drop to first with the car moving with reasonable momentum. so like
a manual i believe it will lock out of first until you reach a certain speed. then
you could tap into first yourself if you want.

the thing i like about the nissan manual mode auto tyranny is that is always
brings the car to first at a stop. one thing i hated about bmw steptronic is
that it only brings the car down to 2nd at a stop. so you have to manually
tap the car into first every time you stop. not sure if the newer bmw auto's
do this though or if the SMGs do as well; i would guess SMGs probably do go
down to first on stop??

 

I'm not sure where it is but someone had posted a link or the actual top-speeds for the 5AT in each gear. I personally don't know what it is and I don't really pay attention to it. If I'm out just driving around I shift around 3k-3.5k. If I want more performance I'll shift at higher RPM. If I want to conserve gas or just be mellow I'll shift at a lower RPM. I personally only manually downshift the 5AT if I want to use engine braking or if I want to keep the engine in a particular RPM range. Otherwise, I just let the tranny manage the downshifts in manual-mode. Unless you are in auto-mode, though, the 5AT in manual-mode may not always choose the best time to shift gears because it tends to only downshift once the gear reaches it's minimum which may or may not be the best time to shift. If you overrev in manual it may delay or cancel your shift. You have to manually choose the correct shift point or let the computer shift in auto-mode to get good downshift points. The 5AT in manual mode will not automatically upshift you if you hit redline. You will just bounce off of the rev-limiter. It is possible to momentarily go over the rev-limiter under certain conditions but my experience is that the rev-limiter will just cut your throttle or the tranny will delay/cancel your shift. This might be different in the MY06.

Top speed in each gear is more of an issue with the 6MT. Unlike the 5AT, the 6MT doesn't have a way to protect itself from bad drivers who don't know when to shift and have to be given specific points that tell them maybe they should think about shifting now before the tranny is ruined.