I learned the hard way about getting AT's with sports cars. When the time comes to selling it you will have an infinitely rougher time moving the car. Prepare for comments such as "if it was a stick i'd be all over it", and the one you heard "oh, its an auto".

There is no replication of the experience of driving a stick. I don't care how good the autoshifter is, it is not the same.

Go with the 6 speed and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

 

Trade it in. A stick is so much more fun. You have so much control over the car and it's easy to learn. IMO, a car isn't a sports car if it's no a stick. No offense to you.

My only concern would be if you find yourself stuck in traffic a lot. Then I would have to think about having a Z all together.

 

I love how these threads always turn to AT/MT wars lol. IMO trade it for a MT, my reasoning is that you are questioning your purchase so early into buying it, in the long run you will be happier. As for me I went with an AT for personal reasons, partly because I was sick of driving MT cars all my life and the Z has a damn good AT. I do have to admit theres days I miss that clutch pedal, but those days are few and far between

 

some people say the craziest things on this forum when it comes to manual vs. automatic. It's not that big of a difference at all ive driven the 6 speed and both the automatic it comes down to your personal preference. I have an auto and me and my friend decided to switch cars for a couple of days we both decided that their is not much difference in performance at all. I race 6 speeds all the time i have had only one beat me and he was more modified then i was like i said most people that have manuals can't even drive them to their full potential. I had the same thought that i wanted a 6 speed but after the test drive nah im happy with the auto in the z. I say if you don't have to lose any money then go for what you want if you lose money on the deal stick with what you got.

 

MT, there's no other way

 

Yeah, I've used the tiptronic, but it just doesn't feel the same to me. And if I were to get a MT, I'd probably check to see if it has had work done on the tranny already, because when I bought my current car it was already out of warantee, and its had the window problems and the hatch problems. Dunno if the previous owner was retarded or something.

 

Look its simple. If you enjoy shifting, get an MT. If it bothers you stick with the AT. I personally enjoy shifting. It's fun. And don't be worried about 'not knowing how to drive a stick' it aint that hard. I bought an MT car without knowing and i learned in about 10 minutes. Not saying I was smooth or anything, but it's really not hard to learn.

 

My previous car was a Dodge SRT-4 and when I bought it I didn’t know how to drive stick. My brother came down for the weekend, and taught me and after two days with my brother, he left and I was stuck with the car and being a novice. But in no time I picked it up. I still remember that first day I took it out by myself.

 

If you cant drive a 6 speed I would recomend keeping th AT. Because clutches and trannys can be expensive on this car and IMO this is not the car to be learning how to drive an MT. You will prob. end up in a wall or something when you pop the clutch and ur a$$end winds up striking something. But if this dosen't bother you, then go for the MT. IMO they are fun as hell to drive, if you know what you are doing.

 

Nissan should have just made the Z a manual....
We would have no war.

 

i learned manual in one weekend. go to wrent-a-wreck and rent a manual car for under 25 or 30 bucks for the weekend. then, go the dealership and trade in your car for a manual. I will teach you to drive stick for a 12 pack. then, after i finish the 12 pack, i will teach you how to drift.

 

Actually, if some peeps just grew up there would be no war...

 

Get the 6-speed now!! Okay, think about it, then get it...

Anyway, I test drove the 5-speed auto for a couple of days (it was a rental from LAX Hertz). Decided on the 6-speed because I assumed, correctly, that the interaction between man and machine was enhanced when I actually shift the gears myself. Also, I agree with the statement that a sports car must have a manual transmission...

FWIW, I learned to drive manual on my Eagle Talon...it's easy and I don't think you'll have much problem figuring it out over a few days of practice.

Besides, I love hearing the engine as I hold it in the higher rpm band where the auto normally would have shifted up.

Be happy!!

 

Read all of the manual transmission complaint posts ['03-'06], then you'll have second thoughts.

 

Was your car the chrome silver one I saw parked next to grande burrito two days ago?

 

The last several vehicles I've had were AT and I absolutely hated the way they shifted and when they shifted. Perhaps AT suits a big vehicle or one that's not fun to drive, but it would be wrong to do that to a Z. Just my opinion. Remember how the typical AT upshifts - slow, sluggish and seldom at the right time... then remember how it downshifts when you floor it... slowly and sluggishly all over again. All that wasted energy, heat, time... Do justice to the Z and go with the MT!

 

ROFL i bet you will haha

 

Actually its easier to sell an automatic, you have a bigger demographic to sell to. With MT's your main buyers will be guys between 16-25, where as with an automatic you can also sell to girls and people over 35 who prefer automatics for the most part... (And before I get flamed yes I know there are girls and older people who prefer MT's but that's more the exception then the rule).


Nissan needed the 350z to have big sale numbers in order to justify building it. Limiting it to manuals would of decreased sales by at least 70%.

Honda can afford to make low production cars like S2000 (manual only), Nissan cant....

 

Been in your shoes before. Trade it in for a stick. It should be close to an even trade if you shop right. The long you wait the more you'll be in agony wondering what it's like.

 

Not going to happen....

Besides, you never see a heated "manny vs auto" thread on any of the S2000, EVO, STi, or Lotus Elise forums.

But yeah I know I know...blah blah blah, sales , make money, make profit.... hell Nissan is already developing a handicap 350z for paralyzed drivers. (no gas pedal, all hand throttles.)