My AT has, so far, beatin every MT off the line. Very few of those have beatin me, but when they did its always been when Ive hit 4th gear, when I hit 4th they were already ahead of me. & 5th gear automatic mode is like 6th gear manual. I love my AT, but I do have to admit that manuals are much more fun to drive, not to say that you cant have fun with AT's, just have to be creative lol

 

The only thing I hated about my AT 350Z was the wimpy 4th gear. Loved 3rd though.

 

Al--

Did the stock AT/MT FDs change after 04? Believe they are now 3.5/3.3 for MT/AT.

Which leads to my question...

I've heard that swapping the stock 3.3 FD for a 3.5 FD is one of the best performance mods for the NA AT. Can you explain the science of that, and what the real world results of such a swap would be?

Thx, appreciate your expertise on all things AT-related.

 

3.3AT/3.5MT since the 350Z was released. Not 3.5/3.7

3.5 swap for AT was indeed a good mod to do, whereas 3.5 to 3.9 for the MT. High powered FI apps was the opposite though. A 3.3 can be more preferrable for either transmission.

 

Yup, you are right. It was 3.3 on the AT and 3.5 on the MT when they were stock.

 

First of all, let me say that I was wrong about the size of the FD. It is stock 3.3/3.5 AT/MT.

Second, I'm not to familiar with the actual advantages or disadvantages of swapping the FD so my answer may not be what you are looking for or may not be even right. So, someone who has actually done the swap could give you a better answer.

I've heard that quite a few MTs have swapped their 3.5s for the 3.9s with good success. So, I'm assuming that swapping the 3.3 for the 3.5 would be similar as long as it doesn't put engine out of it's optimal powerband.

In general, going from a 3.3 to a 3.5 would increase the torque multiplication at the rear. The 3.5 should give you more torque and more whp at the same RPM as the 3.3 at the expense of velocity and gas mileage and it might even make the shift changes a little bit jerky. If you're not concerned about having the absolute highest speed or the best gas mileage or living with shifting that's not quite as smooth then a 3.5 swap would probably be pretty good swap if you want more torque and whp and faster acceleration. It would probably put you on par in the high RPMs with the stock MTs. One of the other things you have to be concerned about though is having too much torque multiplication this could make the some of the gears unusable in it's current ratios and actually make the car less than optimal because the engine is out of it's powerband. In this case, you would want to decrease torque multiplication as some people have found out when they went FI.

One of the other things you can look at if all you want is an increase in acceleration without sacrificing too much in gas mileage and still keeping the top end would be a high-stall torque converter. It's probably the best bang for buck on the 5AT that you can get short of getting FI. A mild increase can probably put your car in the very low 5s or the high 4s and still keep it streetable. A good high-stall converter and install cost would be less than $1k and it's probably closer to $800 and a couple hours of work to do the whole thing.

 

Interesting, hadn't considered that. Any ideas which vendors offer the high-stall converters?

 

Sorry if there are 200 of these threads I was just wondering. Didn't mean to strike up all this controversy.

 

I'm sure there are quite a few vendors but the first ones that come to mind right now are Level 10, Edge Racing and Pro Torque.

 

Thx, Al.

You da AT man!

 

Your so dam right, 1st, 2nd, 3rd the thrill, then 4th and its a let down the high is over.

 

Yup Al is the resident transmission guru

 

Good thing you don't have to shift to 4th while in the 1/4 though. Took me numerous passes before I realized that. Made a huge difference.

 

4th and 5th are a let down for some people because they are full lock up gears. They use a mechanical clutch the whole time and skip the hydraulic part of the torque converter. Since 4th is the 1:1 gear and 5th is an overdrive torque reduction gear you no longer get the same acceleration feeling as the first three gears. 4th and 5th are also full lock-up gears, you don't get the torque multiplier from the torque converter which means that slingshot feeling you get from the TC is also gone. But, on the positive side you do get better gas mileage and a more connected feel at the higher speeds. The MTs don't hit the 1:1 gear until 5th.

 

IMHO, AT FTL. 'Nuff said.

 

Yea it is a hell of a difference I wish I would have known that sooner. Plus a 3.5FD helps

 

 

just a note for A/T owners. no bashing is needed, im just curious. is the + and - options on the shifter an electric switch then couldn't we just hack in buttons by the steering wheel that'll act as paddles? i'm dabating getting a z over my s2k. i want an auto now because its just uncomfortable to be clutching in and out all day. plus i like the 350z auto. it's not bad.

 

OMFG

 

If you don't want to be clutching all day ... the 350Z's auto is a great transmission. Go test drive one and you'll feel the power even without the MT tranny. Besides, we have a few great quarter mile AT times up there with the MT's in all categories. They're very underestminated-- use it to an advantage and be lazy in traffic at the same time.