Look folks, auto is fine, but I would never own a sports car w/o MT

I have now owned three Z's all with MT:
73 240Z 4spd
74 260 4spd
07 350Z 6spd

Auto is just fine if health or in-city driving conditions dictate this, but it will never, EVER be my choice unless F1 type paddle shifters come into the Z arena...

 

My wife and I own 4 cars including the Z....all manual. I taugher her to drive manual on her new 89 Mistubishi Might Max truck back in the day...and we still have it by the way. We've both got the attitude that unless we phyiscally can't drive a manual we'll always have them. Two things: (1) I remember like 10 years ago Car and Driver said something about manuals only being 10- 15% of cars being sold and that they were on there way out...still hasn't happened but I guess with SMG type transmissions it's getting closer. (2)One nice thing about so many people NOT knowing how to drive a manual is that there is less chance of your car getting stolen. At least that's what I like to think.

 

I would agree with the region statement...when shopping for mine, all the dealerships that were located in areas of large elderly populations only stocked AT Zs.

 

When I bought my used Z I first shopped new 06s at Classic, out of nerely 40-45 on the lot only 5 were manual and none were touring.

 

After consistently beating the max highway MPG for months now (with about half city driving!), I'm stick for life.

I doubt anyone can get over 26 mpg in this car with an automatic. I could be wrong, of course.

 

I wonder about ordering here. A few have said that the lots only had the MT in a trim they did not want. What would have been the big draw back of just ordering the trim/Tranny you wanted? I guess you get that extra $600 delivery fee....but for your dream car... its worth it right?

 

None are tracks...thats upsetting.

 

Which cars would those be, Bob.

I'm almost as old as you, and have a gearhead all my life, but I really don't recall ever hearing about a car with 4 speeds in reverse.

bill

 

The MT is dying because people come to forums and read about how hard it is to drive one so they are scared to get behind the wheel of car with a clutch.

I have seen a lot of old cars but nothing that had more than one reverse. I seem to remember some old trucks on the farm with a "granny gear" Most of those rusted themselves to death before I had a firm grasp on how cool they were.

 

I was only joking. I figured I might catch some of the younger ones with it but not one of us older guys.

 

Unfortunately we live in a world where driving an auto sports car is acceptable, blasphemy!

 

I bought an Auto based on the fact that I was going to use it to commute 100miles per day. Then ended up getting a free beater...go figure. Right now I'm planning on trading cars or swapping in a manual tranny. It's the price I pay but hey it'll be worth it (my fiance is not going to be happy though lol)

 

Well, the G comes with tampons...

 

I've always driven a manual since i started driving. I tried an automatic 330ci for a few months, but i couldn't take the jerkiness and unpredictability of an automatic.

I have the same problem. 95% of the cars i always look at are automatics. Vettes, mustangs and all other "sports cars". But when you look at numbers over half of those cars made are manuals. So i guess they must be selling in other states, just not Florida.

 

AT's have "jerkiness"?

 

The only CarMax that I am aware of that sells new Nissans is in Baltimore, MD.

 

Going from a stop to moderately fast, my car would not accelerate as smoothly as a manual it would start in a higher gear, then down shift. I've only had that one automatic, but i got rid of it for the 350z.

 

The reason your car did that is because of your driving habits. Had nothing to do with the transmission. The car accellerated normally then you told it you wanted to go quicker. So it in turn downshifts. Don't blame the tranny because of how you drove.

It would be no different than downshifting a MT to accomplish the same goal.

 

When I was shopping, I found two Enthusiasts with MT in Dayton and Cincy Ohio. I ended up with a base model to get the color I wanted. ATs have come a long way and the speeds are on par with MT, it's just that shifting is part of the sports in sports car to me. Indycars don't have paddle shifters, it's a sequential shifter on the right side of the cockpit. The paddles on the indycar steering wheels are the weight jacker and the radio activator.

 

Are there any statistics from Nissan on how many 350Zs are sold with either AT or MT during any model year?