hi,

i am considering buying a Z soon and I was looking into both the auto and manual.

i had driven a manual for years and quite enjoyed it. After my job moved downtown i got an automatic so i could have coffee going to work i guess...

anyway i still miss the joy of a manual and i was curious about the manual mode in the auto.

what exactly is it? is it just an additional stick that can be switched without any clutch operation? can it be used all by itself? that is can i start the z in manual mode...drive in manual mode and stop or can it only be engaged once in drive?

i am sorry if this is a basic question - but i have never been exposed to this dual mode transmission.

any helpful answer would be appreciated.

 

basicly it operates as a stick shift does. to you anyway.

behind the scenes its still an automatic tranny, which if your familiar with this, differs very much from a manual tranny. it still has a torque converter, and all the oils and whatnot to switch the gears. gear changes take just as long as always, and the same hp losses are still found. still cant do clutch drops or anything like that.

it is an automatic at heart, it simply lets you choose what gear they automatic tranny is in.

there is the clutchless manual(which is not available on the Z) this uses the same design as a regular manual, but instead of you operating the stick or the clutch, it uses hydrolics. this is IMO the best form, but its very new and very expensive still. the automanual is just an input mechanism for the same old automatic tranny, nothing different mechanicly but instead of the computer telling it to shift you can tell it.

 

thanks ares. that helped.