I have had my Z for a week and took it out to "play" this weekend. I began playing with the so called manual option. I am sure it is just me, but seems pointless. The reaction time from lever to transmission engagement is sooo long. You have to really plan the shift out, or so it seems. Is this something that I will learn and will eventually become fun, or is this how it is pointless?

 

er? hardly. you get to maintain control of your shift points, no early shifts, no late shifts, just keeping it in the power band. I know where my car makes power, and there are plenty of times where leaving it in drive just won't do, you can't just punch the gas and wait for it to figure out which gear to down shift to.. faster to do it yourself.

your AT sounds laggy.. not natural, mine is very responsive, I have not modified the transmission at all. ever up in the Everett area? we could compare.

 

It lets you hold a gear w/o automatically up or down shifting as long as you are within a certain range, no matter what the position of the accelerator.

 

Yes unfortunatly I am in Everett nearly everyday...I commute from Tacoma, which was rationale for the Z haha...You work for the "B"

 

thats its main benefit...

as for taking it out to "play" - do you mean you hit up an autoX event??

most short/quick turn autoX courses allow auto drivers to be equally matched with manual drivers since they can shift to 2nd and leave it there and complete the course in 2nd the whole time.....

depending on use it has its advantages... as for responsiveness my friend with an autoZ seemed to shift quicker than you are describing..., but still its all about shifting it when in the right band of power..

-J

 

you guys boeing guys?

Im ex-boeing...worked at Everett on 787..

-J

 

Nah I work for an online place and split my time between the corporate office and our callcenter / distribution center. I am in mukilteo a couple of days a week and Seattle for most mid week days.

our mukilteo facility is actually Boeing's property though! where do you work in Everott?

 

oh cool.......I worked for Boeing in TX and took rotations to Everett on the 787 program for 6 week straight intervals.... I stayed in Mukilteo at the Silver Cloud and ate Ivar's all the time....loved the Halibut.....

I don't work for Boeing anymore, but i did love and miss traveling with them..

-J

 

right on. my dad's been working for Boeing for over 30 years now. Always at the Everett plant. tried to get me to work there when I was looking for work / figuring out what to do with my life and I resisted heavily, didn't want to hop into something I didn't care about or wasn't passionate about. got into IT work instead : )

great place to work though, they really pay well and their benefits are superb.

 

Not sure about pointless.

7. DayBlueZ ---------------------04 Tour Auto 13.170@103.19mph 1.922 60ft Street

drives a automatic and seems to be able to take advantage of the transmission.

 

did u change ur transmission fluid? my did that too and i change the transmission and it become very responsive..

 

Well I can think of two situations where manual override is still useful.

1) on a two lane road when anticipating a pass. It allows you to downshift and rev up well before you pull out to pass. I just witnessed a car trying to tailgate on a pass. Bad idea if you cannot see past the first vehicle.

2) driving up a windy steep road like that to the Haleakula Volcano where holding in gear is a lot smoother.

 

This is how I see it... if you are 'racing', you should already be looking ahead and planning ahead. If you know there is a delay to shift up/down, simply start that process earlier to compensate for the delay.

I will admit though that my auto is also fairly slow in terms of reaction time between when I press the lever up, and when it actually is fully engaged in the next gear. However I haven't changed the trans oil, but i've been really considering doing it as of late. Nissan claimed the AT5 in our cars can go a very long time without oil changes I believe, but I still can't see this as being good. Slow and glitchy shifts in a torque-converter based automatic are commonly attributed to poor oil quality. My Z has seen lots of auto-x and some track days so i'm sure the oil is crap.

Anyhow I've been driving my auto Z for about 1.5 years now, and while I still prefer a real manual and wish I had waited to find one... I can still live with the auto in our Z thanks to its plus points. I hardly ever use auto mode because I don't like it changing gears on me. Plus you need it to hold gears when drifting, because in auto mode it will up-shift when it detects a higher than usual load in an effort to get more torque. Manual mode also helps with driving in snow, as you avoid unpredictable changes in power output to the wheels.

 

just changed my AT fluid at 48k miles myself (2-3 months ago). bought it used around a year and a half ago, no idea if the previous owner ever changed it. my shifts are smooth, quick and crisp. 2nd to 3rd is especially snappy

 

Indeed. There is virtually no lag or delay when shifting up.

Don't forget to keep your foot on the gas when you shift, and also don't forget the more spirited you drive, the faster the shifts are. If you're driving slow and shifting at 2K RPM, it will shift slow and smooth. It adapts to you.

 

3 words. valve body upgrade

 

Op, I got my 5at about 3 weeks ago, and I know what your describing. There is a dely in the time the shifter is moved to comunicate to the ecu it seems. I have did two things reset ecu and adapted. Learn to move the shifter at 6200 rpm in first then 6350rpm all other shifts. This is the only thing that adds a tad bid of experience with using the manual mode. I am used to manual tranny, were you can rev right to redline then clutch in so no limiter hit. The 5at takes time to find the best shift point, too early and you may have left a little on the table, to late and hello soft limiter.

 

I've read that some who FI an auto have a problem with it over-revving at redline and hitting the limiter when going full out in auto-mode. Manual mode would also let you learn to anticipate this and shift at the proper time w/o having to get off the gas at all.

 

[QUOTE=Arnold K.;7981609]Don't forget to keep your foot on the gas when you shift,QUOTE]

This I think was my issue, I kept wanting to take my foot off the gas when I shifted, didnt do that this morning and shifting was more responsive.

 

Bonus question:

A friend of mine who seems somewhat knowledgeable said that manually shifting an AT causes undue heating resulting in less life in the trans. Any truth to this in your opinions?