Hi Folks

I have fallen in love with the 350z and upon deciding to take the plunge, I have found that they are unavailable for 9 months from Nissan.

However, there is a dealer that imports (I am in the UK) to stock and has 7 available!
The only problem, is that the ones with the spec I want are Tiptronic and I have no experience of this.

Could someone enlighten me, as to whether this is effectively an automatic (torque converter) or a manual with an automatic clutch?

Also, with TT, can you use the gears to brake the car like you do a manual, or does the car float or jerk?

Any opinions on tiptronic would be gratefully received!

Also, does anybody know whether Cruise Control is included with the "T" spec?

I have looked around the forum and not found the answer to my questions. My apologies if they have been answered elsewhere!

Best regards
Shady

 

I think its an Automatic with TC, but I personally find it alot of fun and conveinant to be able to switch between the 2, at first I hardly used it but the more I became acustomed to it, the more fun it became. Manual would give you the ultimate control of course..

 

Are you saying that tiptronic is manual with additional paddles on your steering wheel?

 

Oh no its automatic by default, if you wanna go into manual mode, slide the stick lever to the right into manual mode, and you nudge the stick forward or backward to shift manually. Nudging forward for Up and back for down.
It automatically returns to 1st gear if you come to a complete stop.

Its quite resposive I find, I hav'nt tried any other kinds however.

 

After 35 years of shifting, I love my tiptronic-the manual mode is best for sound but I find it shifts faster just left in D. Your can downshift in manual mode and when you come to a stop it automatically goes to "1". Can't use brake-torquing without removing brake fuse(power to engine is cut) and turning off A/C and TCS seem to help.

 

no mistake it is a automatic, the heart of it is automatic, but it simply lets you control what gear the auto is in. everything else about it is the same except you can control the gear more(example cruise at 5000RPM if you want).

you cannot make it shift faster, clutch drop, or engine brake like a manual can(you can engine brake I beleive, but the torque converter loses much of that force)

not bad for traffic tho, easy on the left leg.

 

in case anyone missed it or is interested, there is a way to brake torque or do burnouts in a 5at without removing the brake fuse. here is a link to a thread from a while back https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....0&pagenumber=2 . you wont have the 30% power loss associated with normal brake torquing in the 5at, and you can rev all the way to redline instead of just to 3k rpm. however, your brake lights wont work when you have the switch depressed (same as removing the abs/brake fuse).

 

gmoorjr is right...if you are racing from a stop then keep it in D and it will shift better,,,but the manual mode is good when you like to get quick accelerations when you are already moving

for example...if you are are cruising at 40 in D you aremost likely in 3rd....but in manual mode you can be in 2nd and accelerate faster

sorry if im just stating stupid facts but i thought that was a pretty plain and easy explanation

 

Its an automatic w/manual mode and has a Torque Converter. You can shift it for yourself in manual mode, it will hit the rev limiter if you don't shift it manually in this mode. It reverts to 1st when you stop always. You can cruise in 1st(I don't recommend using this gear), 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th with the manual mode. It will hold the gear until you shift it. It's fastest in full automatic, but its more fun to shift yourself in manual mode for me, I drove manuals for 38 years and this transmission is more fun than any I'ved ever owned, manual or auto.

All models except the Base have cruise control in the U.S. I assume when you say "T" spec, its Touring like mine and I have cruise control, yours should have it too.

You can use all gears to brake, except 1st. 2nd can be used to brake under 30mph, but you need to be Braking when you change, or you will get an expensive sounding CLUNK. I don't like to change to 2nd until it is under 20mph, you can do it under 30mph, but be very careful that you're hard on the brakes.

Unless you are at WOT, the full automatic is very quiet in operation, using the manual mode allows you to hear the exhaust growl. I drive in manual mode 75 % of the time, full auto mode is used for highway cruising or when I want maximum kickdown for the best gear to get the fastest acceleration.

I hope we have answered your questions.

 

I'll just add my 2c worth. I just traded out of a 6 speed Enthusiast Roadster into an auto Touring Roadster You can't compare it point to point with a manual shift. The manual shift is the best way to enjoy the car, hands down and can't be replicated. I've also never driven any other manu-matic shift car. However, I have to say that about 90% of the fun of driving my manual Z roadster is still here in the auto, and when I hit bumper to bumper traffic in my commute, well, having the auto makes me smile!

I drive in manual mode probably about 60% of the time, usually until I hit traffic congestion, and then I pop it into drive. Otherwise, I'm shifiting gears myself in manual mode. I echo the comments about when you want to go into 2nd gear. Early on I shifted into 2nd at a little higer speed and didn't like the sound of that event, either. I'm doing the same thing, i.e, braking and below 20 before I drop it into 2nd. Also, I just realized (after reading my owners manual) that it automatically would down-shift if you are in manual mode and come to a stop. That is pretty handy if you don't want to think about downshifting on your way to a red-light or stop sign. Otherwise, I also prefer to downshift and take advantage of engine breaking.

All in all, it isn't the "best" of "both" worlds, more like the best of 1 and good enough in the other. But at least there is that option, and it is a darn good one! I still hope that I can get myself healthy again so that I can comfortably shift a manual transmission. But in the event that doesn't happen, I'm quite content to get by in the manu-matic world. I don't think driving an automatic has ever been this much fun.

srm

 

Here! Here! I second that

I'm enjoying mine a lot too!