I have a question for those of you who drive a "Z" with an automatic transmission.

When you are driving it in 5th gear and decide that you want to slip it into manual mode, does your car downshift automatically into 4th gear and the indicator light on the dash show "4"???

The reason why I ask is that I rented a "Maxima" last week and when I went into manual mode while in 5th gear, the transmission stayed in 5th and the indicator light remained in "5".

But as indicated above, my "Z" goes right into 4th.

Can someone out there check to see if your "Z" goes into forth or do I have a problem with my transmission?

Thanks

 

Yeah, that happens. It's just the way the Z's automatic tranmission works.

 

ditto, mine drops into 4th too.

 

yep it drops into 4th as soon as you go to manual mode. And if your in 5th and double tap down it'll go from 5 -> 3.

 

its just like turning your od. off in regular at. cars pretty nifty i might say

 

Goes to 4th too. I guess its normal

 

The reason I was told that the AT moves from 5th to 4th when you move out of full auto to manual is so that you can get into a passing gear right away. Push to the right to drop the gear. Once in 4th you can shift back to auto, 5th or 3rd in one shift instead of two. The other way to make the AT go to a passing gear in full auto is to step on the throttle fast enough to force it into a lower gear. Depending on the situation this may be dangerous or inconvenient. Most regular auto cars have a button on the side that disengages overdrive or a throttle sensor to do the same job.

Nothing against the Maxima, but it is pretty embarrassing trying to pass someone when you go to manual mode and all you get is a loud roar and no go. Done it a few times in my old Maxima. Sometimes coming out of full auto you don't know if you are in 5th or 4th gear until you are in manual mode. Doesn't happen in the Z.

 

So if you switch over to manual mode while driving, then it will go 1 gear lower then what it is in so that you will get more power, or did i read that incorrectly ?

 

My G35 AT5 does shift from 5th to 4th when you go to manual mode aslo

 

When you switch from auto to manual it will only downshift to 4th if you are in 5th. If you are in any other gear, it will hold that gear when you change over.

 

it wouldnt do that if you bought a real manual.. hehehehe.

 

I thought you wernt supposed to switch from auto to manual mode when the cars moveing.???????????????

 

no, you can switch anytime you want. It won't damage anything.

 

What a jerkass.

 

This topic is for auto Z owners. Guys with manuals should stay out and keep their stupid remarks to themselves

 

Ranger

Your sig says that you're an engineer. If you checked out how advanced the Z transmission is you'd probably find it interesting. I'm an ex-engineer and I was surprised at how much work went into this transmission.

Al