Being able to set up your gears for upcoming corners is priceless, just one of many reasons I lOVE my 6MT, cant do that in an auto.

 

Well, My ZR is auto, But my other car - 600hp r32GTR is manual with twin plate clutch. I feel the Zed is more comfort sport car. Even you get a manual Zed, you will never get close performance to the GTR. One more thing, it seems that the auto is more easy to sale 2nd hand too for this class of car

 

The auto in the zed can be put in 5MT mode for the corners as well, just like the playstation GT3 MT mode

 

Who is Otto Tranny and what does he do for a living?

 

It seems like maybe all the 6sp people buy the Z quick because Nissan claims when they started making the 350Z it would be like 70% manual and 30% auto, but I have to agree with some people it is hard to find the 6sp now. The first year it was hard to find the auto, but not anymore.

Well I don't know if you can say it only young people who don't want a 6sp. But like other say mostly because they can't drive one. Most family cars since the late 90's car are mostly autos so that doesn't give a chance to learn. While most young Americans only know how to drive an auto because it all they have seen. I still don't think the Z will be a like that Corvette where almost 80% are autos.

 

no, really?

when you e-shift in an auto, it shifts right when you hit it (just like GT3 MT there is no clutch button genius!), when you shift in a 6MT you can shift into gear but keep the clutch depressed allowing you to set up for corners.

 

Unfortunately, we don't get the ole GTR over here. The Z is the most "uncomfortable" sports car that Nissan sells.

 

Agreed. Isn't that sad?

Does anyone know the percentage of automatic Zs sold? I'd venture a guess it's at least 70% auto/30% manual. I figure if the Z only came in manual, it'd be as rare as the Evo or STi.

Driving schools ought to teach kids on manual first, as an automatic requires no learning. I couldn't find a driving school w/manual cars, so it requires you to essentially learn how to drive twice. To me, manual is safer as it requires you to pay more attention to the road and road conditions. And doesn't permit much horsing around while you're driving. Driving auto, I feel like I can disengage my brain.

 

speaking of the manual become less common trend, when i first got my 6sp i looked for a manual driving class and none of the like 8 places i called did manual lessons anymore because they said there was not enough business for that anymore. oh well i love my 6sp and i think i would have regretted getting the Z in auto.

Rajiv

 

Wow, when i read the title of the thread, i thought there had been a mistake. I thought all young people had manuals. I personally wouldn't get a sportscar in anything but a manual. I guess it is more dangerous and stuff for a young driver but i never really thought about it. I used to have a dodge stealth that was an auto when i was in highschool and i constantly wished it would have been a manual

 

I must say that many of my friends are peer-pressured into learning to drive stick when they get their first sports car. Basically you get laughed at for being a poser if you buy a sports car with an autotranny. "Sorta' like people who go to steakhouse and order well-done steaks..WTF?"
But we are more then welling to teach newbies how to drive stick(with their own car)

A childhood friend of mine got a E46 M3 with SMG.. and we were all giving him crap for "faking" it...BTW he is the same guy that taught me how to drive stick 10 years ago.

 

Manuals are definately more fun to drive than sludgeboxes IMO.

Manual trannys take more input from the driver. They can be more difficult for some people to operate, but they can also be more responsive and more rewarding. There are many techniques you can't do with an automatic transmission. Revmatching, heeltoeing, dump launching, powershifting, engine braking, just to name a few. Not only is the car with the manual tranny lighter, it's faster for more reasons than just weight.

The bottom line is that it comes down to personal preference. Lot's of people who drive manuals constantly pick on people who drive autos. The people who drive autos always have an excuse.

To the poster: Don't worry about other people so much. I prefer a manual transmission, thats why I got a manual. What difference should my choice make to someone else? If I bought an automatic, why on earth would you care?

It's all good as long as you get what you want.

 

This is definitely one reason why I prefer stickshift. You can't eat or drink while driving (I wouldn't allow it either if I had an auto )or use the cell phone on roads (I do on highway driving though). Either way, stickshift is just a lot of fun. I don't care if stickshift becomes a few tenths slower than the auto in the years to come, I'll have fun ripping through the gears and dumping the clutch

As far as the young crowd goes, I think it's more about how cars are manufactured now as previously stated. I'm trying to get my friends (I'm 19) to only buy stickshift cars to help it not go to extinction . I also tell people you have more control of the car, but they don't listen either.

 

Like i said in another thread, I got my auto because of these reasons:
1)Lazy,
2)Impatient in traffic,
3)Parents would of gotten me a Base Model instead, AND
4)Would never be able to trade cars with parents because mom and step-dad HATE driving manual.

Do I know how to drive a manual? Yup, sure do. I trade cars with my brother about once a week and he owns an 02 5-Speed Altima 3.5

And like AceJ said, its still fun as hell to drive.

 

.

 

I find this kind of unusual. When I was 21, 30 now, I bought a new Stealth. The lot had an automatic, but I insisted it had to be manual.
I remember the salesman saying to me, "What is it with you young guys? You all want a stick. What is it, a race car driver thing?"
I guess a lot has changed

 

"I guess a lot has changed"

Nope. Car salesmen are still crafty.

 

well im not gonna lie here im 20 and have an auto Z, and have no regrets at all and ive had my CS for a year and a half now. I was 50/50 between auto and manual when i was looking eventhough i had never driven manual i was willing to learn if i got a manual Z. found a dealer demo, touring auto, vin#189 and jumped on it cause the price was too good to pass up. so that was my reasoning. i enjoy every drive in my car and enjoy the fact that i can be lazy if i want to, and engage myself a little bit with the manual mode if i want. Not to mention the four other people in my family dont know how to drive stick, neither do many of my friends, so it works out great. NOT TO MENTION I BOUGHT MY CAR FOR MYSELF, NOT FOR ANYONE ELSE. Ive got nothing to prove to anyone, i dont track my car, I dont street race. whos to tell me i cant or shouldnt buy an auto. call me a pu$$y if you want but again i bought the car for myself, not you folks.

PS: it also works out great for suckering the girlfriend into DD-ing for the night.(although i do cringe every time she drives it) If i had a manual i would certainly have had many more sober nights this past year...hahaa

 

I can see on a full manual transmission where keeping the clutch in would be beneficial. It would allow you to double-clutch or double-declutch and rev-match. In todays modern autos with electronic clutches like the Tiptronic S or F1 type transmissions, there is no benefit to rev-matching because they don't need to. All you have to do is shift. As a matter of fact, if the car is equipped with a torque converter, depending on the situation it will even convert the impeller and turbine speed difference into more torque.

 

Wow...I feel sorta special . I just turned 16 not too long ago and I got my Z in manual. I love my 6MT. Never regreted getting it. I practiced on an old BMW 3series for like 2 wks., then got the Z, and then I got tha hang of the Z in about a week. I believe that a true car guy would always want the car in Manual because you can have total control of tha car and not have the car in control of you(auto). With a manual car, it actually gives you something to do while you are driving.