I know 3 different guys in our local Z club that went from a GTR to the 370z. All of them said it was because of the manual transmission. I mean they all raved about the GTR and how good it was. Didn't really mind that the car did a lot of the "driving" for them. It was all about the fact that they couldn't actually drive a manual. Having driven a DCT/PDK Lambo, Audi R8 V10, and Porsche 997 turbo I would have to agree. In a racing situation on a track the DCT/PDK style transmissions are phenomenal and I would chose one in a heart beat. However, for a car that is a daily driver and sees the track on occasion (non-competitive and just for fun) a manual transmission is what I want. The GTR is a beast but on the street most often than not you would leave it in automatic mode which takes away from part of the driving experience.
The other reasoning I've heard from other people who went from faster cars in general to a 370z is that having something with 500+ hp for a daily driver is almost pointless. You almost can't get aggresive with this type of car as you are quickly exceeding any type of speed limit or law. That's not to say the 370z doesn't quickly get you passed the limit but compared to a GTR or Vette Z06 it does take a bit longer. It's the same reason people praise the miata and the new FR-S/BRZ. The limits of the car are so low that you can actually string them out on the street and still be relatively safe doing it.
Personally I think the GTR might have more sales or retain more drivers if they had a manual option. But because numbers in magazines sell cars they stick with the DCT. It's the one reason I won't move to a GTR like I was planning to when they first came out.
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