Did not want to repost the entire thing but I did want to say this was a really good post!

I'm very content with the 7AT in our new Z!! Paddles are great when needed (mountain driving, & Passing) and since my wife needs and auto we were happy to hear it was a 7speed that has Auto Sync Rev which can still give my wife the true sports car feel. Blip with and auto? Did I say I enjoy it too!!

I prefer the extra degree of control that the Manual offers, and I feel that way about every car I drive, but to each their own.

Its called a MANual for a reason.

:iagree:

Yeah it called... "man u all" faster in ya paddle shifted man u matics. "Hey guyz wait for m, I'm jerkin my stick but it won't go as HARD as you guys...

Lmfaoooo :icon18:

Meaning of suffix matic. Self willing. = Self willing men. ;)

funny!

Why in God's name would you WANT that feature

EDIT: lol, exactly what you wanted me NOT to do LOL

:p

Edit: I put that in specifically for you. :p

I'm plenty educated! Been driving it for thousands of miles. I understand the mechanical differences, but the bottom line is there's very little practical difference. The 7AT shifts pretty damn fast, fast enough that a 6MT driver following me around the track was envious of the shift times. I'm not being sensitive, but I am defending the transmission. I think most of the naysayers haven't ever given the 7AT an honest shot. It's nothing like other crappy autos you've seen in other cars.

Watch (well, hear) the shift times for yourself: MSRH CCW Jun29 - YouTube

well i dont think im pointing out anything outrageous
the point in getting an auto is for comfort and ease when driving, not worrying when to shift, ect.

now if you're shifting the automatic 24/7
why even get the automatic in the first place?
kind of see my point here

nothing against auto owners, different strokes for different folks but i personally just dont see the point in getting an automatic just to shift it like a manual and play pretend all the time(this only applies to people who keep their automatic in M mode 24/7)

:icon18:

what is this work you speak of?
I dont have to work to drive my car around, imo its just as easy as driving an auto plus im not brain dead like 99.99% of every other automatic driver

Dammit, here we go again with the 6mt vs 7at bs.

It's really not just as easy. There's a clutch pedal. The point of getting an auto and putting it in M-mode 24/7 is you get the driving benefits of a manual (being able to select the correct gear, which a normal auto in Drive never gets right for performance driving), but you don't have to be a heel-toe wizard to get smooth shifts. SRM on our 6MTs negates the heel-toe thing anyways, but still - why have one more pedal to worry about operating delicately to get the same result?

See, it's comments like these that turn this from a friendly debate into a "**** you you're not like me" sort of war.

Here's a better litmus test: if the 370Z came in a DCT version for the same money, would you take it? Some people would still choose the manual because they enjoy working the clutch and like the nostalgia of the skill of driving a manual (in which case I'd assume they turn *off* SRM all the time as well, right?). That's a valid choice, for all the right reasons. But if you'd rather have a DCT than a 6MT, you're missing out by not picking up the 7AT. For all practical purposes, there's just not much difference there. Our torque converter's lockup capabilities are pretty impressive, and the shift times are fast under load. Importantly, it also stays in gear. You can bounce the rev limiter all day if you want. It's not perfect, but it's way good enough.

Rawr.

:stirthepot:

Relevant: an excerpt from a random unsolicited Youtube comment from the track video linked above. The commenter is a 6MT 370Z driver that runs in the same group with me (and has been doing it longer), who was out on track with me that day:

As well it should for the added weight.

I rejected the GTR for having an auto, so yes I would.
Nissan does not make the Nismo in auto for some reason.

/thread


We should use this for all our 7AT vs M6 debates

no it is just as easy, the clutch work is nothing and i have been in LA traffic off the 405 with my Z and still no complaints about the car or the transmission, just the traffic

and comments like the ones i made are true, i dont know if you notice it but when i ride my bike around town, i see so many people driving automatic cars, slamming their brakes 20ft before every red light and every parked car and to top it all off, the person is usually texting, or dialing the phone while driving

with my MT, im always paying attention to the road because if i dont, ill stall out my car, i am not tempted to text while driving because i have to change gears manually, im not tempted to answer the phone when i am driving because i have to keep one hand free to either hold the steering wheel or shift

im not saying anyone here is like that, what i am saying is AT just feed that kind of bad behavior and it is something that needs to stop because it puts everyone at risk, not just the distracted driver but i digress

I have owned/own a few AT cars before, my GS-T Spyder Eclipse is an AT, the 05 altima sedan i use to own was an AT, there is nothing wrong with driving an AT, just i dont shift those cars manually because its an automatic, if i wanted to i could but then what was the point in buying it if i was going to drive it like a manual 24/7 pretending it is something that it is not

maybe that is just one of the mysteries in life ill just never understand but i dont think you or anyone else for that matter can make me see eye to eye with shifting a AT manually 24/7(i can understand using it to downshift to pass up a car or to get a sporty feel in a canyon but to shift it 24/7 as if it was a manual is just beyond me)

if working a clutch is so easy, why would you need a light to tell you when to shift?

Canadian Nismos have AT option I think ..or in Japan.

Driving the AT in M mode 24/7 is not a waste..
Its still a sports car..so being able to select gears and when to shift still makes it fun.
If I could get a 991 I would buy it with PDK and use M mode 24/7 ...and I'm sure it will be fun .

I also don't DD my Z ..Soo probably another reason I do M mode when I do drive it

what?

General Discussion forum ladies and gentlemen. Thank you and good night.

Lol, bye (Mark? Right?)

The downshift on the AT7 is nothing I ever felt before in other Automatic cars with paddles. (Aside from DCT)

:drama:

If a sports car was offered in a manual optioned how I'd like I would pick It everytime over a dct. My shifts may not be as fast or precise but theres a sense of driving enjoyment I get with an MT that the AT guys and their paddles will never understand. And yes I've driven a 7AT z and g and flicking paddles is not the same, whether it bounces off the limiter or not.

If the sports car I was buying had ONLY an option for a dct then yes I'd get that. I'm not a corvette fan but i commend them for keeping a true manual in their top trim, the ZR1, unlike the gtr

^ I get that. There are a lot of drivers who just enjoy the Manual experience. I think "will never understand" isn't necessarily true. I drove a 6-speed car exclusively for a decade before buying the 7AT Z, and often made some of the anti-automatic comments seen in this thread. I can drive a stick pretty well (well, perhaps that's questionable now that I haven't touched one in 4 years!), I just don't want to anymore.

That's why I run it in M-mode 24/7 - I'm used to picking my gear, and I prefer to pick my gear. I know what gear the car should be in based on the situation, and a regular automatic in D-mode doesn't and never will. All an automatic gear-selector can see as input is "Hey we're travelling at 57mph and the engine's at 3,300 rpm and the gas pedal is at 3/8ths", it doesn't know things like "And he's about to make a sudden left turn under braking, so let's predictively move down a gear before we do, so that we have power on tap at the turn's exit, but we don't have to upset the car downshifting mid-corner to get that" versus "And we're about to cruise steadily at this speed for the next mile, let's move up a gear to save fuel and heat".

The act of choosing your gearing is integral to driving a car fully. The act of operating a manual clutch is just an artifact of the mechanism for switching gears.

I relate to the artifact. Similar to: I am the safety on my gun.

I do enjoy the experience. Thank you for recognizing this.

In other "flappy paddle" cars, going into reverse can be weird. Obviously this doesn't apply to the Z or you would not drive it 24/7 in manuel mode. Well done Nissan.

I was just trying to fit in with the stupidity in this thread...

wait, so the 370z AT will not downshift for you to engine brake the car when you are braking?(IE you're coming up to a right turn, you brake so you can turn and the car will downshift automatically to a lower gear so you can make said turn)

see i was under the impression that all AT cars did that(well all normal AT cars), my eclipse does that, my altima did that, my friends auto civic does that, my moms merc kind of does that(she has some problems with the transmission shifting so it doesnt do it all the time)

the only AT cars i have driven that didnt do that were the CVT transmissions and it makes sense why it doesnt do it because CVTs technically do not have any gears

if the 370z AT doesnt do that then i can kinda see why someone would keep it in M 24/7(i still dont agree with it but i can understand the frustrations of not being in the right gear coming out of a turn, whether its on the track or on the streets)

::shakes head:

CVT does not need to do that because theoretically it can instantly be in the ratio optimized for fuel economy and power.

planetary gear AT cars downshift on their own, but not in the optimum gear you want to be as it is programmed to save fuel as default... (like it wont automatically enter 2nd gear to be in torque band before entering the turn). that's when the AT guy paddle shifts to mandate the lower gear to get in the torque band to prepare for powering out of the turn.

Since everyone wants to beat up a topic that's years old, I'll move all your posts to a thread that's years old and let you continue :icon17:

At first I was pissed that I had Automatic locks. I prefer to lock my doors to be Manual... :roflpuke2:

As much as I like to derail derailed threads how about some devils advocate from a tuning perspective. We know 7at is faster than 6mt in the 1/4 mile.

Most of us here have mods that increase our HP/TQ/Acceleration. You would think all 6mt owners that are going for pure speed would jump on the 6mt to 7at conversion with a tunnel vision view of modding for performance.

But we must also remember that when we change things to make the car more powerful it gets more exciting as well . Exhausts, Intakes, Wheels, plenum mods. Some of us pursue HP efficiencies and solid gains other go for noise and excitement. (IE Post maf tubes + dropins and CBE vs SRi's and shorttails).

It is what makes car modding fun. I personally prefer efficient HP production and the experience is secondary as far as bolt on mods. I do not have a loud intake, I have all my noise deadening material etc. BUT I bought a 6mt over an automatic because I enjoy the experience of driving a manual car. It is a more involved process and even if it is slower it is more fun for me. It is a paradox for sure.. always modding for performance but using an antiquated method to shift gears because I enjoy it more. (Similar to people who mod for sound and looks over absolute performance)

If you read all of this then right now your thinking what is this guys point.. and the point is.. stop reading a forum and large walls of text and go enjoy your sports car. Who cares about the transmission choice? At least we get to choose still. <--- This is the point... / thread.

Now go forth and conquer in your sports car in the real world and stick to the important threads like which CAI or exhaust is the best... or nitrogen vs air in tires, or which engine oil and VVEL mesh the best.


TL : DR
Either option is the best depending on the person. The absolute truth is the best transmission is the one we choose because we have a choice.

Yay!

I hate this dead horse so much, I want to keep kicking it. :icon17:






However...

Sometimes I wish I had an AT, because I'm just too tired or lazy to shift.




Aaaand, I wish the AT didn't have the gear selector on the center console - wish it was done all through the paddles. That may have convinced me to go AT.

Yeah it's too bad that it's not completely drive-by-wire, or I'd just wire up custom dash switch for P/R/N/M and then have just the paddle shifters. Unfortunately the stick also manually moves a mechanical selector on the side of the transmission for P<->R<->N<->D, so you can't get rid of it. However, the distinction between D and M is purely electronic and hackable.

Would you be able to wire it so it is always in M mode?

can i beat up your gear stick since youre years older than me......and sexy :yum:

:facepalm:

Yeah I plan to experiment with that. I was going to do it this week, but I have company in from out of town interfering with my car-mod schedule. Maybe by early next week I'll know.