What are your 7AT experiences?...

370ZINMO · 01-10-2009, 09:58 PM

I drove both the 6MT and 7 speed auto today. I fully expected to buy this car as a stick, but after the two test drives I have decided I like the auto better. The shifts were fast using the paddle shifters, and having 7 gears is sweet. Also, for some reason the auto is a more quite car with much less road noise coming from the rear end. If I buy this car it will definitely be the auto.

Crash · 01-11-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 370ZINMO

I drove both the 6MT and 7 speed auto today. I fully expected to buy this car as a stick, but after the two test drives I have decided I like the auto better. The shifts were fast using the paddle shifters, and having 7 gears is sweet. Also, for some reason the auto is a more quite car with much less road noise coming from the rear end. If I buy this car it will definitely be the auto.

Likely the road noise is coming from a higher final gear size in the manual. Because the auto and manuals have completely different gear ratios, the final gear will usually be specific to the last gear in the transmission. That way the RPMs are nearly identical for both transmissions at cruising speeds... It's a good chance that the final gear in the AT is smaller (thus less noise) to make up for the larger last gear in the transmission, while the MT will have a smaller 6th gear which would require the diff to be larger.

01-10-2009, 09:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
370ZINMO Base Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: ST. Louis, MO Posts: 41 Drives: Suzuki Boulevard C50 Rep Power: 289	I drove both the 6MT and 7 speed auto today. I fully expected to buy this car as a stick, but after the two test drives I have decided I like the auto better. The shifts were fast using the paddle shifters, and having 7 gears is sweet. Also, for some reason the auto is a more quite car with much less road noise coming from the rear end. If I buy this car it will definitely be the auto.