What are your 7AT experiences?...
 

We hear a lot about the 6MT but little about the AT. What are you new owners feeling and experiencing with the AT?

you're getting a 370 even tho you got a brand new 335i?

I am hoping that is not too crazy. My wife mostly drives the 335 and as you all know it is an awesome car. The z, to me is an entire different animal. It is youthful, pure, and the high revving engine gets the blood flowing like the torquey 335. Did I mention my wife only lets me take it out about once a week...lol

One thing I dont hear much about the 335 is the engine/auto-transmission relationship and how it is very different in that car than in most. The tranny short shifts and gets confused a lot. The high torque is difficult for the auto transmission to smoothly transfer to the wheels. Often with less than half throttle I look like a novice driver with a surge and a lull. I guess I am more in love with high hp high revving engines. I have not drivven the new z yet. I will give my comparo when I do....

Welcome to the forums John. The new 7AT transmission is pretty unique compare to the previous model tranny. It's more refined and does the rev match very uniquely. I have almost asked every 7AT 370Z owners to write a review on what they think and if there are any interesting findings.

http://www.the370z.com/members/ak370...e413-pic-4.png

The car is fast and I am glad I opted for the A/T, this is my first car with paddle shifters so I can't compare it to anything. Personally I feel the gear changes are quick.

Its not bad.

I have not read if the AT is slower, quicker or the same....just speculations. If the mpg is better or worse...What is the best launch for the AT? What rpm r u at at highway cruising speeds? Are the shifts smooth or harsh? Is there a sport shift mode like BMW? and what is the difference. Thanks I love this forum!

the 7AT will be a tick faster, but apparently the manual is more "involving" and "fun"

Why would it be a tic faster? The only AT's I've heard that were faster are true dual-clutch transmissions. A normal driver should be able to shift a bit faster than 500 milliseconds so it would basically have to be a gearing difference, maybe?

.5 sec is pretty fast, not dct fast but almost as fast. See how long it takes to press the clutch and change gears, and release the clutch. I think for most drivers it's going to take more than .5 secs.

Tick faster to what exactly ?...it shouldn't be a tick faster from a standstill to anything because you can't launch it. After that, anyone who knows how to shift a car should be able to shift in under 500ms...thats a half a second for you math impaired folks...

You are certainly right, 500ms is fast for an automatic and not almost as fast as a DCT, sorry. The DCT in the M3 can do under 100ms and the DCT in the GT-R can do under 250ms. Also I don't know how much experience you have driving manual transmissions, but you press/depress the clutch and change the gear almost simultaneously, it isn't 3 different steps in practice. People who drive aggressively should be able to do this in less than 500 ms...

I'll give you the fact that the auto tranny in the Z isn't bad by automatic transmission standards, but don't think that it is better than a good driver with the manual.

+1 I think a good driver can beat 300 milliseconds in a standard.

My understanding is 300 milliseconds is about the norm for an experienced driver in a competitive environment. I have nothing to back that up, but I know I have read that somewhere.

Mark

depends how far the clutch has to travel. For example, in a Mustang I can't see depressing the clutch an letting it out taking under .5 seconds

let's keep the thread on topic. Instead of M6 vs AT discussions, let's discuss the features of the new 7AT transmission and maybe get some actual input from 370Z 7AT members "how they like the transmission/shifting etc".

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.

I test drove both the 7AT and 6MT and came to the conclusion I will continue to buy MT cars.

I probably will never buy another M/T after buying the 370Z A/T.

Agreed... My friends tell me they've never seen anyone shift as fast as me without hitting a gate. I'd say that I'm in the low 300's or high 200's. I'll have my friends record me shifting the Solstice when I get a chance and post it. If you can find an AT transmission in a 370 that can shift faster than me, I'll be REALLY impressed.

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.

Is there are sport setting in the AT? In the BMW, if you move the shifter to the manual gate (to the left), it ghanged the shift points and holds gears to improve performance in spirited driving. Does the Z do the same?

^^ Yes.

"Power on" or Power off"?
 

Is that with "Power on" or Power off"?

+100

Don't care about the who's who of stick shift gods... :shakes head:

For me the performance gap between the two is important. In some cars, there is a tremendous performance hit. It seems like that may not be the case here due to quicker shifts and a very small weight difference (compared to AT's of the past). Another consideration is the amount of power each can handle. In the 350Z, the auto is pretty weak, requiring significant mods to be able to boost power of any significance, while the standard could handle significant power inceases as stock. I think the new AT is the same as in the FX50. If this is true, it can handle well over 390HP. This is a huge leap over the previous transmission and an important consideration when choosing between the two. I have an AT in my 350 and vowed never to get another one, but this tranny just may change my mind.

To be on topic I will compare the 5AT to the 7at in the 08 and 09 G37 respectively.


BOth the 7at and 5AT shift with the same speed and both down shifted and rev matched great. The only advantage I have found so far is the 7AT seems faster off the line. But it is just my feel I have no numbers to back this up so I could be full of it too. The DS mode is awesome when you either let the car do the shifting for you or you take control using the paddles or the stick. I personally use both during spirited driving. It just depends on what I am doing wth the wheel which one I choose to shift from. The one big advantage I see in the 7At over the 5AT is the fuel eco. You are puling far fewer revs at cruising speed in the 7AT for obvious reasons. That being said I really did not buy this car for its MPG lol.


PS just to reminde you the 5AT in the 08 G37 is not the same as the 5AT in the 350Z.

What's that supposed to mean?

"Power on" or "Power off"
 

It means WOT at all times and not power down between shifts. Now back to my question. Is that with "Power on" or "Power off".

There is no doubt that you can outshift some of the older AT's but with how far technology advanced I highly doubt you can outshift porsches new pdk, or mercedes new dsg's. I haven't driven the 7at Z yet but from what I hear it's very fast, no matter how good you are, you can't beat the future

Shift time for the new AT is 500 millieconds. Sure, he won't beat a real Dual Clutch tranny, but he can certainly beat 500 milliseconds. Now the gearing really becomes important as to where you want to be fast.

No experience with 370 but drove the new FX50 with 7AT. It definitely shifted "fast" and crisp, and downshifts were predictable. Nonetheless, I was simply amazed by how well dual clutch tranny in Mistu Evo MR shifted. So, as expected, 7AT is great auto but no where near dual clutch in terms of shifting speed.

Oh! I don't power shift. No-lift-shifts are for turbos in most cases... Even though my Solstice is turbo, the computer doesn't allow a no-lift-shift so I still lift.

Power shifting is for anyone and any car that has a standard transmission that has the balls to undertake it. It takes a very well coordinated and quick person to preform both tasks (hand and Foot) at the same time. Not everyone can do it effectively and not destroy something.

+1
I've seen pretty nasty crashes due to idiots :driving: nice cars...

This is based on personal experience with the 5AT in my G35xS but I imagine it applies to the 370z as well.

I haven't seen this mentioned, but if you are in DS auto mode and get on the brakes, the 5AT will downshift with you and you can usually feel a little engine braking. The engine braking is not very aggressive, but it does downshift a bit ahead of your speed decrease so you do feel it. The really nice part is that if you get back on the gas fast, you are already in an appropriate gear for immediate acceleration. Most ATs would stay in the higher gear and coast so they would then have to drop a big downshift in this situation but the 5AT has already dropped to 2nd or 3rd so you get immediate punch from the throttle. It is actually pretty awesome.

OK... I know what you mean. I used to no-lift my Z. But the clutch and syncros weren't liking it. I'm pretty fast as it is, and VERY well coordinated. :) That's why I absolutely LOVE driving a standard.

That is pretty cool....

An interesting comment in MotorTrend from Didier Theys - a former IndyCar racer and winner at 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring - comparing the ZR-1 with other supercars: "this car would easily be 2 seconds a lap quicker if it had paddle shifters". Obviously he has a stouter transmission in mind than what the 370Z 7at has to offer. Regardless, an interesting comment from a seasoned professional racer.

If the shifts from a sequential shifting manumatic (like my word-ology there?) transmission was as fast as Ferrari's F1 transmissions, paddle shifting would be the 100% best way to go. Ferrari's transmissions shift gears in just a hair over 10ms. These, however, are not clutch-pack style autos with a manual valve body. They're basically standards with a triple-disc actuator-controlled clutch. The shifting is performed by servos and the clutch is controlled by a computer. Paddle shifting is the only human interaction. Although those transmissions are the most efficient and strongest transmissions, they're unfortunately $20,000+!

So in that aspect, I agree. However, some stuff can be done to an automatic to make it work similar to these transmissions, although shifting will NEVER be as fast as these monster racing transmissions.

Upgrading the springs, planets (and planet carrier) and upgrading the clutch packs would be a good start to strengthening your transmission. Once you've done that, you can increase the line pressure on the valve body. (This would actually be quite healthy for the transmission's clutch packs) and that would increase the speed and firmness of the shift. There are kits you can buy for around $30-40 that are basically solenoids that will increase and decrease line pressure on a switch (allowing you to go from stock shifting speed/firmness to faster/firmer shifts). Although I don't recommend doing that until you strengthen the transmission.

If you REALLY want to go crazy, you can rebuild the transmission with a bigger sun gear, more planes, and TIGHT springs. Doing so would allow you to handle LOTS more power. Although, it won't be necessary to do that until you break the 500BHP mark.