Gt-r
 

Looked inside the GR-R at my dealer and there is no manual shift knob. Paddle shifters behind the steering wheel and what looks like a fancy automatic type console shifter. There is NO Clutch pedal!

So, is it an auto or a manual? Sure looks like an auto to me, although with dual automatic lock up clutches. My 2 cents worth.

The GTR has a true Dual Clutch transmission, totally different animal and far superior to either a manual or traditional automatic in switching speed.

IF you find it so impossible to think that a 370z can put down these times that beat the C5 Vette what do you think of the HR 350z's that run 13.1-13.2. It's been well documented that the HR 350z can run these times so it shouldn't be to hard to understand that the more powerful 370z with a better suspension and rear diff ratio would be faster. Perhaps the C5 has too much torque causing it not to make use of it's power off the line

No and truthfully I don't really care to. I got what I needed to out of the mags and that is simply that the 7AT is quicker. All those times are from the same mag using the same testing procedures and fit right in line given the weight of the vehicles. Whether the trap is 105 mph or 103 mph the point is that the 7AT is quicker than the manual.

The most important point to take from this is that it is even harder to screw up straight line acceleration in an AUTO.

I highly doubt changes to the suspension from the 350 to the 370 would significantly impact launching the car hard.

And there are very few HR's that run that low - especially stock. You can't take VeeTec's as being representative of the whole.

The vette's real-world times, taken as an aggregate, would be well below the times of the 370, as an aggregate.

That's not necessarily true - the 7AT being quicker that is. According to C&D it was, but they were two different cars measured by different drivers in different conditions. C&D's corrections for conditions are aweful. Also, they plainly state in the testing procedures that for manuals they do not launch the car hard, nor do they shift particularly fast.

For example, in an article that compared the g35 sedan against the bmw 330(before the 335), amongst others, the best time they were able to wring out of the was something like 14.5 at roughly 100mph. And that was *corrected*. I've got the same car, and with highflow cats, it ran 13.7@102mph. Stock, it ran 14 flat at 101mph.

Automatics will be harder to screw up, and they will be more consistent. But until you mess with the torque converter, the manuals will be able to launch harder. That's a fact. In the real world, the manuals will be faster than the autos - that is, until you start running major boost.

You are bringing variables into the equation. If your gonna do that why even bother reading any magazine specs. You could argue variation for just about anything.

As I stated before the only thing you can take out of this is what they are showing you which is the auto is faster in a straight line. Whether you want to believe or not is up to you. I will believe it since this isn't the only car it has been proven in. And I highly doubt we will ever see a comparison set in ideal conditions.

I have rarely ever read of a car being tested on the same day/time with the same conditions and the same driver. It'll almost never happen so this is all we have to go by and usually mag times are reproducible and somewhat accurate. Hell even most above average drivers can best these times as has been proven on many occasions.

Hard to Shift Paradigms
 

Believe what you want to believe, but the marvel of electronics and engineering are making the manual tranny old school. Clearly, the Nissan GR-R uses basically a super auto tranny with great performance, so what so hard to believe that some of that technology is in the 370Z auto tranny. Believe what you want, but the times are a changing.

Actually the GT-R is a super manual sequential tranny, that has 2 clutches and computer controlled.

You're right about the technology though, the auto tranny has come a long way from the 3-speed slush boxes of old.

Not trying to be a jerk, but you really need to read this.

HowStuffWorks "How Dual-clutch Transmissions Work"

GTR is a manual with 2 computer controlled clutches... the 370z auto has a torque converter and a trans thats just really good... DOES NOT COMPARE... the GTR will shift 1/2 as fast as the FASTEST manual driver... the auto isnt that quick...

Current GTR shifts < 200 milliseconds
370Z Auto shifts at 500 milliseconds
Good manual driver should hit about 300 milliseconds (or so I have read)