2009 Nissan 370Z Automatic - Short Take Road Test

t-ray

Can you find any record of an owner-driven G37 Sedan going 105mph in the 1/4 with the 7at gearbox?

zman1910

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.

t-ray

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.

zman1910

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.