My 6MT vs Auto driving impression. Opinions please

LakeShow

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FPenvy

plus AT in D means no shifting = no blocking of a female crossing over = .... lol

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kidkotic2001

I have always driven Manual cars from my eclipse, to my 350z, When I got my 09 all they had was auto and one base manual. I opted to for the Auto I liked it a lot, plus I drive through traffic every day. I do not miss the shifting in traffic. In the end I do not mind either auto or manual.

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macaddict111

Here is my take on why I chose to get the auto:

The last car I had was a 6MT Tiburon. Yeah yeah, Tiburon... Whatever you think about them, believe it or not, it was an unbelievable car. It had so much torque (albeit mainly because of the gearing [3500 RPM going 70 in 6th lol])! Also, the Tib had a cable throttle, so just INSTANT response. Now that the Z has all this cool technology like dual intake and VVEL, this requires an E-throttle. I don't mind those! But for the manual and for a sports car, it just seemed like the intimate quick responsiveness I had learned to love and had gotten perfect at over the years was only being imitated now. The throttle just didn't seem responsive enough for me compared to the Tib, and it felt like it lacked so much torque! It just seemed like in a car with so much perfectly-tuned computer control, putting a manual in the middle of it muddled it all up. With the auto, I feel like the computer can do it's own, grand thing, in either mode. The auto feels MORE responsive to me after having drive 3 manuals, one for a whole day! Plus, as many others are saying, the auto is just simply more torquey, and that's what makes the car FEEL fast and responsive. And the Adaptive Shift Control is a very real thing, and it's what really sold me on it. I honestly feel like I don't need a manual now, because even in full auto mode, it's like the computer is reading my mind!

UNKNOWN_370

Glad you're loving the auto.

Shamrock

The question is if the AT transmission is bulletproof like the manual? I have the AT and I love to drive it as a manual but I am afraid of ruining it. I am afraid it wasn't made to constantly shift up and down at different revs than it would have chosen if in full auto mode.


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FPenvy

i drive my 7AT in manual mode almost 100% of the time. only time i do not is a few mornings a week driving to work when i'm not fully awake so i leave it in auto-pilot lol

but as for "bulletproof" i am unsure. i do know that the AT can only handle a certain amount of torque until you have to beef it up. as for the constant shifting up and down in manual mode i dont know yet. i hope it can handle it because as i said before i drive mine in manual mode about 95% of the time.

if anyone else has info on this i'd like to know as well.

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wstar

I've been driving mine in manual mode since I bought it. Just about to flip the 30K miles mark, and no issues so far. Maybe 20 miles of that tops have been in D-mode, rest all manual shifting. It gets a track weekend about every 6-8 weeks lately, too.

I did do a full fluid swap at about 20K, which is also about the point I installed an aftermarket transmission cooler (small Setrab core), because the 7AT does get a little bit "mushy" and slow if you let the fluid overheat from an extended session of aggressive/track driving. The tiny Setrab core that Stillen uses in their kit was enough to fix that up (I didn't use their hoses and fittings though).

While that's all positive, I don't have any illusions about its longevity. Ultimately, it's still an automatic transmission, and internal clutches will wear out, etc. I imagine at some point, long before the 6MT would eventually die somehow, the 7AT will need a rebuild. I don't think anyone's put enough hard miles on it to find out when that is. My rough guess for planning purposes right now is that I'll make it to at least 60K even with all the track days before it starts becoming an issue. Maybe longer if I'm lucky. I'm sure they rate it for ~100K, but probably not with me driving .

As for torque, the unit is rated for a considerable margin over the stock engine's torque output. It's rated for 295 ft-lbs, which is more than enough to account for bolt-on mods. Once you start getting into FI territory though, you're exceeding the design's torque limits, and you'll probably burn it up faster. GTM makes some internals upgrades to help with that.

The mfg (Jatco) also makes an alternate version of the same transmission which is used in the 7AT SUVs from Infiniti/Nissan, and is rated for 442 ft/lbs. I still think swapping one of those in might be the best option for FI, but I don't think anyone's seriously tried that method.

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Felix 808

I use to be a manual or nothing guy, especially in the 4x4 world in which I lived. Since getting older & understanding a lot of advantages of an auto, I have appreciated an auto a lot more at times.

When shopping for my Z I looked to get an auto, because albeit few, there would be times that my wife would need to drive the car . Anyway I went shopping for the auto with some disappointment thoughts in mind. After a long spirited test drive in the 7AT Z & running throught the gears manually & seeing how it holds a gear, I was thinking to myself this could actually be really nice. I never got to drive a manual Z, but I have had no disappointed feelings while driving my 7AT. I'm loving it

YMMV

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