Auto 370Z...Is it Good?

ZSPEED

I like the looks of the center console without the NAV. For some reason the knobs and whole interface looks more sofisticated than the center consol of the one with the NAV system, where things looked a little flimsy.

havasuwiley

i'm with ak370 buy what you like.my 03 zo6 vette only came with a 6 speed man,dealer said auto trans wasn't strong enough for 405 hp,that was then now u can get 436 hp vette w auto, i ordered the auto for my z ,love the paddle shifting.

XwChriswX

Being new to the paddle shifting community and not wanting to ruin the auto tranny, I asked the dealer some questions about it and I wanted you guy's thoughts on it.

When your in the 'manual' mode, is it primarily for the start, or can you jump into it mid drive on the highway?

The dealer told me that they dont reccomend shifting (up) until you get above the 3k rpm range... No comment on shifting down.

The reason I ask is based on what they said it was for the... 'When your behind someone slow and want to blow past them, you change lanes, drop a gear or two and blow past them..." I imagine that doing so would really put a strain on your engine initially? Or does it compensate for that so you can do so without having a lurch as soon as you get back into gear and push the pedal?

And lastly (and this confused me with manuals too) When driving, do you shift until there's no longer a strain on the engine to cruise, or do you go all the way to the highest gear and cruise there?

Sorry for all the noob questions, I didn't start learning to drive stick until this May. Primarily to be able to drive THIS car which I figured would only come in manual, but since they have an auto... it's more to my liking and I just don't wanna F*** it up driving home from the dealer lol.

wstar

Re: several earlier comments about the 7AT and drag racing (not that the 370Z is really a great drag-racing platform to start with...), there are both ups and downs. If you go forced induction, you're going to probably have to upgrade the 7AT's internals (and the torque converter would be a good idea too), and that can get pricey. If you don't, it will probably die earlier than it should. The upside is that yes, all other things being equal, an Auto tends to make the best times in the 1/4. It's not that huge a margin though, and with either transmission there's some learning curve and driver skill involved.

Don't listen to the dealer, he's just making up random things that have little bearing on reality. Ask him why, when left in the fully-automatic "D"-mode and driven at light throttle, the car shifts way, way before 3K

You can shift the 7AT any time you feel like it, in any direction. If you try to downshift "too far" (where the gearing would cause the rev limit to be exceeded at the current speed) it will simply refuse and ignore you. If you try to upshift "too early" (such that the RPMs would drop so low as to lug out the engine on a 6MT), it again will simply refuse and ignore you.

Within the usable range, it's all up to you. The higher you keep the RPM needle, the more available power (or engine braking as the case may be) you will have. The tradeoff is the higher you keep the RPMs, the louder the car is, the more the oil heats up, and your engine wear is accelerated a bit versus someone who drives like a grandma (but on the other hand, grandma's engine gets dirtier: hard driving keeps the engine cleaner).

And yes, you can switch between the D-mode and the M-mode at any time while driving. I recommend M-mode all the time, but that's me


The more you ask your car to do, the more wear you put on it. It's just like your body. You play sports, you get bad knees, etc

That aside, there's nothing wrong with downshifting and accelerating, and the rev matching on this car at least eliminates RPM errors which can be harder on the drivetrain. If you're in 7 on the highway in M-mode and you want to pass mildly, just double-click the left paddle to drop down to 5 and floor the accelerator (I'd start pushing the gas down as you are clicking, not after). If you want to more oomph, click all the way down to 4. 3 is pretty useless on the highway unless you're starting out really slow (like 50mph), in which case you probably weren't all the way up in 7 yet anyways.

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XwChriswX

I knew that, just using it as a starting question, since the dealer didn't seem to knowlegeable, I left it at that. Thats why I posted same question here, I knew I'd get a better, more researched, more intelligent response...


Damn smart cars!

wstar

I don't mind smarts that prevent me from damaging an engine

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7AT Track Car!
Journal thread / Car setup details

XwChriswX

Well no not that part lol Just commenting on the car that can be like a prepubecent teenager... NO I DON'T WANNA! lol

Alexus

Keep in mind that contrary to manual transmissions, if you do something excessively stupid, the computer will prevent you from doing it. I haven't pushed the car to its limits yet, but in my IS-F the computer will not allow me to shift past redline. Contrary to the IS-F, though, I don't think the Z emits an annoying beeping sound when you're doing something stupid.

Granted, some modifications to the computer can eliminate the restraints the ECU's map has.

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George S. Patton Jr., 1885-1945