I would like to know more about the 370z's Paddle shifters.
 

To be honest I know nothing about Paddle shifters, besides thats its like manual with no clutch. I Know people say that manual cars save gas more then automatics so I was wondering if I use the manual mode in my car do I save gas?

Also I was wondering how I use it because I have used it a few times and I have learned that you don't have to downshift because it will down shift for you. I'm not sure if thats bad for the car or if it was made to do that. I do know when to upshift but when it comes to downshifting I am not sure if downshifting early is bad for the car. Anyways I just want to know if the manual mode saves gas or not and if the automatic downshifting is okay for the car or not, and any other info on the Paddle shifters/Dual clutch.

Thanks :driving:

they are plastic.

It's not a dual clutch. It's not like a manual with no clutch. It's an automatic with a torque converter like any other traditional automatic. Granted, it's a good auto, but it's still a slushbox. manual mode will save you no gas, and possibly use more since you'll most likely be in a lower gear than the ECU would be if left alone. It won't let you mess it up by shifting at the wrong time.

thanks
 

Thanks that helps a lot, But I don't understand one thing. What's a dual clutch then?

They're metal

It's THE BEST auto I have ever driven, but it's still an auto, no dual clutch, no clutch, no nothing like Chuck said

And the Auto, if left to its own devices offers better MPG than the manual


:shakes head: it ain't a slush box though, I love it

Google it? It's a transmission with 2 clutches that keeps a spare gear rotating so that gear changes into that gear are really fast

It has two clutches. Half the gears are on one shaft, the other half on another. 1-3-5,2-4-6. That way, when you shift 1-2, it can just disengage one clutch and engage the other and shift incredibly quickly. GTRs, Ferraris, etc have these. You've got a traditional auto box with a fluid filled torque converter and all of the gears on one shaft. The presence of paddles does not make a gearbox a DCT.

Good point I should google that. Thanks

Between both of us, we answered it, lol



Honestly, go test drive the auto

This, if only because the cutaway animations of how these things work are really freaking cool.

Oh I have used it before but I stopped because I was not sure if I was hurting her. haha but now I know that its legit so.....I'm going to go have some fun now :happydance:

Thanks again to all that helped me out

The computer on that thing is smarter than we are. It won't let you hurt it. Go play around with it.

Aluminium.

ok, so they are metal aluminum with plastic look. :ugh:

I thought they were magnesium.

They are. Like on the GTR :driving:

Go away kenchan, lol

See attachment:tiphat:

Pulled from: http://www.nissan.in/en/web/nscuploader/370Z.pdf

they're magnesium , the car downshifts for you if you forget to downshift, like say in an emergency situation and you brake and forget to downshift, the car will do it for you, you can use the gear shifter like a regular 6 spd, the only difference is that its clutch-less, you can use the shifters even in full automatic mode.

and all that jazz.

Magnesium!!!!!!!!

The paddles are the best part of the Z, especially when you row through em. :tup: 7AT Mufucka! :happydance:

I had the guy at the dealership try to use the paddles for a test drive with me in the Z, and he couldnt shift at all. He got the award for the biggest loser in my book, he earned that. :roflpuke2:

I know someone covered this already but I'm a bit stupid and worried that I could screw the car up so... I suck at downshifting I do it to early I am just making sure that if I let it auto downshift or if I downshift at the wrong time I am not messing up the transmission right? Because I don't want to screw the car up...

You're looking into it way too much. Even though its manual mode its not like a true manual as its still computer controlled. you wont hurt the trans because it wont let you downshift if its not feasible. Stop worrying and keep flicking the paddles to your desire. The nanny has your back.

hope this helps









https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-...w=1366&bih=622

Thanks guys the video was help full and the comment as well. I was on really asking if it can mess the car up, due to low money and I was making sure I did not have to lose the car lol. It's to beautiful to lose =P Thanks again for the help I appreciate it a lot:tiphat:

Always thought they were magnesium. Some of the nicest feeling paddles around imo. Large, beefy feeling, and column mounted.
The only way you can mess up your transmission is if you rev it in neutral and drop it into drive. So yeah, don't do that and you're fine. I've accidentally done it a couple times while using the shift stick to shift. Nudged it over to D instead of M and shifting up resulted in it going to neutral. Revs spiked. I panicked and put it down into drive. Car lurched pretty hard. No longer using the shifter to change gear anymore.

Umm, you can't "row" a slushbox. Rowing is describing the shifting action of a manual. :driving: <<<Smiley is rowing. At least you didn't call it tiptronic or some other absolutely terrible buzz-word :tup:

:tup: Plus we all know that shifting with paddles is VERY difficult....oh wait, just flick the damn paddle.

Yeah, and so much faster... Lol

Got 'em but rarely use them. The automatic is such a pleasure.

to some people it might not be as simple as all that...

I was recently driving a 370Z 7AT at COTA, and those paddle shifters threw me off completely. Since I drive a 6MT and have zero prior paddle experience, a lot of my focus was on the paddles themselves and not my lines. I was only in the 7AT for a few laps and was never truly comfortable. When I got in a MT (I got to drive my own Z as well as a stock Nismo Z), I felt completely at home immediately. My focus was on the appropriate racing elements and not the driving fundamentals of using paddle shifters. This was just my recent experience :twocents: With more practice, I'm sure they would be a natural to me as the clutch pedal and stick shift are now.

I tried to practice using my wife's ILX, but even in manual sport mode it won't let you sit up in the power band for an extended period of time, upshifting within a few seconds if you're not goosing the throttle :ugh2:

You could possibly save gas by going into a higher gear earlier when merging onto an interstate but normally the ECU will pick the most efficient gear for you by default.

Another handy use for downshifting is to save your brakes when coming to a stop at a light. Downshifting sooner will require less braking but will subject the car to a higher RPM then if you would have just let the car shift down prior to you stopping. For those like me who run aggressive/dusty brake pads this comes in handy :icon17:

If you try to upshift or downshift in a way that is not good, the car
- won't do it
- will beep at you in judgement
- will flash the gear indicator at you

There *will* be times you forget what gear you're in and try to go up or down before you can, and you'll be fine.

The *only* gotcha is if you want to go down, so you pull the paddle just as the car naturally goes down, and you might go down another notch. Again, nothing terrible and won't ever hurt your car, you just might get a little extra engine braking than you expected. Be kind to anyone behind you and feather the brake so they know you're stopping.

And even then, it's nothing like other cars. My Eclipse will happily drop down into first and lurch me to a near-halt. I've never had anything close to that in the 7AT Z.

Wasn't trying to make it one. The poster above made an incorrect statement.

I wish i got an automatic, would never complain about sloppy shifter and rough coarse engine

Welcome to the party

JungleZ strikes again!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85...m_trolling.jpg

I"m baaack ill try not to complain to much , still in the lease for a while.

And depoint let me know when you want me to show you I only get 12-14mpg

****. It wasn't a permanent ban, and nothing's changed.