I just took out a 7AT for a ride...

MeetJoeAsian

Here's really the reason why I prefer to keep my 6MT over trading it for a 7AT, I love the fact that I control every factor of my car's shifting in a 6MT...with the 7AT, you press the button, and a computer decides what gear to put it into based on your input, and then it "electronically" selects the gear for you...I like the SMG transmission, where it IS a manual transmission, but you just have a pump clutching & putting it into gear for you...I guess for me, the feeling is different driving when you know that your gear mechanics are the place you want them to be, rather than having a computer holding the gear for you...

I would have been more inclined to get an automatic had it been a sequential-shifter ONLY...meaning, no option to put into full automatic (like the last generation of the Toyota MR2 sequential shifter)...in my head, I feel that if I have a full automatic that it's not meant to be shifted manually, and I would get into the habit of not shifting, and in the long run, I'm just gonna get rid of the car cuz the "fun" factor is gone, just like with my G35c...

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kannibul

What are you talking about?

7AT changes to the next gear up or the next gear down *when* you tell it to - if you need to "skip" a gear, bump it twice...it does it.

The only exception is if it's in "auto" mode *and* you either flip it to manual, or bump the "-" paddle shifter, it'll drop from 7 to 5 when going down the highway, and I still will sometimes bump it twice to kick it to 4th and haul...if you bump the "+" paddle, it stays in 7th and you can back it down to 6th if you so desire, or pull over the stick at that point and it'll stay in 7th (I need to double check on moving the stick, though I know it will stay in 7th with the paddles and being in auto mode)

As for not being meant to - if that was the case, they wouldn't have made it so.

MeetJoeAsian

The automatic in the 370Z is a fully automatic engine with sequential shifting to imitate a manual...whereas the SMG and F1s are true manuals with sequential shifting....and this is where the fun is differentiated

don't get me wrong, I'm NOT knocking 7AT vs 6MT...I think the sequential automatic shifter in the 7AT is great, but it's just still not a manual transmission...a manual transmission is true gear and clutch shifting, whereas in the 7AT, it's a computer electronically imitating a manual....it's a great car if you want the occasional controlled driving, but it's still an automatic...

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kannibul

Honestly, how is there a difference from an operational, driver's, point of view between this transmission and an F1 transmission?

Both involve user intervention to make the shift, ie, pressing a paddle (or button), to initiate the shift, in sequence.

Am I saying they perform equally, hell no, but from an "enthusiast" (controlled) driving perspective, how is it really all that different? In fact, I'd say the advantage would go here to the 7AT because you can keep both hands on the wheel and manage your transmission with a flick of a finger. It's not an automatic imitating a manual, it's an automatic imitating a dual-clutch sequential transmission (ie, fast shifts) in fact, you could look at it the other way and say that SRM is the 6MT imitating the 7AT...

Until this car and it's transmission came along, I'd agree with you, automatics were slushy and too focused on being "smooth" in shifting...this car is anything but. Even in "auto" mode, it's still pretty firm between shifts. Move it over to manual mode, and it WILL NOT shift short allowing the driver to kill the engine for forgetting to downshift.