7 speed automatic tiptronic downshift
 

hello guys,
I was wondering everytime I tried to downshift like 6 to 3 while using tiptronic, it goes so slow...like 6 to 5 takes a few sec, then like 4 to 3 with a lot of lags..(and slow again)
Everytime I try to pwn some f*****s on the highway, I can't because of this. It downshifts so slow that by the time it gets to 3rd gear, they are already gone..:shakes head:
This is time when I'm starting to hate my automatic transmission...
I also have Altima 2.5 and when I press the gas all the way down, it has that click thing automatically downshifts like 6 to 3 or 2 whatever depends on the speed. Does 370z have that? I remember when I tried it, it didn't have it.
maybe I'm going to trade in for manual transmission later on..

the 7AT is really laggy. I get the same thing sometimes when I try to downshift. Idk whats the problem but I think its pretty normal

I think its because the car adjusts to how you're driving. I haven't ever tried rapid downshifts in succession, but I do notice a lag when I'm driving in slow highway traffic and then step on it. When I'm on a spirited driving run though, there doesn't seem to be any or much lag.

Just put in on D and it will downshift from 6th to 3rd without lag

^^^ or get a manual.

Mine does this too. It has to hit each gear on the way down

X2:driving:

This is exactly what I was going to say. I have it happen all the time on the highway, but on the track I've never had any delay's in downshifting, they all happen instantaneously.

I think it does that to improve gas mileage or something.

Maybe. Wish it could be removed with a tune.

damn. I'm happy that I'm not the only one!
yep, this is so bugging me out...
only reason I got auto was that traffic here is bad and a lot of hills and my dad won't let me buy it LOL
anyway, I never complained my automatic because it's still Z!!! however...now I am..
cuz of this slow downshift...T^T

Mine downshifts fine. There is more lag than a solid 6MT driver would have, but it's not debilitating if you're just doing a quick downshift to pass. Maybe you're clicking through each gear one by one and waiting for the shifts? You can multi-click and it works as expected. For example, you can be cruising in 7th and do a rapid triple-click of the downshift paddle as you stomp the gas and it will jump straight down to 4th.

I should add: alternatively, if you don't know your speed ranges well enough to know what destination gear you really want for a downshift at the given speed, your other alternative is to simply flip the stick over to "D" and floor the gas, and it will downshift to the correct gear (lowest available at this mph) on its own. And then you can immediately flip back to M-mode and control it from there as well.

+1 on the quick multi click. No problems here

Stop trying to be all fast and furious and just drive the car.

:icon18:

I've never tried the multi-click downshift. I will have to check it out once it stops raining here.

Oh man you gotta try it! click, click, click and then wait, wait, wait, GO its wonderful

Should be more like: click, click, click, wa..GO!. You may have to play with the timing of stomping on the throttle. I suspect the mechanism in play here (and in a lot of situations with our trans where people report different results) is that the gas pedal (well, engine speed? torque convertor loading?) indirectly affects line pressure and shift speed. I've gotten into a groove where I know when to stomp the pedal, but I'd imagine there could be pretty big variance if you do it too early or too late.

I'm excited now :excited:

So click-click-click then stomp the gas?

I don't know the timing off-hand, it's kind of just done by memory. I think I push the gas down while clicking. I'll try to pay attention next time I drive :)

I just wish
our cars had "click" when you press the gas pedal all the way down.
I used to love that.. :(

This is the "Kick-Down switch",most German cars got it,our Gas pedal is made by Bosch[same Mfg as most German cars],why Nissan don't get those used by the German cars.???

Chan Chee Hoe- hey thx for the actual name of it :)
u know my dad's 2010 Altima 2.5 has that.
that "kick-down switch" is actually very useful!

The best German car that have the gas pedal kick down switch are the BMW's,the last 15% of the travel is the switch,making it very nice to drive.

Mechanical kick down is a thing of the past. Modern cars are all drive by wire, the ECU will look at throttle pedal position and throttle pedal movement (how quickly you stab the pedal) to determine whether to kick down a gear and how many gears to kick down.

Latest BMW[or most German cars] still got kick down switch in the gas pedal....of course they are all "Drive by wire"[Electronic Gas Pedal].

i can't recall usually i'm to busy watching the road....
but i believe it's click,click.click stomp. all four steps in around 1 to 2 seconds

It works beautifully :D

Haven't gotten a chance to try it on an open highway though.

Its weird but I never experiences this delay... even in highway! maybe because the highway in my country are shorts and the car doesn't "adapt" enough. it downshifts pretty quick...

i tried this 6th to 3rd downshift after reading this thread. There was a little lag the few times I tried it, but it seemed the important thing was to let the trans shift completly before flooring it. I felt like the trans downshifted just as quickly as I could have downshifted in a manual.

Makes sense. I haven't been on the highway to try to look at my own timing the past few days. The 7AT does a downshift rev-matching thing anyways, it could be that stepping on it too early interferes with that process.

i think you are correct. it will do a rev matching thing. but not as pronounced
as the MT.

The auto has rev-matched since something like 2005 in the 350Z.

Also, there's no "pronouncing". It matches exactly the revs it should be at, no more or less :)

I sometimes wonder about the DRM - I have noticed on occasion when I downshift on deceleration, from 6 to 2, there will be some pretty severe drivetrain shock on the shift to 2 if I am clicking fast - which I thought wouldn't happen if it did a DRM.

In any case, I don't see why the 370Z needs a kick-down switch - the ECU knows when the throttle is wide open, and in D my car has no problem downshifting from 7 to 3 and revving up to 7000 RPM then upshifting at redline.

If you are in M you don't want it to do that, M is for when you want complete control of the gears.

Well 6 to 2 is a pretty big jump. What speed are you at when you do that, and how wide is the RPM gap that it has to match? Maybe the ECU just can't get the revs up in time for the 7AT to complete the shift in that case. In any case you can probably predict the need for 6->2 well ahead of time, just pre-downshift to 4 before 2 becomes necc.

I was hoping one of you guys have already tried using paddle shift and the real shifter thingie.. what do you call it, umm

well, what ever that you can use to go from P to R to N to D you know?

what I do is I downshift by using the paddle once, use the real one once and click the paddle once again. This way, you're cruising on the highway in 7th and you notice a pair of headlight getting closer, you can go from 7th to 4th really quick.

Anybody tried this? cause you dont really have to use only the paddle shift or only the real one right?

I just started using this a few days ago and I've got some good results.
Go ahead and give it a try!

Is it quicker than the multi-click?

No, the paddles can't get you to P, R, or N.

You can use the paddles in D-mode to temporarily take over the gear selection though. After a few seconds of "normal" driving in one gear it will revert to automatic selection D-rules though. Unless you're in the habit of keeping track in your head which gear the car is currently using while in D-mode, using the paddles directly from D can be initially confusing (not sure which gear you'll initially land in).

You'll notice also if you're cruising in say 7th gear in D-mode, switching to M alone will drop you to 5th (I guess on the good assumption that you're usually taking over the gearing to use 1-5, not 6-7). If you don't want this to happen, use the upshift paddle first (temporary gear selection, stays in 7th), and then flip the stick over to M (continues to be in 7th).

As far as this goes, the up/down-shift commands from the stick or the paddles are exactly identical. In either case, it's just a pushbutton electronic input to the TCM. Using both like you describe above could be faster, but if so that's just because you can execute the inputs faster, not because of anything about the car.

I've never tried overlapping them, but that would be even faster if it doesn't confuse the TCM (i.e. execute a double-click with one hand, and pull the lever down once at the same time as the first click). I wonder if it would ignore one of them if the click+pull are too close together in time though.

In any case, I find it's rare to be cruising in 7th and then need to be in 4 or lower immediately without warning. Most of the time, you know what you're going to do well ahead of time, in which case all this quick multi-click stuff is unnecessary. You can drop to say 5 in a normal slow manner a few seconds before you need 4 or 3. Again, this is what the D->M automatic downshift predicts as well. Cruise steady on the highway in D-mode, and when you see a situation coming up just flip the stick over to M, which automatically puts you in 5th, and then you can downshift further from there without needing these giant 3+ gear leaps.