7A Transmission...dare I commit heresy?
 

I watched a few Youtubes and the 7A transmission looks like it can be controlled pretty easily. I no-longer can argue "Well, the manual allows more control" without feeling like a liar. It really doesn't for all intents and purposes.

I cannot shift as fast as an automatic.

I have owned a '95 Trans Am with an automatic and that broke me of ever owning one in a sports car again. When I beat on it some in 100* weather, it would get hot and start shifting mushily. At the "breaking point" between 3rd and 4th, if you were REEEAAALLLYYY gentle on the throttle, it would bounce between tq converter lock-up/4th/3rd unlocked. It made for a bumpy embarrassing and probably wear-inducing moment.

This isn't 1995. The 2012 370Z transmission is a lot better I am sure.

My question is this: Have any of you gone from manual to automatic and liked it better? I don't mean you lazy people who can't be troubled to shift. I do that without thinking. I mean from a feel/performance/"hey, this is so much quicker/more precise" standpoint?

I am against the auto because I feel that it will disconnect me from the driving experience. However, the 7A in the 370z is about as good as an auto gets without being a true DCT, and I cannot deny that it is indeed faster.

Also, has anyone tracked the auto? Does it overheat without the addition of another cooler? I hated that about my '95 Trans Am. It was good for maybe 2-3 WOT blasts in 100* heat and then you had to simmer down. My manuals...I just drive and drive and drive them.

Also, how is it when cold? My G20 has an auto (one of the shittiest known to man...) and if it's below 80* outside if I get on it before it is FULLY warmed up, it will hang between gears, shifting VEERRRRYYYY slow and I am sure tearing up the clutch bands as it rides 2nd and 3rd on the upshift until it FINALLY oozes on into 3rd. No, I am not talking about flogging it, I mean just pulling out into traffic and giving it enough gas to not gear rear-ended. Shifting at about 4500rpm (pretty low for the gutless stock SR20DE).

So...

...what quirks about the 7A would tick me off? Throttle delay even worse than the "drive-by-wire" in use with 99% of cars now? Delay on the freeway when stomping it in D? Not skipping gears when floored in 7th to a 3rd drop? Shift flare? Sluggish shifting when cold? Overheating on track-days without an additional cooler?

How does it feel in "manual"? You floor it and it's an instant connection like the stick, or the tq converter soaks up the "hit" and it feels sluggish from say, a 50mph punch compared to a manual?

Wstar and wwjd are the only guys I know that track autos...might read their threads




IMO, the auto in the z still doesn't hit as hard or give as much control as I want...BUT, if I was going to buy another z, it would probably be an auto, mostly due to disappointment with the 6mt.

Good info! Has the logic been redone on the software, or not? What do you mean by doing nothing. Literal, or just no shifting at .9g?

I had my 7AT since 2 year now and been on the track as well,

the must thing is definatly to have trans oil cooler !

That's wwjd's post, check with him. I dont have much time behind the wheel of an auto

"The power is great in first 4th gears, but 5th gear and above has no power at all. I was doing 106-110 mph when exiting turn 9 at Big Willow, at the end of the long straight away, I could only get the car up to 122-123 mph range. WTF."



5th gear is 1:1 above that is OD for gas savings, not for racing. Driver should never get about 5th gear in a race.

I went from manual to Auto when i switched from my 370z to my bmw 335. I'm very happy with the transmission which is very fast shifting and solid, and i do not feel bored ever while i'm driving it. That being said, i only DD This car and never take it to cruise or joyride, and if you've always had your sports car being a manual, you will probably miss it. IMO the Z isn't powerful enough where you should be getting one transmission over the over because of speed or 1/4 mile times. Its great that people who prefer auto now no longer have to settle for a worse transmission. However if you have always had MT sports cars you'll miss driving stick, its simple as that. It seems like you prefer manual, and if i were you i wouldn't get auto just to get a few tenths faster in the 1/4 mile, since it seems like that is the only reason you'd be doing so.

Well, I drove a 7A today. I will not be getting one. It took time to respond to inputs that rivaled my sluggish shifting abilities when not at WOT, and it was very indecisive compared to what I had hoped for. It's great, I'm sure, but not for me.

Even the sales rep looked at me kindof funny when I tipped into the throttle 1/3 at 30mph and the car revved, wound down, chose a gear, then selected another, and finally after whirring and bucking for about a full second and a half got with the program of accelerating moderately in the correct gear from 30mph. I can do better on my own.

Did you try it in manual mode?

Yes, I did not like the lag between input and shift with the paddles at partial throttle. It just didn't do it for me like the manual z's I have driven.

You can tune it to shift even faster and firmer than Nissan did (i.e., no need for an altered valve body). Also has the rev match, which is bad ***.

Before you make a decision you should see if you can find someone with a tuned 7AT.

I only have two slight complaints:

1. the 7AT will automatically downshift if you are in the wrong gear as you drop revs -- thus you an never really be in the wrong gear.

You can certain manually downshift faster than the ECU will if you are entering a corner and will need to slow down, but I'd like to have the option to be in the wrong gear if I'm not paying attention :p

Really, it's a minor complaint. From the standpoint of being immersed in driving/racing, it's pretty handy to never be in the wrong gear if you slow down.

Of course, it won't upshift unless you command it.

2. If you want to down shift more than 1 gear it will occasionally hang just a bit, but I think that's more a matter of the VVEL logic playing catch up than the trans slowing down, tho, so it's possible that the MT does a little bogging too at times.

Otherwise, it's brilliant!

Is the shift tuning you're talking about done with UpRev?

or just get a manual and call it a day since its obvious that's what you want (@importconvert) you seem like the kind of guy that would really only get an automatic if it was a built automatic for a drag car or in a DD to put around town.

I'm very happy with my 7AT. It's not as if the MT on this car is especially brilliant... I can always find something to nitpick about :p

Also, my auto is now tuned to shift even faster and firmer, so it's fantastic.

Having just learned how to drive manual recently, I sometimes wish my Z was a 6MT. Then I sit in traffic for like 90 mins and am glad I got the 7AT.