Why no "sports" modes for 7AT?
 

I just bought a 2013 370Z and am loving it. One thing I would have liked to see (besides a dual clutch auto) is a sports mode selector for the auto transmission mode. Like the Mitusbishi Evo has - theirs has like 4 or 5 settings (from basic stay-in-tallest-gear-you-can mode all the way to SS (SuperSport) where no matter how slowly you're on the gas, it won't shift until darn-near redline.

I found this odd too. Our G37 has a sports mode that keeps revs above 3.5k rpm so when I bought the Z, I expected to see the same, but nope. Just manual.
It annoyed me at first, but I got used to driving in manual mode all the time, which to me is much much better than any sports mode.

I was upset about this at first as well. But what you may or may not know, our cars computer adapts to our driving. Or at least I think it does.

So if you are mashing the pedal in manual mode for awhile and then switch to "D", you'll notice your revs are revving higher then normal. Instead of auto shifting at 2500 its now shifting for you at 4k or whatever it decides it wants to do.

Anyways, once I shift into manual, I feel the car 10x more. I feel the power, suspension lock up, grip is better, etc.. I dont need a knob to tell my car to do that. I want it to do it already, and thats why I love the Z.

It's a SPORTS car? That was my logic... It's always in sport mode

That's what I tell people when they drive my car looking for a sport mode button

I tell people the sport mode button is the "START" Button.

All kidding aside, it's annoying to be in auto mode and have it always striving to stay in the tallest gear. It would be nice to have a button with several settings for aggression level to keep it in gear longer so mashing the pedal to varying degrees is required less often.

The part I hate the most is when your in drive and you just want to go around someone on the freeway, and you put down the pedal just a tad and it goes nowhere, and then a little more and the car revs to 5 grand and it jolts you back in the seat.

I now have to just throw it in manual (automatically goes to 5th or 6th) at freeway speed, and then I just slowly creep around then. Rather then drives JOLT.

Exactly - I had a situation yesterday where I needed to speed up to get through a light - pressing halfway down didn't result in a real speedup but did race the engine. Not sure what happened - I guess it did downshift but I wasn't pushing hard enough to really result in a lot of acceleration. Compared to my 6MT G37S I traded in it was kind of annoying, and it's what made me realize that a button like that is needed to avoid either idling around or flooring it with little in between. Or I just need to stay in manual mode, I guess.

I actually would like a sport button to keep it from going past 5th, I agree

Honestly, I can manipulate my pedal very well.

What I HATE:
If you lets say you drive in M, you shift to 7th (pedal at half), then back to D, and you FLOOR it, nothing happens, you have to release the gas pedal, THEN floor it.

OR

You're in M, lets say cruising in 6th on the freeway, and oh shít, gotta floor it to get around an ásshole... Car doesn't go... Why can't there be a button there (Like on the Maxima, or a Porsche, or a VW, or an Audi) that then the car floors it no matter what...?

If you really want to accelerate as hard as you can as fast as possible, just tap the downshift paddle 3-4 times. The transmission programming will prevent it from downshifting too much but it'll be in the lowest gear possible. And know when each gear ends so you don't end up shifting down to 2nd but at 7200 rpm, which is a waste.
For me, if I ever see a need to pass and I need to time a gap, I'd go into manual mode first and then put it in the optimum gear before I hit the gas.

The manual mode in our cars is supposed to emulate a manual gearbox as closely as possible. That means not upshifting or downshifting automatically ever*.

*with the possible exception of the 2013's which apparently do automatically upshift, which makes me kinda sad.

Too many don't seem to realize you can use the downshift paddle while in D, and it will hold the lower gear for a while.

yup... but honestly, if i have to pass someone I always do it in a hurry. If I take my time then it only gives them an opportunity to try to mess with me. pass quick and be done with it.

the only thing that works for me and when on the highway I put in DRIVE rather than manual. if I need to pass while in DRIVE, pull once on the paddle ALWAYS puts me in 5th gear, I've tried this up to about 70mph pull the downshift 5th gear, then another pull I'm in 4th and that's good enough for passing or when I need to get into it a bit.

so, two quick pulls gets me immediately to 4th when on the highway which seems to work ok for me. if you haven't tried, try it and see if that works better for you. Incidently from the car manual, for passing in AUTO MODE it states to fully depress the accelerator and downshift, so the car manual says floor it, then kick it down another gear for good measure... ;)


I like two quick pulls on the downshift myself though...

I will say this, this car doesn't need a sport mode, drive it in manual all the time and you plain just don't need it. I had it in the G and while it worked alright, the G wouldn't manually shift like the Z does. Anyway after I had the Z for about a week I have never driven it in auto. My Porsche on the other hand in auto 100% of the time. Totally differnet tranny (I hate the manual mode in it). The sport mode in my Porsche doesn't change the way it shifts, it changes tuning to the engine. Sport Plus is a launch control. Different from the G altogether. Like stated the Z just plain doesn't need a "sport" mode if you know how to drive it. People don't understand when I tell them you have to "learn" to drive the Z's auto in manual mode. Learn your car and how to drive it and you wont even know it is missing a sport mode because you should be in it all the time. It's the M mode.

:iagree: