Automatic vs Paddle Shifting questions
 

I'm understanding that the ECU will shift based on your throttle input. So for a lighter depression you will get softer shifts that are gas conscious and for more aggressive depressions you will get quicker acceleration (obviously depending on the gear it may even down shift for passing at cruising speeds). In light of that I have the following questions:

1. From a stop, will I accelerate a quarter mile faster in D mode while flooring the pedal or in manual mode paddle shifting.
2. Regardless of which is faster if I decide to paddle shift do I get the fastest times by up shifting to each gear while being at the higher end of the RPM band (6-7K) or should I be shifting at certain RPMs for each gear, if so what is the breakdown for those shifts to achieve the fastest times.

Thanks and sorry for all the noob questions. I read through various threads but never got super concrete answers to the above. The questions above btw are pertaining to a 14' 370z 7AT.

foot to floor and shift at ~7000-7200rpm.

modulate the throttle if you get some tire spin. not sure what your mods or tires are.

FP has been around ... the world ... a couple of times ... some of it in a 370Z with an AT. I bet he knows a thing or two.

:icon17:

Completely stock everything. So paddle shifting is fastest going from 1st to 7th with an upshift every 7kRPM hit, cool. Thought the winner would be pedal to floor in D mode lol.

The FSM has a pretty good description of the 7AT's different modes. IIRC, the TCM (and ECM) also takes into account how you have been driving for the last few minutes.

:confused:

at least in the Z, the auto tranny will shift faster than a manual tranny (i.e. computer vs human). and since you have an auto tranny and will shift at the pull of the shifter (though there is a slight delay between pulling the shifter and the actual shift), theoretically, you have the best of both worlds. so ideally, you would have a faster 1/4 mile time in manual mode, provided that you shifted at the right time. however, i wouldn't expect drastic differences.

When you say you wouldn't expect drastic differences, what would be the difference in time theoretically between your average car enthusiast paddle shifting and someone just pushing the pedal to the medal in D mode (assume launch times are the same and car is the same). :eekdance:

test it out and let us know :p

D mode is weird in the Z for full throttle situations. like others have said our ECU/TCM actually learns from how you drive and adapts. I drive in manual only never in D mode. if I ever do switch back into D mode it will try and mimic the way I typically drive in manual.

however in D if you go balls out it feels like it hesitates sometimes on when to shift at the top of the revs. if in manual mode you decide and can hit your shift points right where you want to.

easiest way to find out the difference is go to a drag strip and run once in D and the other in manual and see the difference. I never cared enough to do this myself based on feeling how the car shifted in D mode on the road when I first was testing this out myself.

If I got full throttle while paddle shifting that 1st click will pretty much be as soon as I depress the pedal correct b/c when I'm just day to day cruising I pretty much always up shift in half a second, 1st gear and 2nd gear seem to hit the limit almost instantly with average throttle.

in full auto D mode the car in normal throttle is going to attempt to shift into higher gears ASAP for fuel economy reasons.

full throttle I manual mode basically just wait til about 7k and shift. anymore I basically do mine be sound. when drag racing though I keep a close eye on the tach to try and pinpoint the best shifting points for the best time I can pull off.

even if you pull the paddle shifter to upshift (or even downshift) at the RPM you want it to, there will still be that slight delay and may be +/- on the actual RPMs you want to shift at. unlike the gtr with the auto DCT, in the 370Z, you are merely "requesting" (for lack of a better word) for the computer to make the shifts by pulling the paddle shifters.

There is no better word - a request is exactly what it is. :tiphat: