The Manual Mode!!! How "manual" is this mode? I know it is clutchless, but is it similar to say... an SMG transmission in feel? Does it improve performance over the automatic mode? Does it actually shift exactly when you tell it to, or are you just giving it a "reccommended" shift time when you shift?

Thanks.

 

The best thing to do is, go out and test drive one. The manual is as manual as you want it to be. In my situation, when I'm in traffic and slowly building speed, the transition to the next gear feels like an automatic shift would feel. But when I'm on it hot and heavy, the upshift is lightening quick. Answering your question, it'll stay in any gear as long as you want it to. Benefits? No missed shifts, no grinding gears, no double clutching, and it won't roll back on hills. As far as a performance difference, it's hard for me to tell.

2003-G35C-5AT Laser Red/Black/Prem/SAT/Tint/Chrome 17's/Black Badged

 

Assuming you reset the ECU after break-in, the G Coupe's manual mode (I call it "MM") is a split second slower than an SMG. On an SMG, the tap puts it in gear. On the G, the tap is the equivalent of taking it out of gear, then quickly putting it in gear. It definitely doesn't hunt around on its own, but you need to make a slight mental adjustment to get the timing right. Actually, let me restate that: once it's broken in, it won't hunt around. The first few times I used it, I had huge delays as my deeply confused and grannied ECU tried to figure out what to do. You sort of need to train the AT to get it to react the way you want.

As for performance, most of us who take the AT to the strip report much better times in MM, myself included. That's a rarity, in most cars you'll find that "Drive" mode is faster in a straight line, but not the G. In turns, there's no contest, MM gives you much better control, even a bit of engine braking. The G's AT is incredibly responsive as ATs go (mine now downshifts on me even when I don't want it to), but only when you're pushing it. Left to its own devices, "Drive" mode prefers to run smooth and low, and that will get you some herky jerky shifting if you take your foot off the gas between turns.

Final note: the Sedan's MM is apparently different from the Coupe's, and will upshift on its own near redline, which could definitely throw you off on, say, an autocross course, where you try to get around the entire course near the top of 2nd gear.

-Jack
Obsidian '03 G35 Sports Coupe
Titanium '03 MX-5 Shinsen #532