I like the ManuMatic!

Just have a couple of comments.

Yes, I've driven stick shifts for years. Three on the column, three on the floor, four w/2sp axle, etc... The G35C is too small for me to have a stick (I'm 6'4" @320lbs) and I don't want to work that hard any more (been driving almost 40 years).

But I'd forgotten about what fun it is to use the correct gear to brake down into a curve, without using the brakes, and then accelerate out through the apex.

I have only two minor complaints.

1) The shifts at heavy acceleration are not as fast or as crisp as they were when I test drove the dealer's demo car. It doesn't shift at the exact time I toggle the shift even if the speed of the car is well within the rpm range of the next gear. When it does shift, it does that "smooth" shift one would expect from a pure luxury car. I don't remember the demo car being that slow during the shift. Anyway, now that she's broken in and I've "drained" the ECU of all memory of my "granny" driving mode, I'm hoping that the reset shift algorithms will give me a faster, crisper shift in response to my more aggressive driving habits.

2) This one is entirely my fault. While I haven't driven a stick since '84, believe it or not I still have some muscle memory when it comes to shifting gears. Sometimes, when I 'm shifting "up" into the next higher gear I actually pull back on the stick just as you would when yanking back and forth on a true manual stick. Aaaaggghhh! Fortunately, the transmission takes so long trying to "downshift" that I can get it back up a gear before the tranny redlines the engine.

Speaking of redlines. I know that we have a "speed" limiter (I've heard 143mph and 155mph). Does anyone know if the G35 has a "rev" limiter? If so, what is that limit? (And if anyone has a definitive answer, what is the "speed" limiter for the G35C set for?)

Screamin' Daemon - L5AT

 

Definitely has a Rev Limiter. I believe it's at 7k. Just run it up in First gear one time and you'll find it. I promise it's there though.

Andrew

2003 coupe 6MT blue premium aero (on order)

 

Actually the vehicle does have a rev limiter at around 7000 RPM that will automatically switch you to the next gear. The 155 MPH speed "limit" that you are referring to is the "govenour" setting for the vehicle so that you cannot go above and beyond that speed. Hope this helps and GodSpeed.

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but let's say you're almost redlining 2nd gear and you pull it back to downshift, it won't downshift because it's programmed not to if it puts it at danger

www.ironpumping.com
^^Bodybuilding Made Simple

 

the coupe will not shift, it just bounces off the limiter

 

Here is what I've experienced with the ManuMatic.

Running @4K in 4th gear.

Wanting to upshift to 5th gear, I experience a "Brain F*rt", the muscle memory I mentioned, which causes me to pull back on the ManuMatic stick. This, IMHO, causes the tranny to attempt to downshift to 3rd gear versus my intended upshift to 5th gear.

Subjective Results:

1) Tranny disengages the "lockup".
2) Tranny selects 3rd gear.
3) Tranny trys to engage the "lockup".
4) G35 starts to slow down as if I'd stomped the brakes.
5) Tach is runing up to redline.
6) Tranny is slipping as it fails to lock up after the downshift.

I.E. It's acting just like any other non ManuMatic autotran with the stick on the console and I "miss" the intended detent and hit the next one down. E.G. My '97 Mark VIII with 3 forward gear detents and a separate O/D on/off switch. Way too difficult/dangerous trying to "manually" shift this beast as you have to press the shift stick "disengage" button, pull back on the stick and stop at the next detent down from where you started. I.E. Very easy to downshift from 3rd (A.K.A the "Drive" gear assuming you've got O/D turned off) and into 1st.

IMO, the only thing that has prevented any damage is a quick manual "upshift" back to 4th gear. However, I could have scorched the "lockup" mechanism (I don't know how this works on this tranny).

I'm going to my Infiniti dealer for an oil change due to the completion of the "break in" period. I'll ask them if they've heard of this at all and if so, do they know what, if anything, will protect the engine.

If anybody has any explicit info from an Infiniti tech about this matter, please post that info here.

Screamin' Daemon - L5AT

 

Is there a rev limiter on the 6-speeds too?

~Berj

 

yes

 

Having thought about my observations, I believe that you may be correct.

The auto tranny may in fact be protecting the engine and itself by deliberately "slipping" and not engaging the "lockup" mechanism while the engine "brakes" the car down to a speed where the lower gear can fully engage without over-revving the engine.

I have not actually observed this behavior because I always react with a quick "upshift" to the original gear. I will say that I don't plan on intentionally proving this behavior.

Screamin' Daemon - L5AT

 

Funny - it took me a month before I stopped pulling back on the stick to go up a gear. This is the first AT car I've had in 10 years, first one with a manumatic. I wonder if it is from driving a stick for so long of if we all played too much of an arcade game that you pulled back to shift. I'm glad I'm not the only one though!

 

When I test drove a manumatic I'd run it up in first gear from a stop and I kept bouncing off of the rev limiter because the car did not shift when I wanted it to. With a stick, I'd shift at the same point and be fine, but with the manumatic, you almost have to shift early to compensate for the lag before it shifts into second. I did not like this at all. If I had a auto, I'd just keep it in drive.

Sal

 

Has anyone explored the idea of re-wiring the manu-matic so that it's "backwards" (down is up and up is down)? My previous car with one of these systems had it the opposite way from the G35's, and I'm having a hard time getting used to it. I would think it's as simple as crossing some wires, but things can go downhill so fast when you start messing with anything related to the transmission. I really like it the opposite way much better though.

-Jack

Black obsidian / graphite '03 Coupe premium nav

 

Agreed. It just makes more sense to pull back for an up-shift. When you're being thrown back into your seat from the g-forces [img]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/img] of acceleration, it seems counter-intuitive to push forward on the stick to up-shift.

<font color=green>GG</font color=green>

 

Really? Do you point your TV Remote at yourself when you change channels too?

 

Only if he's plugged in [img]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/img]

<font color=red>Gsedanman</font color=red>