Ok, I know you will tell me to search, but I'm looking for a personal reply.

I hate the 17's. They are way too small for the coupe. However, I live in NJ, and sometimes drive to areas that are pothole-hell. Will the 19's or even the 18's be able to handle potholes? I know the 19's are forged, but I want to make sure the extra $ for the sport tuned suspension package won't go to waste.

I know I know, I don't want an AT either, but certain people in my family can't drive stick and I'm leaning towards AT. I've never owned an MT so I won't be missing anything...I'll save the MT for the 997 i'll be purchasing in 10 years

 

Oh and I hear these things eat up gas like no other. Is this true even if you drive reasonably?

 

^^^ what things?

i have a 05 6MT coupe.. you'll feel the bumps on the road with 19s, its not if the 19" can take the pot holes.. can you? but i still love it =P

Manuals tend to use less gas then autos.. however most people with manuals will umm.. have more fun then autos and that sorta sends us to mile per gallon hell xP

I would get a manual, you'll love it. but not on the G35 if its your first car. IMO its not going to be easy to learn how to drive a stick on a G35

 

By "these things" I meant the G35's

Yeah I would love a manual but I'll probably wait. I've been driving a Jeep with 195 horsepower since I was 17 (21 now) so it will still be a huge step up for me anyway. I can't stand trucks any more (although the Jeep went over potholes like nothing, i'll probably miss that).

My friend has a G and when he would sit in my Jeep's passenger seat he would constantly yell at me to avoid potholes...I just laugh and go over them like it's nothing. Pretty much the only plus for having a truck.

Anyway, enough about that. The 19's should be able to handle potholes correct? Also, how long do tires typically last? My jeep has 63k miles and still on stock tires (time to replace, but still has a little tread). I know the G won't get anywhere near that, especially with lo profiles, but how much can i expect outta the stock rubber? 25K miles?

 

If you get a G, you'll have to forget about doing that fast, or you'll bend or curb your rims right away. Btw, I've driven Gs with all 3 stock wheel sizes (17, 18, 19") and epsecially coming from a truck, you won't notice a night-and-day difference between the 3. The 17" use 50-series tires so they should be the smoothest ride (but don't fool yourself, you'll still feel every bump). They're also the cheapest to replace.

25K miles? On a high performance tire? If you hit the track a couple of times, you'll be lucky if the rears last half that. You're looking at 15-17k at the most.

Btw.. if you search you'll see tons of threads about people buying automatic and then regretting not getting a manual. I got a 6MT and it's my first manual car, it's terribly hard at first because the G is so unforgiving, but in a week or two you'll be able to drive around town without any problems, believe me. It just takes a certain type of person to drive a stick.. Some people don't like to shift and clutch like crazy in traffic, so you have to take that into account also. Maybe if you get a stick, the car will be all yours since the other family members won't be able to drive it

 

Be careful if you go with the 18's or 19's because those have high performance tires on them. Your winters in NJ will be pretty rough so come winter time there will be no way to drive in your G with all the snow you get. You'll have to get a winter setup. Possibly with the 17's you may be able to get by with the all-seasons that are on there but again, I still may not recommend those to drive through all the snow.

 

I don't agree with this. Learning to drive stick is not a long term project. With any kind of reasonable instreuction from a friend or family you can be ready to solo in terms of minutes or possibly an hour or two. If you stall it a few times it is not the end of the world - nor your transmission.

If you're still anxious about this, before you decide what xmission you are going to choose, see if a friend has a standard transmission that he or she will teach you on. Many of us leaned to drive on a manual transmission. Indeed, after a while you are not even conscious that you are moving the stick and the clutch pedal.

 

I would suggest learning stick on a car other than the G. I agree with Salti that you are unlikely to damage your transmission learning stick on the G, but the VQ is pretty torquey in the low end and the clutch is a little sloppy. I would be worried about serious clutch wear resulting from your learning experiences.

I'm sure someone has an older car they would be willing to let you learn on.

 

I actually test drove many stick cars, including the Mazda 3, 350z, etc. I usually stall once and after that it's butter.

I am leaning towards stick now. I would hate to buy a 300 hp RWD and regret a stick. Plus it's cheaper than the auto with the 19's. That's enough justification.

And for winter, I can probably slap on some steelies with winter rubber. They wont look great but i think they're like $500 for a set of 4. That's probably what ill do.

 

gas mileage is horrible. HORRIBLE.

19's are not an issue in jersey.

 

Gas mileage what you should expect out of a sports car. Its a little worse than I would have initiailly expected from a V6 though, coming from a Corvette and all V8 cars.

I would stick with auto. Personally, I love the automatic transmission in this car. I think its quite possibly the best auto trans I have ever dealt with. Stick is nice, but I dont like having all cars stick shifts.

 

Ok dammit. I am so confused about the transmission. I really would love a 6MT, and my commute includes little to no traffic. However, I drive 15k miles a year. Also, I have never owned a manual before. I see a lot of threads that say "oh i wish mommy would have bought me a manual instead," or "I regret my AT" but i never see the opposite.

One thing is that I test drove a 350z and found it difficult to drive compared to a Mazda 3. Now of course, these are two very different cars... 4cyl FWD vs RWD V6, but the smaller cars I am almost perfect, no stallling and very smooth. The Z was tricky, and I'm assuming the G will be as well. Also the clutch in the Z was verry long. Maybe that was confusing me.

I'm hopefully buying within the month so I want to make sure I make the right decision.

6MT already comes with Sport Package, which I love. I can get one for 36K or 38k with nav. But to get a similar auto would be 39-40k. Hmmmm

I guess I'll take it for a test drive and see how much i like the mt

 

don't quote me, but i dont think that steel rims will fit over the brake rotors. you might have to buy some cheapo 17" alloys with sufficient offset and slap some winter tires on those.

 

Steelies on a G? What an abomination.

You don't start liking the 6MT until after you learn how to drive it. I hated mine the first week, bit my nails and just practiced, practiced, practiced. At some point you realize you don't think about it anymore cause it becomes natural. That's when the fun begins.

 

I got 34000 miles out of my stock piolt sports, with tred left in the front two. Gas mileage gets better with time. And my 2cents, go with the 6mt. It's not manuals that suck in rush hour traffic it's the rush hour traffic