I find that I can get a little better MPG when I drive in MM...

I agree, nothing replaces the "feel" of a true manual. Unfortunately, the 6MT in the 1st gen G/Zs drive and feel like utter crap. Definitely one of the loudest, most unsmooth, gate-fighting manuals I've ever driven. The reliability of the early 6MTs are crap too. So sad.

Any way, I've got an 03 sedan which means I have the odd manumatic function. I put it into MM and it defaults to 4th. If I want to leave the light in 1st and hold it, I have to manually select it or else the tranny will behave like a regular auto and will upshift all the way to 4th. I actually prefer this setup because I don't have to manually roll through every gear unless I really want too. I've got the Bell paddle shifters which GREATLY enhance the driving experience. I use them far more often than I ever thought. Having the 3.54 (6MT) gear set out back helps things as well. I manually shift probably 20% of the time.

Manually shifting should have no impact on reliability. However, most people that manually shift tend to drive more aggressively. If you shift at higher rpms more often, it does put stress on the tranny which can lead to a reduce life span. The best thing you can do is change out the tranny fluid every 30K miles. As already pointed out, heat is the killer of automatics.

i use MM most of the time, however i found that if im crusing on the hwy in 5, then pop it into drive, the engine drops like 150-200 rpm at the same speed. i have a vb upgrade, and idk if from that or something else but my transmission got wacky. if im in drive and floor it, it holds the gear for like 2 seconds, then bangs into another gear. and my 2nd clutch packs arent so happy. oh well, its still wayy more fun

Not computer lag, its line pressure lag....too low of pressure to be fast enough. Thats why the shift kit is so nice

That's the difference with 05/06 shift logic. You pick every gear. If you are a stop and go to MM, it starts in one. If you are doing 30MPH and go to MM, it starts in 4. But after that you control every shift. You can downshift it onto the rev limiter, and you can even floor it in a gear until you hit the rev limiter. The car won't shift for you. What's nice if you come to a dead stop, you can leave it in 3 and just stop and the car automatically goes to 1. Makes stopping much smoother so you don't feel the hugh downshift to 1. It's actually fun to drive with this setup, and the rev-matching is nice....but it's still not a clutch pedal replacment for me.

So i can see someone abusing the car by riding around in 6000 RPM and whacking it off the rev limiter. For some reason, ricer guys love to hit the rev limiter. Every time i'm at the track, someone is holding their engine on the limiter in the pits while someone messes around under the hood. I cringe and cry when i hit the limiter...bad things happen @ high RPM. These are also the same guys that beat the ever living **** out of a car nonstop and then complain when it finally breaks about being a total POS and never buying another.

Hahahaahahha I do that every time the car is in D

I did that once. Thought I was in mm, went to shift at redline and found myself tagging the limiter in neutral

That's my biggest compliant about most manumatic functions. I don't like the fact that well you come to a stop and then go again, you have to upshift everytime. I like 03/04 setup and having the option of selecting and holding the gears myself or letting the tranny act like an auto having the option to instantly select any gear I want by simply moving a finger a tapping once, twice, or even three times. I think it would get tiring having to execute all upshifts when in MM.

As for the limiter, I can ride that all day if I wanted. I'm glad these autos don't force upshifts for you. Never liked that. Sometimes when auto-xing I have to keep it in 2nd and momentarily ride the limiter rather than upshifting to 3rd.

I've had a 05 loaner before and the tranny definitely felt snappier and the rev-match feature was really nice, but it seemed like the tranny was slower to downshift than my 03's. It's like the rev-match feature requires additional time to execute the shift. Depending on the rpm, manually downshifting the 03/04s isn't terribly clunky. Most times it's no worse than executing a downshift with a true manual. At lower rpms is when you can feel it the most.

I find my MPG is worse in MM because I'll drive much more aggressively, holding the RPM longer or accelerating through turns.

i use MM mode about 75% of the time and no issues also enjoy "rarely" a nice burnout for the burning rubber smell in MM

I love how it blips the throttle on downshifts, especially with my intake and exhaust as it scares small children next to me.

me too, i always drive in mm

im glad there is no problem at all.

its just a habit lol

Tried driving in MM mode the other night after reading this thread, wasn't having any of it lol got sick of it tempting me to get on the gas.