Hello all...it's me again...another question

Like most of you know by now...I've been a manual driver for 13+ years or however number of years and my G35x is my 1st A/T car. I've been driving the car mainly in the self-shift mode. When you guys shift the gear do you keep the foot on the gas pedal or let go? I mean for my manual accord, when I shift gear I let go of gas, then afterward step on the gas. Just want to make sure I am doing the right thing. Also, it's perfectly ok if I drive in self shift mode all the time right? Self shift still can't compare to stick shift...not even close. I can feel every downshift the car makes when it downshifts from like 4 to 1 when the car rolls to the light. Maybe I am just picky.

Thanks

 

Mikeee,

I'm going to pull a "me too" and ask the same question... For me it's just habit to let off the gas pedal to shift. Should we? Do we have too? I don't know. Anyone?

PS - What about "down-shifting" with the AT in Manual Mode? I've been doing it, again as habit, but should it?

 

Chaps, couple of things. You donn't have too ease up on the accelerator when you up shift, just floor it and watch the revs (there's a slight lag and if you don't shift just right, it'll bouce off the rev-limiter).
As for downshifting, you can do that, but you shouldn't downshift too slow down..a.k.a. engine breaking. This will cause premature wear on your transmission and brakes are a lot cheaper too replace than that.

I too grew up driving manuals & the auto-trans/manual shift in the G35 is not a true sequential gearbox, it's basically a high gear selector, but can still be a lot of fun.

 

I drove a stick for manyyyyyyyy years so I know the feeling.
An AT is hard to get used to.

FWIW here is what I have found after 6 months.
UPSHIFTING
- don't let off the gas just tip it forward
- normal driving shifts are pretty crisp arround 3500 to 4000 rpm
- max excelleration; shift about 500 rpm before redline to avoid hitting rev limiter

DOWNSHIFTING
- For normal driving, ease off the gas but don't lift off completely.
Downshift as revs drop; (shifts with no gas are not as clean)
- For spirited driving I downshift as above but I add some left foot brakes to slow quicker. (don't need left for a clutch so might as well put it to use)

 

I've been driving the last couple of weeks just like how you've described. I noticed whenever I slow down to make 90 degree left/right turns, I am usually going around 20mph or something like that. When I tap onto the brake and then turn...it's always on 3rd gear. I've been downshifting to 2nd at the turn because I want to accelerate out from the turn on 2nd and not 3rd. I mean driving A/T is quite boring that's why I rather do self-shift. Why can't self shift be like the manual "H" shape instead of up/down...haha. They should make it tighter to shift up/down because I think it's just way to easy to tap. The shifter should be much stiffer so I really need to push up/down to shift.

 

I agree, that would be much better.

What I would really like is the DSG box that Audi uses in the TT,
or the BMW SMG. Real MT & computer does the clutching.

 

The DSG/SMG is good but if I am going to go that far I mind as well get the 100% manual w/clutch.

The best combination ever is if it's possible to build two transmission into 1 car or however they can build it. It would be an H shape manual and you can either pull the stick to one side or whatever and that changes it to "D". That would be the best of both world. SMG is close to that since it has "D" I believed, but it's still not a true manual w/clutch.

 

The SMG is a true clutchless manual transmission.

 

Yes it's manual transmission. But a real manual transmission should have clutch and H shape gears, not tapping up/down shifts.

 

I know what you meant by this^
But for those that aren't familiar with SMG/DSG, there is a clutch, just no pedal.
The clutch is operated by the computer whenever you change gears.

 

That's what I'm saying, an SMG gearbox is a true clutchless manual. The manual trans in the AT is simply a "high gear" selector.

 

What exactly do you mean by "high gear" selector?

 

Mikee,
depends on the year of your G. For the 04 the manual trans always displays a No.4 (4th gear) as a default when you switch over no matter if your stopped or moving. This means that while you may well start from a stop and accelrate too 4th, that's when it'll bounce off the rev limiter. The car will still shift up from 1 to 4th for you. Basically it's a failsafe, that way you can accelerate like the dickens and not worry about the rev limiter.

There was a huge previous thread about this, do a search. Like I say the manual feature in our cars is nothing like that offered by Audi or BMW.

A true SMG gearbox had the computer clutching while you shift, it's has faster shifting than a manual with all of the fun of an MT.

 

Ohhhhhhh...the 04's only have 4 gear A/T? I have an 05 model. Let's say at a stop and you shift to self shift. It starts at 1. Then you can gas it till red line or whenever you feel like shifting to 2 and then 3...4...and tops out at 5. It DOES NOT UPSHIFT FOR ME unless I tell it to. Also, lets say you are on 5th gear and there's a red light in front of me. I can just let go of the gas and glide to the red light and the transmission will downshift and go from 4, 3 to 1 right before you stop. Then when it turns green I'll have to shift again starting from 1st gear. Let's say I am on "D" and I am driving 40mph...I can just pop to self shift and it'll choose a gear for me.

 

Right, but the 04's have a 5 speed tranny. Infiniti revised this from the initial 03, 03.5, 04, 04.5 etc. Still, unlike an SMG gearbox our cars have no clutch, that plus there's a lag between shift.

For optimum performance numbers we aren't able to benfit, even with an ECU reflash etc. An SMG gearbox is basically a manual transmission with all of the easy benefits of an auto, but can shift at a 100th of a second or quicker and make the most of the revs. The car's computer clutches while the driver shifts, a.k.a. Formula 1 or WRC.

As regards our G's, and a lot of other manu-matic cars, the manual feature is really a gimmick ( no flames please). The auto will probably shift faster than you can in an everyday situation. The benefits are downshifting form say a 3rd to 2nd for a quick burst.