test drove them a couple of days apart and here's my impession.........05 auto: that rev-matching is sweeeet.........get on the gas and car just takes off....you just cannot misshift in that thing! messed around with the manu-matic, to me, it just felt weird........05 6mt: i really didn't feel the 298hp as adverstised......in fact, it felt almost as quick as my 04 6mt sedan(mods in sig.)...i was dissapointed that there wasn't much difference except the cosmetics, rear tail lights, new look of temp/rardio controls, etc.....
my conclusion, 05 auto surprised me at how quick it really is........the 05 6mt didn't surprise in any fashion, and to be fair, i have the bolt-ons, but to compare with the 05 auto, i didn't feel that extra 18hp.........these are my impressions, your milage may vary...

 

Torque multiplication and a tranny built for a 340hp car...one of the best attributes and the one for my decision in 03. Had to get out of a manual but I still envy you. I found the 6 spd '05 350Z (not track) to be lacking some power feel compared to my car with mods and I think the transmission has a lot to do with it. 05's are nice inside.

 

I definatley won't brag about 298hp anymore after having a 260hp auto G for 800 miles. I've said this before and I'll say it again: The 260hp engine pulls smoother than the 298 and it pulls strong throughout the whole power band. The 298 is loud and rough sounding all the way up to redline, but the closer it gets to redline, the weaker it feels.

When I raced an 04 auto coupe, it was practically neck and neck until after 100 when I barely started pulling.

My point, I wouldn't buy a 6mt for the 298hp, I would buy a 6mt because I love stick.

 

As people get their 05 Sedans past the break-in period we should see some interesting observations about both the manual and automatic cars.

The 6MT gained 38hp and no additional torque (298hp/260tq) vs (260hp/260tq)

However the automatic Sedan gained 20hp and 10lbs. of torque (280hp/270tq) vs (260hp/260tq).

I Test drove both the 05 6MT and 05 Auto (I bought the auto) my impression was that for everyday real world driving (stop light to stop light and on-ramp drag races) that the auto is a faster car. I have also driven an 04 auto sedan, and the 05 auto is noticeably faster all speeds.

 

I agree. Drag racers switched to automatics long ago because its all about winning. We stick people buy them because we need something more to do with our hands and feet than operate a steering wheel and two pedals.

 

Haha, as much as I can agree with you, when it comes to everyday cars (not drag cars) our manual transmissions technically should be faster though. Its somewhat of a dissapointment to have a sportier, yet slower version of the car. Defeats the purpose in my opinion, but oh well.

 

are you guys saying the MT got slower? No way. Maybe the power curve changed, but I doubt 38 extra ponies slowed it down.

 

good inputs, it's good to know that i'm not the only one with these comments.........now i'm anxiously waiting to see magazine and real world times of 0-60 and 1/4 miles! Nickk6, yeah, it sure sucks to have the manual version and be slower than the auto.......you're also dead on with the 05 6mt running out of breath towards top-end........i could of swore my 2k maxima se(5sp) had more on the top end!

 

What the heck are you guys talking about? The manual IS faster than the auto. The auto just doesn't take as much skill to drive fast. The average person would be faster in an auto, but that doesn't mean the manual is a slower car...just that people are wusses and want justification for buying something they wish they hadn't...

 

Exactly. The 6MT takes EFFORT and SKILL to drive fast. It won't do it for you like the auto.

 

dentalstud......and you know that to be true because....?

dirrtybear......i know about the driver/skills to ring out the most of the manuals.....

my question to you guys: ...have you driven both the 05 sedan auto and manual? if so, please tell us your opinions between these two cars specifically...

 

I've driven the 04 auto and manual, not the 05.

On paper, the 05 6mt should be faster than the auto.

Also, what FEELS faster is not necessarily what IS faster.

 

What a stupid f'ing comment by dentalstud:

"The average person would be faster in an auto, but that doesn't mean the manual is a slower car...just that people are wusses and want justification for buying something they wish they hadn't... "

OK -- so let me get this straight... I am a wuss b\c I have an auto and less skilled? Doubt it... I won't even address the wuss comment but will say that I would challenge you to a race any day in any manual car and am quite certain I would kick your a$$... Oh -- but probably not -- b\c I have an auto and that clearly dictates my ability to drive a manual car...

I usually do not even respond to trash like this but this was so ludicrous, I had to chime in... I don't think I have heard something so ridiculous...

 

WHEW, all this jabber about 1/2 second here or there (LOL). I just enjoy driving my G and if it takes a little P**sy hair longer to get to 60 MPH, I don't care! You guys are beatin this subject to death. Of course, I don't mind and hope you get the answer you need in the near future.

 

I know a lot of lousy stick drivers who go around saying they can drive stick shift so great. However, I've had enough experience drag racing cars to know how to drive a stick well. My first time at a drag strip, my friend brought his stock GT stang, he was running horrible times. I hopped in his car and ran a 14.1 with 90* temp outside. Keep in mind this is a RWD car with no traction control or LSD, so if you get a bad launch, you will be spinning for awhile.

When it comes to driving my G, off the line its great....just not if there is a faster car next to you. I noticed when racing an Auto G35, most the power can be put down right away. The 6MT was hard to launch because the tires did not slip and I had no idea if I was giving it too much gas or not, so I just dropped the clutch and gave it hell. It seemed like the LSD was absorbing all the power from off the line and made it feel slower then the 04 5at sedan I was driving. I could hold the brake and launch it at 2000 rpm and get a great launch from it.

When driving my 6MT on the freeway and passing, I've noticed if I don't look at the tach, I will shift somewhat low in the RPMS (5000-6000) because by then the engine is screaming and it doesn't feel like its going to pull any harder if I keep letting it rev. Of course this could be feeling too, the car is a luxury car and I've noticed that nicer cars feel slower because of reduced cabin noise and better design. When I was behind a modified M3 (E36) on the freeway, he took off and we went to about 130 and I was closing the gap between us at that point when I let off because slower moving traffic up ahead, so I do know the car is going, but I guess my point is, it just doesn't feel like it should.

Don't get me wrong, any G35 is no slouch, but IMO a car with "298" hp should feel much stronger then a car with 260hp and an auto transmission.


If there is a track event planned in the So-Cal area, I may just have to go to see what the 05 6MT can do so we can see the real results and not just what we think.