Hey bro, and welcome to G35Driver. Congrats on your new G. I might suggest just driving in Auto Mode for now until you get a little more familiar with the car, and you've had a chance to read the O/M some more.
The manumatic mode is fun but usually doesn't yield better acceleration, so IMHO there's no advantage to shifting yourself (especially if you're not familiar with it).
Once you're more familiar with your new ride, you'll want to experiment with shifting it yourself-- (BTW- don't lift off the gas like you do in a manual tranny, just keep a steady pressure on the gas like in regular automatic mode).
Have a look at the book tho. It's full of tips and facts that you should know b4 driving. G/L
BillR is in New Jersey, and could prolly hook you up with a good tint shop. Send him a P/M...[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

<font color=green>GSM</font color=green>

 

Manumatic in no way resembles a true manual transmission. You don't have a clutch there is no reason to let off the gas. Just push the stick when you want the car to shift... but probably should just leave it in drive that's what I do 99% of the time.

 

It's still an automatic transmission, there's no clutch. You can keep the accelerator all the way down and bump the shifter. (Think about it.. you don't have to second-guess a "regular" automatic and let off the gas when it's time to change gears.)

On another note, the automanual in our G35 is not like the Tiptronic or Steptronic transmissions of other car makers. It's not a true manual mode. In those other cars, you pick the gear you want (kinda like a manual) and the car stays in that gear. With our car, the transmission is free to jump up and down between first and whatever gear you want -- it's a max gear selector, not a current gear selector.

Those other types of automanuals also toss their adaptive patterns when you put them in sport mode and use a pre-set aggressive shift pattern. Our G35's keep the adaptive pattern in "manual" mode.

The best thing you can do for acceleration is to turn off the VDC system. Of course, you'll have to recover from fishtails on your own then... but it's more fun that way. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

 

the manual shift on 5AT is only good for down shift when you need to crank up the rpm for passing or going uphill. no way to compare with 6mt which is total control. It's a compromise between at and mt. I usually put gear at 4 for local driving and D on highway.

Silver/Graphite/Premium/Sports/Winter<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by 30all on 07/09/03 08:28 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

The manual mode in the coupe works differently than in the sedan, In the coupe, the car stays in the gear you put it in. When you come to a stop, it automatically goes to 1st, but un-like the sedan, it does not upshift again. You must manually shift it back up thru the gears as you wish.
I believe the way the coupe operates is more like what others are describing as tiptronic, etc. About the only thing you cannot do in the coupe is start off from a complete stop in anything other than 1st. But that is no big deal.
I personally am very happy with the both automatic mode and manumatic mode on the car. I have noted three occasional idiosyncrasies while in manual mode 1). a delay in gear changes, 2).abrupt jerk as car automatically goes to 1st at stop, and 3). when moving the shifter from drive to manumatic, the car sometimes shifts to the next higher gear rather than staying in the gear I am in.
I have no idea why Infiniti made the AT operate differently on the sedan and coupe; but the difference in operation is clearly spelled out in the Owners Manual.

 

The sedan automatically goes into 4th whenever you engage the tiptronic system. So if you're at a light and you slide the stick, it will shift automatically through the first 4 gears unless you downshift first. I think it can be convenient - especially in mountainous terrain. I engage the tiptronic and downshift to 3rd. I let the car do whatever it wants in the first 3 gears (upshift or downshift) and just make sure that when I get up to speed, the RPMs stay high to add some nice reactive performance to the drive. I also really like the feature on the highway. When I'm cruising along in my overdrive 5th and want to pass somebody, all I really need to do is knock the stick over to the tiptronic gate. The car automatically drops down to 4th, my RPMs go up, and I'm ready to become Mr. Lead Foot.


-townsley-
2003 Brilliant Silver Premium Sedan

 

I'm not 100% sure if I'm reading this accurately-- I know it's said that ours is a "max gear selector", however not one time has mine shifted FOR me into the next gear when travelling up through the gears. It'll let me bounce it off the redline... Now, I can't go shifting from 5th to 1st on the interstate (neither, by the way, can Audi or BMW's systems), but that's beyond reason. Does it only max out the gear you can use when moving down through the range? If so, that's the same as the 330's system (at least in 2002), and as far as I'm aware, the A4's.
I just use it because there are two 90 degree curves on the wooded road on which my house is location- more fun and more control that way, and there are lots of GREAT backroads around here... not much else use for it other than blasting someone away when they pi$$ me off. If I want that raw, primal muscle driving feeling, I just hop in the Cobra and take the top down... no VDC to turn off there! [img]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/img] Care to enlighten me on this matter? Thanks,
G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
Indianapolis, IN

 

Can't tell from your sig if you have the coupe or sedan. On the sedan, like mine, when you engage the manumatic mode it defaults to 4th gear. You can shift up or down from there. Whatever gear you select is the max gear it will shift into while you're driving. It acts just like an automatic shifting up and down for you as you slow and accelerate. However, the transmission never shifts past the highest gear you originally selected. So if you dump it down to 3rd and drive around it will never go higher than 3rd but will shift down as you come to a stop and shift through the gears up to 3rd when you drive off. In that sense it is a max gear selector but not a true tiptronic type (stays in gear selected) as you see in other sport sedans and apparently the G coupe as well.

03.5 Sedan AT (Black-Willow-Premium-Sport-Aero-GG Grounding Kit)

 

The Coupe varies slightly there bro:
<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

............ So if you dump it down to 3rd and drive around it will never go higher than 3rd but will shift down as you come to a stop and shift through the gears up to 3rd when you drive off.

<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

through the gears up to 3rd when you drive off. In that sense it is a max gear selector but not a true tiptronic type (stays in gear selected) as you see in other sport sedans and apparently the G coupe as well

<hr></blockquote>

This is where the Coupe and Sedan differ. In the Coupe, as the tranny shifts down from your selected gear, so does the indicated gear # in the dash quadrant. After stopping, you have to shift back up again. The Sedan will hold your selected gear # after stopping, and will rise to that # again,(until changed).

Unless you've driven both, it's a little confusing and tough to explain the diffs, and just as difficult to understand what is meant. Not sure if what I've said helps, but there are separate sections in the O/M on the 2 cars' automatics.

<font color=green>GSM</font color=green>

 

Silly coupe owners.. go back to your own forum. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I'm assuming he has a sedan, since this is the sedan forum.

Basically, "5" and "D" are the same thing. "4" just locks out 5th gear. "3" locks out 4th and 5th. etc.

You can force it to downshift (unless it would over-rev the engine). You cannot force it to upshift, but you can keep it from upshifting until you're ready. If you're in "2" and bump it up to "3", it won't necessarily shift right away.. it'll shift when the transmission computer is good and ready, and figures it's an appropriate time; and if you slow back down, it won't stay in 3, it'll drop back to 2 if it feels like it.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

 

Is there any way to change the sedans manualmatic mode to the coupes?

 

Is there any way for me to change my sedan into a coupe?
LOL

God I love this car!

 

I kinda wish the manumatic on the sedan worked like the coupe, too. That's really the only place where I feel like I'm missing out as a Sedan owner. Oh well, maybe they'll change it in a future model year.

Jeff Kohn
H-Town, TX
2003.5 Automatic Sedan, Desert Platinum/Willow, Premium, Nav, Tint

 

yeh, lol, I've got the tranny you want, but you guys have got the bigger back seat area, bigger trunk, memory seats, 2 more doors, smaller pricetag, sheesh, you fellas want everything
J/K bros. If I could have justified 2 Infinitis (lol) I wouldn't have traded my Sedan on the Coupe. They're both great rides, but in many ways are very different.

<font color=green>GSM</font color=green>