Hello all,

 

I have been considering buying a 300zx for some time now and I have test drove quite a few. I have only drove the non-turbo as I didn't think I could afford the turbo. To be honest I wasn't that impressed with the performance. The manual was good but the automatics I test drove weren't very impressive. This put me off getting an automatic altogether and I decided it had to be the manual. Thing is, there is a metallic blue twin turbo with full leather full sale at a garage on the Internet at the moment which looks very very nice. Problem is - it's an automatic. Now it's a good 100 mile drive for me to go and look at the car so I don't want to waste any time and petrol looking at a car thats performance isn't up to much.

 

Basically all I want to know is if the stats I have seen for the turbo i.e 0 -60mph 5.7 secs applies to the auto's as well. Or, like I have found, that the autos don't deliver the same kind of performance as the manuals??

 

So shall I bother looking at this car?? It's the right price and it looks the part but I'm just unsure about the box!!

 

Cheers - Conrad

Conrad

...you are opening up a can of worms here. The choice is yours - drive all variants and make up your mind. Compromise when top quality is staring you in the face at a give-away price...

 

good luck

the z i have now it the first auto car ive owned, i'd driven some autos before and to be honest they were dire, the z how ever for me is a different story, its damn fast away from the lights and mid range acceleration is pretty awesome too, i was pretty scared with the amount of power the tt have on tap as standard and the auto box at first is a bit daunting, u dont feel control u have with a manual, after a couple of weeks i was grinning all over the place.

 

Take it for a spin and make your own mind up, im sure you will be suprised how responsive they are, just pootling a long at a steady 40 and floor it and watch the scenery blur. but obviously not in the wet unless u like looking out the side window while going forwards.

John-boy on here has had both, when i asked him he said the manual is deffo quicker, stock for stock.

personal taste - totally agree with the guys who say drive them both, then decide.

 

Good luck

 

Vijay

I was the same as you, I wanted a manual. But the problem is there aren't that many about. So I bought an Auto, don't be fooled the Auto takes time to get used to when you are used

to driving a manual. If you do give it a test drive put it in power mode and switch the Overdrive Off as the Auto Box changes down

at lower revs with it on.

I've had both and they're both good cars, it's all down to personal preference. There are times when I wish I still had the auto and there are times when I'm so pleased that I converted to manual. However, make no mistake about it, in order to get the best from an auto you have to learn how to drive it in just the same way as you had to lean to drive a manual.

I too was on the look for a manual but an auto came up at a price I couldn't refuse. I like the comments about an auto having to be driven right to get the best out of it cos that is so true. When my mates have a drive they just plant the pedal in the carpet and it doesn't go aswell as I can get it to go.

 

Overdrive off on the motorway is rad, pulls so well.

 

When its in 2nd at quite so slow speed and you bury the pedal and it drops back into first.......... that still gives me a smile about this big.............:D :D :D

 

 

...........but would still prefer a manual for that driving experience.

Nothing wrong with the Auto, IMHO. But I would say that I drive one. :D

 

Really depends what you want out of the Zed, I've been on track with mine and it's still a fun, useable, tracktable machine, yet the auto is also wonderful in London traffic or on a Friday night on the M25, no acheing left calf muscle for me. :D

 

The Zed is not slow in either guise, as has been said already on here, drive both and draw your own conclusions.

 

...or of course you can add semi automatic control of the autobox to give you the best of both worlds!

 

Tim

Conrad,

 

at the end of the day its your personal preference to go for either one. I have an Auto Z and it has never let me down, speed wise!!!

 

"AMMAR"

its a lot easier to eat kebabs/ice creams etc with an auto, i think they are a nice drive as well, havent driven a manual one though so cant comment on that.

I drive an auto, and personaly I think that manuals are quicker, but on the other hand manuals lose more time shifting gears (sure someone will disagree though!).

 

Its a personal preference thing, I'd like to have one of each.

Conrad,

 

I have a manual TT, and not experienced the Auto. However if I was looking now for a TT, I would not dismiss an Auto for performance. And I will try and explain why:-

 

Conceptually all Auto transmissions have a performance loss against the equivilant Manual, and this would be true if Nissan had not taken advantage of the Twin Turbos. The TT Auto is fitted with smaller Turbos than the Manual, which increases the torque and speed of delivery. Because of this, I don't believe there is much difference between the two, until you get into the higher extremes where few of us ever go.

 

In real terms the TT Auto is able to use different turbos to give comparable performance to the TT Manual, ........and with the NA Auto not having this benefit to offset the difference, you would have felt that the NA Auto lagged behind the NA manual, I feel.

 

Whatever you choose, get a good one.

 

Geoff

Nah feck it buy a Skyline, you will have loads more friends on here that way ;)

LOL! Senna i have never met you but that was a wicked sentament! had me laughing like crazy,keep it up!

 

ps,i may be pulled towards the dark side eventually!:D :D :D

Originally posted by senna

Nah feck it buy a Skyline, you will have loads more friends on here that way ;)

 

OI!!!! stop trying to nick our potential members

The other thing that no body has mentioned is to get an auto to go about as quick as it can is fairly easy, and very consistent.

 

On the other hand to get the best out of a manual takes a bit more skill, and is almost never as consistent. Assuming average+ skill.

 

And as we get more and more congestion an auto makes more sense, and is a lot quicker to go from cruise to max as all you have to do is stamp on the gas.

 

In an everyday sense an auto is as quick, but anyway where and how often can you use the difference? Drive both and choose what you fancy, because the performance difference is not really an issue, (to me anyway).

Originally posted by markstevens

The other thing that no body has mentioned is to get an auto to go about as quick as it can is fairly easy, and very consistent.

 

On the other hand to get the best out of a manual takes a bit more skill, and is almost never as consistent. Assuming average+ skill.

 

.

And that is the best part of owning a manual, they are far more involving (which is what a sports car is about)

 

Its your choice and im not starting anything here but, on this forum alone, how many Auto cars have converted to Manual cars (again no joke, no buts because of this and because of that ect) and how many have converted form Manual to Auto? (0)

The choice has to be yours at the end of it all, and personally id never have just settled for an auto as they are very dull (yes i have driven one)

regarding performance difference, yes there is one.

If the difference is fairly small, and an auto is very dull, that means that a manual is just dull. What a shame. I thought I liked 300z's..... Noww I will have to sell it as it is a very dull car and swapping it for a manual will only remove the "very"......

Originally posted by markstevens

If the difference is fairly small, and an auto is very dull, that means that a manual is just dull. What a shame. I thought I liked 300z's..... Noww I will have to sell it as it is a very dull car and swapping it for a manual will only remove the "very"......

Who said the difference is small? in my opinion (and again its only my opinion, not intended to insult anyone :rolleyes: ) the driver involvment of having a manual makes it a far more exciting car to drive? and to me that makes the differece pretty vast?

(Seriously sick of this place, you give an opinion (which i believe the guy asked for) and then everyone jumps and huffs and puffs because its not in line with theres?) FFKS

Take it all with a pinch of salt and calm down. :-)

 

BUT, you started it by calling autos "very dull". Now , everyone knows that any decent 300zx is never, ever very dull, or dare I say it, dull at all. Is'nt this fun?

 

And it is also a fact that the difference in speed is not that great. look at the figures. But I guess a super driver needs those few tenths of a second. I really wouldnt know.

 

It would be interesting to put two standard Z'z together, one auto and one manual, and see quite what the difference is in real conditions.

 

As for personal preferance, thats another thing, and we cant question anyone for that.

 

If you want to start calling peoples cars very dull, which is hardly realistic, you need to be ready for the replies.

 

Have nice day, LOL......

It's been said many times before,it's down to personal preference,what YOU want.

Of course everyone has opinions and it's wise to listen to these to help you make your mind up.

I wanted a sports car,I looked around for a while,test drove lots of different types of cars(Supras,GTO's,Scoobies,Lotus etc.)and of course Z's ,both autos and manuals.

I found what I wanted and could afford(just about!)and it's a Z manual and I love it!

Good luck and happy looking,

F.T.

I would not care if its an auto or manual,as long as i have one!:p

yea waz, dont start the auto v man war again, its down to personal pref.

every one knows the manual is best anyway. no need to rub salt in the wounds of auto drivers!!! :D :D :D

As the 300zx was designed for the American market there are far more Automatic Transmission 300zx then manual, because the Americans have more money and hamburgers than the western world.

 

So I would suggest that if you like hamburgers and are a little portly that you get an Automatic transmission because it will most certainly help you when have a 'next gear up / tripple wopper with cheese' moment.

 

I myself prefer to let the grease run down my arm and drive a manual, happy in the knowledge that if my Zed crunches between 4th and 5th, that I can let the hamburger lard run into the transmission and it will stop the crunch, like Redline, but with onions.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Jethro Q Hussein.

I love the auto, you get the best of both worlds. The more i drive it the better i can make it shift and im a lazy ****er so it suits me!!