See the old chestnut has been in the gaze of the members of late so rather than add to the other threads thought my small input might be appreciated on its own.
Before deciding what is best auto or manual there are some key points to note first as it can sway the argument either way.
So most, if not all automatic boxes in 300zx now will be suffering from age related slow gear change and pondering gear selection at roundabout's and whilst cornering, lack of fluid and strainer service will usually be the demise of the box
Most of if not all manual gearboxes in 300zx will have not had an oil change and hence will be less than slick in the gear selection than when new, also the clutch unit can wear giving either slip or poor selection, syncros wear and can cause third to fourth crunch, continued use in poor state will be the demise of the box.
Servicing an automatic requires sump removal and strainer replacement of clean, typically with new fluid a £100 job.
Servicing a manual gearbox requires the oil to be drained and replaced. typically a £50 job.
Rebuilding an auto box to as new typically cost between £1,500 and £2,000
Rebuilding a manual gearbox is difficult with parts been almost impossible to find but a switched on builder can refresh a box for £1k + A new clutch
So how do they drive, well lets start off with a brand new or refurbished gearbox in both an auto and a manual zed
The difference between acceleration from rest, midrange punch and top speed is not massive, the auto wins it every time on mid range and kick down with the manual feeling quicker off the line, however off the line hard acceleration in a manual has a larger driver input, clutch control, gear selection and right acceleration. To be fair even though we ALL fee like we could take on Hamilton in reality we are ALL mainly normal Joe`s with normal driving ability so getting the perfect launch every time in a manual is at best a 50/50 affair.
Automatic gearboxes take inputs from speed sensors, throttle position sensor, alternator voltage, battery voltage, ecu load, timing, fuel recall, this and the Joe driving have a special affair going, Joe mashes the pedal hard and the auto box takes on the job of launching the car, and never gets it wrong, not ever, no missed gears, now stalling or bogging down, just go !!
So to motorway driving with an auto and in the outside lane doing 80 mph (private roads lol) auto box sitting in top gear, 4 + torque lock up equates to 5 changes, the rev counter tickling along and fuel consumption in the high twenties. A break comes in the traffic, Joe presses the pedal slightly whilst listening to the radio and thinking about how good his zed is, a split decision is made by the auto box control system based on all of the parameter's mentioned before, torque lock up drops out, 4 the to third is engaged and turbo boost power comes on instantly, the gear ration is such that a huge amount of torque propels the car forward...
Behind Joe is Joe`s mate, also called Joe, his zed is shiny and cool, his 5 speed manual box is all he talks about, citing the times he slaughtered a Lambo or Ferrari with the 3rd gear torque. Anyhow second Joe just noticed his mate Joe up front has pulled away from him, he thinks better chase him, oh crap I am in fifth better pull the gear lever into forth, at this point he releases the accelerator and all the turbo boost he had has now fell out of the engine down the exhaust !! no problem Joe pressing the pedal and boost builds like a nuclear explosion cloud. Joe up front is now pulling away like a scolded cat and second Joe is fuming, so mashes it more and soon is changing back to fifth at which point the turbo boost he had has now fell out of the engine down the exhaust !!
First Joe levels his speed out and the auto box resumes cruise conditions 4 gear + torque lock up and the revs happily sit back down, with high twenties mpg.
Meanwhile second Joe has caught up first Joe and smiles a manual zed owner smile whilst thinking "ha thought you could get away eh? " First Joe looks to his side at Joe and thinks “oh hello second Joe, forgot you were there?? “... lol
Okay a little humour of course but in real life things can often not be as good as they appear on paper, whilst agreeing with many manual zed owners that manual feels more involved and more connected does it really mean better? that's down to the individual unfortunately there is a sort of unwritten rule that manual is better, when most times the driving experience in a good auto can be just as rewarding but without the work !!
So to my personal experience, so my zed of near 11 years ownership as an auto I was completely happy with having seen off most if not all challengers on the highway, any how one day without warning it decided to let the magic go and with a defunct auto box I decided to change to manual gearbox. Now I had at my disposal a gearbox with 30k miles from new on it, new one piece prop shaft, new master and slave, new booster, new pedals and of course a brand new clutch and flywheel. This was by far the cleanest of conversion due to the mostly new parts been used and so was a great experiment to see how it would compare to what had been a near perfect auto box in a zed I had known for over a decade.
The first drive was like a revelation, the response was amazing and the pondering change all gone, ( thought my auto was perfect ?) the driver input and involvement heightened the experience to a level I had not known, I was sold, hook line and sinker, without doubt I thought I should of done it years ago. I found myself taking the long route home each night to just experience it more, now I felt like my years of bigging up the automatic box to of been a time I was wandering in a dark forest and now I was free and it was to be sunny everyday.
Time passed and I stopped going the long way home and spent time sitting in traffic on my short but annoying commute, the clutch was only a 25% upgrade and with the new hydraulic components was a joy of lightness. However it did get to me a bit selecting and deselecting first gear to drive two foot at a time,this was bearable though as it was only a short part of my journey, one thing I did notice, my MPG had fallen something tragic??
A longish 250 mile return journey down South seems an ideal opportunity to take the zed for a blast and set off with the expectations of a great drive, joining the motorway and selecting the outside lane as the route to follow was a natural choice, settling down at a near 90 mph ( private road lol ) in top gear but soon my spider sense was alerted to something different, it was unsettling and a little worried I backed off, could not really work it out but its seems to be less of a problem when travelling at 70 mph, that heart rending feeling of a broken zed was with me and decided to keep the speed down.
But of course I am in a zed and soon the speed rose up again but so did my feeling of something wrong, scanning the dash for lights or clues I noticed the rev counter was way around and was like "what the F--k !!" checked I was in fifth and not third??? then slowly it dawned on me the manual gearbox ratio's are different to the auto box, what I now had was a noisier ride due to the higher engine speed. Ok so not totally happy with it but at least nothing broken and the normal calm self returned.... still not a lot better than a sunny day and a zed in the outside lane blasting past the normal traffic....... but then what is this? an exocet missile coming down the fast lane behind me, a closer look in the mirror and could see it was a zed !!! oh yes pal bring it on !! then as it passed I noticed it was Joe! so I immediately floored it to chase him down and guess what ?????????????? I was in fifth gear !!
So the story does not end there, some time later a surprise offer from someone on my zed saw me part with it for very strong money, however, the deal was that it was for his wife and she wanted it returning to an automatic!! So lucky I had a low mileage box and torque converter on the shelf in the workshop and the conversion back was done.
I of course test drove the car using it for a few days on my daily commute to be sure all was okay well it was like an old friend had come home, the car again was relaxing to drive and the commute a pleasure despite the traffic and the kick down mid range power amazed me all over again, I now am sure in my mind the auto suits the car but only if the auto box is working correctly and that is the key, most are not and this is what gives them that poor rep, having done countless manual conversions I now think for pure GT driving pleasure auto is the way forward, if your box fails get it rebuild with a fast road kit from the US..... if you car is already manual enjoy it to the max. but just watch that fifth gear its a bugger !!
Jeff
Shame you missed the meet, the 25th Anniversary meet last month was simply stunning, so lucky to be just 5 minutes away and every month too. Jeff
