ALtima coupe 3.5 SE Transmission

[AerialViper]

Which is better overall for an altima coupe 3.5 SE, an automatic or manual transmission and can you feel a huge difference between the two?

[mcheddadi]

Which is better overall for an altima coupe 3.5 SE, an automatic or manual transmission and can you feel a huge difference between the two?

first I'll answer the first part. I think there is more potential for modding in a 6MT. you can swap the gearings, and the diff without messing up stuff in the transmission since its a good old non electric trans, and you can use parts from other nissans in it. also you can get shortshifters and nice knobs and stuff for it. plus if you boost one day you don't need a transmission cooler.

now second part: DUH! of course you can FEEL a HUUUUGGGEEE difference between the too. in one you shift and in the other you don't. in one you feel the clutch and the tire gripping and the neck snapping and in the other you dont.

yeah there is that "manual cvt mode" thing but to me it's not as cool as the real deal. it's not bad, it's just not as involved. you can't heal and toe during aggressive driving, you can't left foot brake (or can you?) and you can't burnout properly I heard from some.

have fun lol

[Ranga14]

first I'll answer the first part. I think there is more potential for modding in a 6MT. you can swap the gearings, and the diff without messing up stuff in the transmission since its a good old non electric trans, and you can use parts from other nissans in it. also you can get shortshifters and nice knobs and stuff for it. plus if you boost one day you don't need a transmission cooler.

now second part: DUH! of course you can FEEL a HUUUUGGGEEE difference between the too. in one you shift and in the other you don't. in one you feel the clutch and the tire gripping and the neck snapping and in the other you dont.

yeah there is that "manual cvt mode" thing but to me it's not as cool as the real deal. it's not bad, it's just not as involved. you can't heal and toe during aggressive driving, you can't left foot brake (or can you?) and you can't burnout properly I heard from some.

have fun lol

While I do like MT for certain purposes (considering getting another car one day in the far off future, perhaps a 300zx mt as a project car), I just hate driving them in daily traffic and commute hence the reason I like CVT more but I have to disagree on the head snapping back. While I'm sure there's more force with your car and head snapping, the car has the same engine so there's not going to be a world of difference in the head snappage, lol... Thus I feel mine jerk back as well when I floor it. :P

[superblackcoupe]

The automatic/CVT transmission is great if you want a smooth ride, decent gas milage with zero shift-shock.

It also makes for an incredibly boring ride. I always drive mine in Tiptronic mode.

If you know how to drive stick, get a 6MT.

[lilojoj]

first I'll answer the first part. I think there is more potential for modding in a 6MT. you can swap the gearings, and the diff without messing up stuff in the transmission since its a good old non electric trans, and you can use parts from other nissans in it. also you can get shortshifters and nice knobs and stuff for it. plus if you boost one day you don't need a transmission cooler.

now second part: DUH! of course you can FEEL a HUUUUGGGEEE difference between the too. in one you shift and in the other you don't. in one you feel the clutch and the tire gripping and the neck snapping and in the other you dont.

yeah there is that "manual cvt mode" thing but to me it's not as cool as the real deal. it's not bad, it's just not as involved. you can't heal and toe during aggressive driving, you can't left foot brake (or can you?) and you can't burnout properly I heard from some.

have fun lol

hey mcheddadi can you heel/toe in this car? ive tried it and its so hard to do because the brake and accelerator are in wierd positions. i always end up braking way too hard because the accelerator is so far in

[JIBRIL4life]

hey mcheddadi can you heel/toe in this car? ive tried it and its so hard to do because the brake and accelerator are in wierd positions. i always end up braking way too hard because the accelerator is so far in

[mcheddadi]

hey mcheddadi can you heel/toe in this car? ive tried it and its so hard to do because the brake and accelerator are in wierd positions. i always end up braking way too hard because the accelerator is so far in

lol my heel&toe skills suck balls, Ive tried it at carlisle and since my left foot is used to slamming the clutch pedal , I kept crushing the brake pedal lol.

to learn to proper heel&toe I suggest doing it while the car isn't running. it's hard to be gentle with ya left foot mate lol.

it's doable with the pedals but I agree that the stock spacing is awkward.

check this guy out, he's a pro. he does left foot braking and heel&toehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcSAiRxmm0w

[maxentropy]

The automatic/CVT transmission is great if you want a smooth ride, decent gas milage with zero shift-shock.

It also makes for an incredibly boring ride. I always drive mine in Tiptronic mode.

I agree, its a smooth ride in CVT- smoothest I've ever driven or ridden in! Also, I love manual CVT. It's something totally different than a manual shifter or an automatic. You need to drive a CVT and try the manual CVT mode for yourself.

Also, superblack, just so you know our cars do not have Tiptronic mode. That is for regular automatics to shift manually that do not have CVT.

Think of CVT like an automatic car, but smooth on a belt instead of hopping gears.

Nothing can touch how friggen sweet it is to manual shift CVT till 3rd or 4th and then throw the stick into Auto CVT and just takeoff.

I dubbed it the "CVT takeoff". Surprises the hell outta folks on the road and I've had people ask if that was me burning Nitrous. lol

[jdeb101]

I agree, its a smooth ride in CVT- smoothest I've ever driven or ridden in! Also, I love manual CVT. It's something totally different than a manual shifter or an automatic. You need to drive a CVT and try the manual CVT mode for yourself.

Also, superblack, just so you know our cars do not have Tiptronic mode. That is for regular automatics to shift manually that do not have CVT.

Think of CVT like an automatic car, but smooth on a belt instead of hopping gears.

Nothing can touch how friggen sweet it is to manual shift CVT till 3rd or 4th and then throw the stick into Auto CVT and just takeoff.

I dubbed it the "CVT takeoff". Surprises the hell outta folks on the road and I've had people ask if that was me burning Nitrous. lol

haha Ya, I wonder if thats bad for our transmission though???

[maxentropy]

haha Ya, I wonder if thats bad for our transmission though???

Probably somewhat. Think of it like this;

In auto CVT, there is a belt running along two pulleys. To shift up and down they simply move closer together or further apart to place more tension on the belt. In auto CVT, they move back and forth smoothly and you really don't feel the usual automatic transmission jerks.

When you use manual CVT, those two pulleys "jump" to a specified distance apart to make it feel like shifting regular gears.

Totally safe because the belt can handle it and it's not very far jump, but if you jump from say 6th gear to 1st or 2nd really quickly you may blow your transmission to hell. However, this is prohibited by the CVT computer. The CVT computer will not allow you to totally kill your transmission, but it will however (as many of us CVT drivers can attest to) allow you to run in manual mode pretty damn harsh.

CVT is faster due to the fact its a belt like system and always "in gear" whereas a regular transmission has to jump from gear to gear.

The above comment is argued a lot, but if you think about it, CVT has to be faster due to the fact it never has to jump gears, it simply "slides up and down" to simulate them.

That was as close to laymans terms as I could put it.