Post by
szh »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/szh-u149.html
Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:06 pm
(I have the older 2003 M45, so my comments should not be taken as fully applicable in your case.)
For me, the car's automatic seems to be very, very effective at reading my mind when I really want to accelerate hard. So, I tend to use it in normal automatic mode all the time to get the best acceleration results and widest grin (simply by leaving the transmission in Manual gear 4 for around town - see reasons later)!
Of course, note that turning off the VDC is important. I do not know exactly why, but the car seems to hesitate a tiny bit less when starting from a full stop. This may not apply to the 2006 M35/45 since their transmissions were re-programmed, I believe.
Now, if your question was with regard to just using the manual mode in normal driving, I would rather recommend just using the automatic! These new Nissan/Infiniti transmissions are outstanding in optimizing the engine speed to required power at the wheels - almost like they read your mind! Other folks may comment otherwise, of course!
The one thing I do, however, in my M45 is select manual fourth gear (letting the car shift up and down automatically) when I am driving around town at non-highway speeds. This prevents lugging the engine at low rpm's, particularly when going up some longer slopes at low speeds near my house.
A side-bar question: does your 2006 M35/45 have a true manual mode (i.e., the setting is the gear you are in, all the time) or does it operate like the earlier M45 and G35s (where the selection is the top gear it goes to) shifting up and down as needed? If the first, then my comments about leaving the car in fourth gear does not apply, I suppose!
Z