Selling the G37 after 10k miles.

[Looneybomber]

So I bought my G37S less than a year ago, and already amassed 10k miles on it. Overall, I really like the car, but I hate the transmission/engine combo. The problem is the car wants to stay in a high gear for far too long, OR the engine doesn't have enough torque for the low RPMs the car is constantly at. In my opinion, a perfect fix would be to replace the transmission with a 7sp dual clutch or keep the transmission and put a twin VANOS (a'la BMW) turbo setup on it. Hell, maybe a more aggressive programming for the transmission could fix it? Let me explain...

It's a common gripe that the transmission does not shift down - there is a huge delay when down shifting, even with the paddles. When coming out of a round-a-bout, or an intersection, and powering out, the car wants to be in 4th or 5th gear, churning around 1300-1500 RPMs. It then, after careful consideration, decides to down shift, and with more reluctance, down shifts once more (How long it took you to read this sentence is how long it took the car to shift). Just last night while coming out of a 2-lane round-a-bout on the outside, I floored it to get around a truck before my lane ended. There was enough hesitation for me to realize the car isn't shifting and for me to say "holy crap shift" before it dropped gears and I rocketed past him.

The problem is not from a stop, but from a low speed roll, which makes sudden accelerations in-town to be a bit hairy. I get why it wants to keep a higher gear for better fuel economy, but this car gets bad fuel economy in town, and meh fuel economy on the highway. So why not program the transmission to be a bit more aggressive with gear selection?

To the G's defense, if you drive it hard and paddle shift it to keep it in the 3-5k rpm range, the midrange of this car is great, and the experience (for being a GT car) is rewarding. When driving easy like I do 99% of the time, and asking for a sudden need of power, the car wakes from its slumber with a confused expression, sitting there trying to understand what's going on, ultimately doing nothing more than making me cringe during my left turn in front of traffic at 1600 rpms.

Typically I average about 26-27mpg per tank in the car and have a 25.4mpg average over the last 10k miles. I may look for a more econobox style of car because of my easy driving style. If I know the car can't deliver much performance, maybe I won't expect much out of it?

[OriginalWheelman]

It's annoying when the power is there but you can't use it efficiently. I felt the same way about the 8 speed Grand Cherokee I rented. Damn thing could never ever pick the right gear.

After a week driving the shiftless electric, I'm hooked. For all intensive purposes I have no 'transmission.' I always have torque in town and I never ever have to downshift. The car delivers power in way unlike anything else. It's simply always there. The car is in the powerband until about 60 mph then it starts to feel sluggish. Frankly, who needs to drive a Focus much faster than that on the street. It's plenty fast to get to that for merges. It's funny as hell when I put my foot down, hammer past someone and they don't even realize I've gone around them until they see me in front. There is no noise to indicate I'm going around. Having all the torque at low speed is amazing too. It pulls like a V6 with heavy throttle, and I'm still getting above the quoted mile/charge driving like a hooligan. My last full charge estimated 100 miles. The electric doesn't bog down either, but you have to get used to the idea that mashing the go pedal to the floor right away is a good idea. On highways it's boring and bland, but man I love this around town. Just lose the gears altogether. :P

[Looneybomber]

It's annoying when the power is there but you can't use it efficiently.

That's exactly it - I know it's there, but I can't use it when I want it.

[Pento240sx]

Why not find one with a manual transmission? and what are you're next choice of vehicle?

[Looneybomber]

I loved the 135i I drove with DCT. I found one semi locally with an NADA of 28k retail and the dealership is listing it at 20,490. It has the 7sp auto though.

I'm also considering a Jetta TDI, Ducati 1098, Focus, and even started looking at Boxsters. My list is all over the place.

[Bubba1]

Crazy thought but have you considered a G with a man-pedal? Modern automatics with 7 (or more) gears are gonna feel like they constantly shift and rush into a high gear, unless you're in a sport mode.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I got the same vibe the last G37 AND Q50 that I drove.
Get your s*** together, Nissan.

[Bubba1]

Get your s*** together, Nissan.

Oh I think Nissan believes they already did that by focusing on fuel economy. Problem is by doing that they excreted on the fun-to-drive factor, and now are trying to compensate by polishing it with their marketing department peddling the failed 4DSC campaign....again. Depressing time for us Nissan enthusiasts.

[Looneybomber]

They could at least offer a "sport" and "eco" programming option. It won't speed shift changes, but they could change shift points.

To prove Bubba's point, I chose the 7spd auto over the manual due to the increased fuel economy rating. For a cruising car, it is set up nicely, but for a sports sedan/coupe, a little tweaking is in order.

[Bubba1]

Clearly a manual transmission will feel sportier due to the increased driver involvement. I can understand the annoyance you have with the Infiniti's 7 speed automatic. I suppose keeping it in manual mode and being mindful of the powerband would help minimize the problem, but that kinda defeats the automatic's advantage in prolonged heavy traffic. I guess it boils down to what you want from your car, whether it's a cruiser or sports car. Good luck

[Jesda]

I drive in heavy traffic daily. I still love doing it in a manual because of what happens when the lights turn green.

[Looneybomber]

@Bubba, the crazy thing about the 7sp is it will go into "Drive" even when in manual mode if you stop playing with the gears. I'll have to go test drive cars again...and teach my fiance to drive a manual if I wind up getting one. I already taught her how to brew beer and deadlift (she had squats down), so what's one more thing?

[RicerX]

I found a few interesting results after playing around with my Q50S some this weekend.

The drive modes that are selectable in this car are important. The only one you need is "sport" and the rest are forgettable. "Eco" must mean "soul-sucking-miserable-driving-experience" in Japanese or something.

I drove home via highway and mountains from one of my Dad's music gigs this weekend, and I did it only with paddle shifters the entire time (moved the shift lever to the dedicated manual mode gate off to the left - you can use paddles anytime on the Q50 but I found it stayed dedicated when I moved the shifter into the manual slot).

I think I drove 35 or 40 miles straight on the highway and the car stayed in 7M. Never auto-selected to drive at all.

The other thing I found is that I also experienced your delay at one point - car was in standard mode. I was getting ready to pass a couple slower moving cars by moving to the left lane and gunning it. I moved the shifter to the manual gate and used it instead of the paddles to downshift (clicked it down twice to get to 3rd gear and move) and there was significant delay. I'm not sure what it is - it's either the standard drive mode (which I assume leans more toward fuel economy even when there's an additional eco mode below it) or the use of the shifter instead of paddles.

I nearly always drive the car in sport mode with the paddles engaged every single time as I find the car to be tremendously more responsive. Otherwise, I totally understand how you feel with the "hunting for gears" mode the car always seems to be in while in drive.

Sorry for the dissertation, but wanted to go ahead and share my experience.

[WDRacing]

When I hear VANOS I want to throwup. I still need to change out the orings in mine...

[Looneybomber]

RicerX, the Q50 must have extra programming in it, because I can't select different driving modes. Even if I move the stick over to the manual gate side and use the stick or paddles, it still will move over to D from any gear depending upon throttle position. If off throttle it stays in M, if on hard throttle it stays in M, but once I let off for cruising, it'll switch to D in a matter of seconds.

WDR, the VANOS and twin turbo or twin scroll turbo setup on the N54 and N55 engines is pretty awesome though.

[breadbox]

I didn't read any posts, but my gripe with econobox cars is the steering/road feel. I like heavier luxury vehicles because they feel more solid especially at higher speeds. but when they drive sluggish it kills it too. I still haven't found a new car I like driving. they either feel to restrictive or they just are plain slow. My 99 civic si (1.6l all motor) felt way better than a 3.0-3.5 lv6 commonly found today and was better on gas and shifted higher. I miss driver cars, now everything is oriented towards drivers who would rather play on their ipads.

[breadbox]

Also sidenote. with the empowerment of fans in recent years from companies, I feel Nico should at least get to officially make a concept vehicle. call it the NICO and we will make the most modern driver's car that anyone can work on and be tuneable and still respect the lineage that made NIssan.

[Looneybomber]

Ok, so I misspoke before. The G37 does go into "DS" which I assume is sport and the shift points are higher in the RPM range. Also, it stays in manual mode if the shift lever is pulled over. It had been so long since I tried it since I just grabbed the paddles as needed, I forgot it would do that. Sport mode is a fair bit better than drive/eco mode.