After test driving an 04 6-speed, and an auto/tiptronic 05, I chose the 05 (for interior upgrades, wheels and upgraded suspension). It seems, however, that the 0-60 "feels" slower on the 05 auto. Is this psychological or what? I know 6-speeds are usually considered slightly faster than autos, but the 05 auto has more torque. So theoretically it should be at least as fast as the 6-speed? The suspension on the 05 feels more sturdy, so maybe the fact that it's less jerky takes away some of that "stuck to the seat" feeling?

I guess I'm just wondering if I should have gotten the 04 6-speed or waited for the 05 6-speed. Thanks in advance for any input.

Chad

OK, I'm replying to my own post. That somehow seems sad. Anyway, I went back to the dealership and drove the 2004 6-speed. It definitely "felt" faster. That's unscientific, but "feeling" faster is good enough for me since I don't compete in timed races. So I went with the 04, and feel good about the choice. I ordered a set of the 19" wheels to go on it, since that was my favorite upgrade on the 05. Hopefully they will look good. I'll post pics.

Welcome to NICO.

Looks very nice with the 19's. It's nice that they have the 19's as an option now. Before, the 17's on the auto could only be upgraded to 18's. I don't see the gold brembo's that were on the 03/04 6mt. The 05 doesn't have the brembo option anymore if I remember correctly.

I think that the 03/04 auto and 6mt both had 270 torque with 280hp and I was under the impression that the auto 05 was exactly the same with 270 torque and 280hp, however the 05 sport 6mt has 260 torque, but 295hp. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks! You're absolutely right--same torque and HP for the 05 auto as before and a little less torque and more HP for the 05 6MT. And no more Brembos. I'm not sure why--my sales guy said there had been complaints about squeaking, but I don't know that's correct. Maybe Infiniti and Brembo got pissed at each other for some reason...

Regarding speed and specs, I think a lot of us tend to think of HP as how fast a car is, but isn't torque more relevant for 0-60 speed, whereas HP is more about top speed? And in addition to that, how a car is geared makes a big difference. For instance, my SUV has all sorts of torque, but it's geared to use that torque more for pulling power than being fast off the line. I'm not sure where I'm going with all this, except to say that you have to drive a car to know whether it has what you want. Spec sheets can only tell you so much. Whatever the case, the 6MT has what I want!