The RX8 does not have a CVT.

And Omertta, there is no "neutral" in an automatic.

 

Ok then what does it have? How does an automatic not have a neutral?

 

It has a standard automatic. As for the neutral issue, I was mistaken.

 

My personal oppinion, is this.

When Im driving my car I want to drive my car. I want to hear the rpms and feel the motor. I want to smell the tires and watch the world fly by. I want to know that when i want the power its instantly there. I want to DRIVE my car. not pilot it.

An automatic sports car is an oxymoron in my mind, and the fact that nissan (GTR), 4re(I cant spell it, So...), lambo, and porche should all have there asses kicked for building an automatic trans for theire cars. If your going to put a race inspired proper padle shifter (Veyron, ccxr, zonda) then thats fine. Not my choice as ide still rather have a clutch but good enough.

IMHO- Sports car= No ABS, No TCS, No steering assists, No sound deadening, No AC, NO AUTO.

want something fast and "stylish" in automatic? Porche panamara. The biggest **** off in the world to me. Pandering to an group of mid life crisis soccer team having loosers.

I laugh when I see a skyline automatic. Wouldnt you?

 

You're confused.

The GTR does not have an automatic. It has a dual-clutch automated manual. Exactly the same type of system in the Veyron and PDK equipped Porsche's.

See my post earlier in this thread for more clarification.

 

yeah your right. I take that back... I think I just group that with slushbox autos because im so pissed off you cant get it clutch standard.

I always say to my self, "If I won the 50 million lottery tonight, Ide buy a house with a massave area to build a bitchin gaurage. Then, Stright to nissan to get a gtr with an extra 100 grand for them to put a real transmission in the friggin thing. "

Also I ment to put this in my first post. I dont know, maybe my friends and I just are that good of drivers, but all of us drive exclusively standard, and we can smoke, drink a coffee, text, eat and shift all at the same time with minimal difficluty? So why bother with an auto at all. If all of that stuff can still be done AND drive a stick, whats the point?

 

For me it's not all about horsepower or acceleration times. I like sports cars for their handling, looks, sound, etc. If the RX-8 had 100 hp I would still drive it. Maybe I don't wanna be totally immersed in the driving experience. For some people a standard tranny is more of an inconvienience.

 

Then those people should buy a Camry. You own a sports car but don't want to be immersed in the driving experience? That makes no sense to me but to each his own I guess.

 

A Camry doesn't handle or look as good as an RX-8. Just cause I drive an automatic doesn't mean I granny around town or don't get the same thrills you do. I appreciate this car as much as any of you........ I'm just a little slower but that's ok with me. I bet if we where on the twisties I could keep up with any of you guys with a manual tranny and we both would have the same grins on our faces afterwords.

 

Not really.

My face would be happier than yours because I would be able to pull out of a turn faster than you

I still can't understand how you guys with AT can up/down shift fast enough with those paddle shifters when the steering wheel is going all over the place - especially if the steering wheel is upside down when you suddenly need to downshift quickly

 

Well if the steering wheel was going all over the place I think I would have both hands on the wheel and worry about downshifting when I can. Same thing applies to a manual tranny. Plus how can you safely downshift with one hand on the wheel and the steering wheel being all over the place while you shift. I can keep both hands on the wheel and use my thumb to push the downshift button. If the steering wheel is upside down I simply just wait until it's in a more suitable position before I downshift or when the car is in manual mode and I can't downshift with the paddles I could just hit gear **** up and then it will downshift. You do have the choice of either the paddles or gear **** up or down.

 

Correct, I assume you guys with AT have the choice of either paddles or gear ****. Still, even if you use the gear ****, it would be sort of a slower process simply because you cannot shift into the gear you want immediately - as you have to keep going up/down until you land in the gear you want. Correct?


Also, not sure what you meant by "keeping both your hands on the steering wheel and worrying about shifting when you can." Is that how you would win a race!!!

 

You have completely misinterpreted what I was trying to say.

The Nissan Altima has a CVT transmission.
The RX-8 has a manumatic transmission.
The Chrysler Crossfire also has a Manumatic transmission.

Manumatic is not the same as CVT.

The CVT in the Nissan Altima is a very well sorted out automatic transmission when you are driving it in manual mode. Shifts are just right in the firmness department, and nearly instantaneous.

The auto in the RX-8 is a pretty good one, but still isn't one that I would actually want to own.

The auto in the Crossfire is absolutely loved by the people who own Crossfires, older Chargers, Challengers, 300's, and and the dodge truck crowd that the same transmission can be found in.

Of course, that's not really saying much about the transmission being good or not, just that the people who own and drive that group of vehicles are so used to really, really bad transmissions, that that thing is an improvement for them.

I'm just much happier having the manual in my RX-8, and every other vehicle I buy, until the day comes that I need to purchase a Ferrari California. Then I'm going to have to settle.

Of course, if that day does come, I might have to buy the Maserati Gran Turismo instead, just to get the same engine with the 6 speed manual instead.

BC.

 

Your right I wouldn't be able to downshift immediately and I would have to cycle through the gears until I found the gear I wanted. Say I'm in fifth and I want to be in third...... all I would have to do is hit the downshift button twice really fast and I would be in that gear almost instantly. I could probably do it as fast as it would take you to downshift. I'm also not out their to win races cause I'm not a race car driver. I drive to please myself.

We could argue all day about the trannys in our cars but it's like saying a white car looks better than a black car. I'm not saying an automatic is better than a manual but in the convienience category an automatic wins hands down for most people.

You seem like the type of guy who likes a car that is stripped down with no luxury features at all and is loud and fast as hell. Well I'm the type of guy who likes those luxuries that come with my car. Me and you are on opposite side of the planet when it comes to the perfect car for us.

 

he likes a sports car, you don't.

i see that defending automatics hasn't stopped yet. This thread is

 

What's the point of having an automatic transmission if you have to use paddles or the stick to control when it shifts? The idea of an automatic is that it's...well, it's automatic.

I'm also puzzled by a statement above about quality of shifts in the Altima's CVT. Since a CVT does not have gears, just pulleys (variators?) and a belt, exactly what does that mean?

Ken

 

Auto's are slow and lazy, never doing what I want when I want it to. That is my issue. The flappy paddle ones come in two flavors. First is a normal automatic that allows you to override the gear selection. These are just as lethargic as any other auto. The other version is the dual clutch gearboxes similar to what is used on race cars, just scaled back a bit. These work good for aggressive driving but in parking lots or slow traffic they get real jerky because the computer does not have that sense of feel that people do.

If the car is being used as a race car, I would take a dual clutch if allowed in the rules, it's faster. But for my street car, I will take an old fashioned stick any day. It's the only way to drive a sports car.

 

CVT's don't shift. They have a steel belt on variable pulleys. They work in sort of the same way a snowmobile or scooter works. They early version where very linear like the previous examples. People complained about that say it felt like driving with a rubber band engine. So, they added fake gear changes to make it feel more "normal". Now the pulleys stay in one spot, the adjust at the top of the rev band for the given situation like a normal auto. The exception is on some hybrids like the Prius. It runs like the early version because that is better for fuel economy.

 

No. Those people should buy what works best for THEM. It's THEIR call....

 

The point is: it gives you a choice. You don't "have to use paddles or the stick". Actually, the Aisin 6AT in the RX-8 is quite responsive for downshifts and shift-speed in automatic mode. I alternate between automatic and manual, depending on the driving environment, to optimize efficiency, performance, engine health, etc.

If I had any say in the design, I would have put a Nissan-like CVT in it, which I think would compliment the smooth/fluid/linear nature of the Wankel quite nicely. But for my purposes the 6AT works fine, since for me it's a GT car, not a track/race car...

 

This thread is great. OP comes across as a guy that says "it's not the size that matters but what you do with it" of course all the women disagree :P

 

I'll answer both of you in one shot, as it makes my life easier.

The Nissan Altima CVT, as you mentioned, has a way of varying the gear ratio in its CVT by use of a pair of pulleys. Once everything is said and done, there is a highest possible ratio and a lowest possible ratio that the transmission can select, and it can vary itself anywhere in between those two ratios, depending on engine load, throttle demand, and vehicle speed.

Nissan also decided to give the CVT transmission a manumatic mode, where the driver can slide the shifter out of D position, and then "upshift" or "downshift" the transmission via preset ratio points on the CVT programming.

These preset points are fixed in the transmission programming.
When you "click through the gears" in manual mode, the transmission sets the pair of pulleys to set points, and you feel the transmission "shift".

Unlike the lag you feel in most traditional automatics when shifting from one gear to another, the Nissan CVT is very quick in its shift, and its quite smooth a transition from one ratio to another.

If you haven't test driven one, go do so.
I highly recommend testing one with a V-6.
If you can find one, make it a 2 door coupe, just to not be driving around in the sedan, if that makes you sad inside.

Oddly enough, I bought my Nissan Altima back in Dec '06 with a manual, anyway. As nice as the CVT is, I still preferred having an actual manual transmission in that car. Too bad too, because now you can't get the Altima Sedan with a manual anymore.

BC.

 

That boggles the mind. I'm glad Nissan does not make kitchen appliances. They'd probably make a "cookumatic" electric stove that has a wood fire mode...but the wood fire is a fake gas log with a hidden microwave.

Ken

 

I'm pretty sure I'm doing it right, but the problem is you can't throw it into neutral and coast to the light. Who wants to shift up to third then shift back down to first within a block or two, ten times in a row without ever going over 40mph?

 

I do. Zoom...zip...vroom!

Ken