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370 test drive


RafsZed

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Depends how you enjoy your driving. Both have their merits (having tried an Auto) but the drive for me it is more rewarding with a manual and the synchro-rev adds to pleasure of manual shifts and with a decent exhaust that makes you feel you are in something just a little bit special ;)

 

That is not to say that if my circumstances dictated a lot of commuting where it is near on impossible to get the car anywhere near full chat, that an auto might be my choice :)

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How does the 370Z auto have synchro rev, when it's a slushbox? Surely, because it's a torque converter it cannot have synchro rev by the very definition?

 

 

 

Also, synchro rev is for wimps, real men heel 'n' toe like a pro :p

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How does the 370Z auto have synchro rev, when it's a slushbox? Surely, because it's a torque converter it cannot have synchro rev by the very definition?

 

 

 

Also, synchro rev is for wimps, real men heel 'n' toe like a pro :p

 

Real men synchro rev match! (You can have that one for free) ;)

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How does the 370Z auto have synchro rev, when it's a slushbox? Surely, because it's a torque converter it cannot have synchro rev by the very definition?

 

 

 

Also, synchro rev is for wimps, real men heel 'n' toe like a pro :p

 

It's actually called Downshift Rev Matching on the auto (the SynchroRev system on the manual also works on upshifts). I guess it's a drive-by-wire throttle, so it can just electronically blip it to make it sound like a real man heel-and-toeing ;) . Don't think it serves much purpose other than that.

 

I'm a bona fide wimp by the way, and proud of it! :D

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I originally bought a manual but a poor dealer experience led to a fall through in the hand over and went off on the hunt for another. Next day i was in my current Zed and its an Auto and to be honest wouldn't swap. Having been a biker for most my life i had always dismissed and auto as it has to be witchcraft but the Auto in the Zed is great. I think the driving experience is enhanced giving you more time to chuck it into the corners and around town and general driving its a breeze.

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I`ve not really been using the paddles etc, as my last car had similar (Merc) and I hadnt been that iMpressed, but in the Z wow what a gear box, once I got used to it having the 7 gears (last had 4..) it feels so responsive and sounds fantastic,,, also found this old Top Gear article.

 

Nissan 370Z auto

 

Driven November 2009

 

 

If you read our Stig-fest in Top Gear magazine, you'll know the manual 370Z didn't do especially well. In isolation it's a great car, but against all that hardcore metal, it felt a bit soft.

But Nissan acknowledges that it buffed some of the edges off the 350 to make the 370, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn the new Z-car is now available with an optional £1,400 automatic gearbox. And it suits the 370Z well. It's not a token effort: this is a top-spec Nissan-engineered unit with seven gears and a feeling that the car and gearbox have been designed with each other in mind from the start.

Which actually means it's not the smoothest auto in the world. Other auto ‘boxes will slush between cogs better, melt into the background more. The changes here are less subtle than a traditional auto and the 370Z drops into the next gear with a bit more of a clunk when you're just cruising in auto mode.

Don't think of it as a criticism. Even though the 370Z is more grown-up than the 350, it retains a muscle-car attitude that goes well with a slightly more manly change strategy. The more mechanical-feeling shifts suit the underlying sensation that beneath the softer, more considered responses, the 370Z is still a brawler at heart.

There is no fashionable ‘sport' button, so the two modes are auto or paddles, the latter fixed to the steering column behind the wheel. If you're really pressing on, the full auto will change up mid-corner, so you'll need to be in the manual paddle mode. Thankfully, it's not a wishy-washy override - if you don't pull the paddle to select the next cog it'll hit the rev limiter for a bit. Accelerate hard and it won't kick down for you either, although the perfect downchange blips suggest skills you might not actually have.

The best thing about this car remains the amazing 3.7-litre V6. It can tootle or go ballistic without feeling strained doing either. There's so much torque (270lb ft) that you never feel like the 'box is having to make constant gear changes to keep up - it'll happily sit in a higher gear and let the V6's torque do the work. And yet when you do decide to push, it still feels happy being thrashed to the limiter.

Of course, tradition dictates that a ‘proper' sports car should have a manual gearbox - and the 370Z manual with the SynchroRev is still probably the one you'd go for, especially when you can save nearly a grand and a half in the process. But this is a well-sorted, characterful automatic gearbox that runs the traditional choice closer than you'd have thought possible.

 

Piers Ward

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