Manual or Automatic?
 

Im looking at getting a 300zx, only prob is in my area i can only find manual non-turbo z's or auto twin turbo z's. I would obviously prefer the twin turbo but you lose the fun of driving a manual. Just wondering given these two options what you guys would prefer to drive?

I love my auto Z, but this is my first car and I don't really know stick... I beat two Hondas, an Acura, and a 240SX SE :woot: and they were all stick and had some kind of mod...
I just like not worring about shifting...
I hear that auto trannys **** up alot, but mine hasen't...

Havn't had problems with mine. Also is it true that you lose some boost in between shifts with a man. as opposed to auto?

Here is how I look at it.
If you want a TT get the TT with the auto trani or wait it out and find one with the a stick.
If shifting now is more valuable to you. Get the NA.
In the end, or down the road, if you are looking for the power of a TT it will be much easier and cheaper to swap a Trani than to do a TT engine swap.
So then, if it was me, I'd go with the TT auto and in the meantime you could upgrade the auto trani with HKS ALC and upgraded torque converter.
Comes down to what means more to you now and what your future plans might be.

Welcome to the boards! :)

Dont compare something you havent giving time to do.get the tt like dan said it cheap to swap trans than it is to do a tt conversion

Wait until you find a TT with a 5 speed. The automatics are very problematic. The 5 speeds are bullet proof. The automatics have slightly smaller turbos than the 5 speed, so there'a less lag, but the trade off is,...down the road you can't run as much boost with the stock turbos from an automatic. The difference is negligible. In most cases, you won't notice a difference. The flex plate with the auto tranny has been known to cause problems when you get up above stage 3. Specialty Z sells an upgraded flex plate. I'm a firm believer in the idea that sports cars were designed to have a manual transmission.

Yes, it is true in a sense that you can lose some boost when shifting in a 5 speed. BOV's help. When you shift, you let off the gas....when you let off the gas, the throttle bodies close. When the TB's close, the turbos quit spinning because of the pressure that has built up between the turbos and the TB's.

I have a 5 speed. My Z71 has an auto.

I have a 5-speed man., and lol, I don't have to worry about shifting for the fact it comes natural now. Whenever I drive an automatic now, I am feeling for the clutch and reaching to downshift, I <3 Manual Trannys. I'm with 91 on this one, sports cars = manual > auto

It just comes down to what you want, if power is more important than having a five speed then get the auto, but if you want the 5 speed get the NA. Personally I also agree with 91, 5 speed = way more fun and pure sport.

yup I agree with 91. I had the choiseof a 92 TT auto and a 94 NA manual I took teh NAand now I'm doing a TT convertion. 'm on a savings plan rightnow :D

Man, we might as well give up on trying to get Bardabe to spell correctly and maybe use a bit of punctuation every now and then. It's like trying to get a monkey to speak japanese, useless.

Dont forget the horsepower loss, an auto will typically drop 10-20 more hp than a manual.

:rolleyes: I enjoy reading Bardabe's posts - it's a kind of phonetics game to see if I can get through them on the first pass. What are we going to do if he asks us a question - will we be able to tell it is a question? Come to think of it, the question mark will probably give it away. We're still safe.

(Uh, speaking of glass houses, I better keep it quiet...)

Just shows his mind is faster than his typing.
Back to the question, from an old mans point of view. I like comfort and after driving everything in the world with a stick, I prefer an auto. I'm beyond wanting more power, if I want power and speed I fly to California and climb on one of my buddy's bikes and run the coast highway. Usualy cures the itch for a year or so. Last June I rode my old 74' Kawasaki 750 triple. That bike is older than most of you guys.

hey sorry you guys, he's right my mind is faster than my typing. also I might need a new keyboard so much banging on it the space bar is going bad. but w/e. :D sorry

So, which gearbox you choose is really more about personal preference.

That is sweetness. One of the few bikes that I couldn't beat on my old Yamaha RD 400. Another one of the few, of course, was the same config 500 Triple.

uhhhhhhhh hu? :confused:

CanyonCarver, not to hijack the thread. I gave the Bike to my buddy in LosOsos, we went to school together and he had been wanting to buy it for years, so I loaded it in my truck and hauled it all the way from Arkansas. He has over 35 bikes right now. You should see his 500 triples. One he shows was his in HS and once he found it again it took 5 years to totaly restore. Found out the 74' 750 triple is worth $12,000 in show condition. Mine had 6200 miles on it and was near perfect, hadn't rode it in years. Once it is finished he plans on showing it, but will never sale it.
What are friends for?

I'm envious :bow: ....... Can we call his shop a museum? Does he have a website or anything? These kids wouldn't have a clue what "wicked" fast is. Obviously you know what a high speed wobble is on those old spoked wheels.

Los Osos??....down by San Luis Obispo? I went to school there.

Yes 91, down by San Luis Obispo.
Jim's been cleaning house and getting rid of some non Kawasaki bikes. He just bought a 66' triumph for like 10k at an auction in LA. Yeah it's sort of a muesum, he's like me kind of a private person unless he knows you real well. He moved from Fresno, where we went to school, about 15 years ago. He has several Harleys, few TR's, but mostly Kawasaki's.
I remember all to well what a high speed wobble is. No website, he's only on line when his son brings his laptop over for him to use. See if I can find a picture from a couple years back. To large a file size, I'll have to cut them down some to post them.