The majority of stick owners say it's faster and I've seen some auto owners say that it's faster. I really think it all depends on the driver. Which is actually faster during acceleration?

 

Whichever one that *I* happen to be driving will be the faster one. Truthfully, a 5 speed in the hands of an experienced driver should be a shade better than the auto - different gear ratio's: 5 vs 4.

 

Stick is quite a bit faster PERIOD. No contest. End of discussion. While stock in my 2k, I raced 2 friends who have auto maximas and 1 with an auto I30 and walked away from them. I've also raced at least a couple 4th gen 5spds in my wife's 4th gen auto and been beaten.

Now, having said that, who wins all depends on the stick driver. If he blows the launch or misses a gear, well then the auto wins. But, driven at their best, the 5spd is faster.

 

The auto driven properly could be very close. But thats not the case all of the time. The auto is definetly easier to race with if you know how to.

 

Auto trans loses some power, requires no skill.
Stick loses no power, requires skill.
No skill, auto faster.
With skill, stick faster.

 

U can find the results by looking at the specs from any of the major auto mags ... road & track, motor trend ... whichever ... a 5sp is always faster than an auto for the exact same car .... & i think it would b safe 2 assume that both the 5sp & auto if not driven by the same driver r then driven by 2 very competent & skilled drivers ... ---> this is fact ..

the remark that a "good" auto driver (stock) will keep up with or beat a 5 sp (stock) ... yes ... but only 5 times out of 100 --> this is my opinion but sounds reasonable 2 me .

 

Have to echo some thoughts...5spd is unquestionably a faster car when properly driven. If you learn the shift points for the 5spd, an auto couldn't touch you. No matter how good you get at "shifting" an automatic tranny, you cannot get the stock computer to respond with the accuracy that your foot and your right hand can respond once you've learned your car.

The key is learning your car, which some 5spd drivers will never do.

 

100%.....If a auto beats a stick stock to stock the stick driver has so little experience driving a stick he/she should be in an auto.

Mark

 

I have to agree, it is VERY conventional wisdom that Stick is MUCH faster than Auto (in the hands of an experienced driver)


Something I have always wondered about, however, is why a "super fast" automatic hasn't been built.... I do understand, that due to the way in which automatic transmissions work, more power is lost per turn in the tranny.. **BUT**, What if you could stick a computer capable of doing millions of operations per second in an auto transmision system? Shouldn't that negate any power advantages a manual would have? With the appropriate sensors, logic programming, etc., isn't it possible that this "super fast" automatic could evaluate driving conditions in real-time, with multiple levels of predication, and arrive at a "smart" decision in mere nanoseconds (much faster than even the BEST stick driver)?

**Or**, are there unpredictable factors inherent to determining the appropriate gear, which introduce error into any automatic process? What I'm trying to ask here: "is human intuition reaplaceable by a computer"? We've already demonstrated that they can beat us in chess, if programmed correctly... Can they ever shift gears in a car better than us???

-Tom

 

The weakest link in the auto tranny is probably the torque converter. It acts as a clutch, but rather than being mechanical, it is hydraulic. Most of the power is probably lost because of this. You can make the shifting program as smart as possible, but you still run up against the drivetrain. Now, if you make an auto with a mechanical clutch like a manual...your in business.....I believe Ferrari has this already....maybe it will be more common in another 10 years.

 

I saw this in SCC. Its an aftermarket torque converter for autos. There not made for autos, but if I got them to make a custom one, would you buy it? It wont hesitate when you hit the throttle, allows you to increase top speed, lengthen tranny life, improve mileage, and lower ETs. Its the level ten PTS.

 

They used it in Formula One, an automatic tranny better than manual because of 0 driver error.

Mark

 

In the Maxima, the 5 speed will always win out over the auto in all acceleration contests. However other cars behave differently with auto trannies (ie sticks aren't ALWAYS faster). GM makes a freaking awesome automatic (4L60E) which is light years ahead of anything Nissan could build. My 94 Z28 was an automatic with this tranny and my Z28 consistently outran the 6 speeds at the track. My auto Z28 nailed a 13.9 stock while the stock 6 speeds were lucky to get 14.2s. The reason the auto did so well in the Z28 was because the auto had a super deep 3.06 1st gear and a the tranny sucked up very little hp. With the ultra low 1st gear, you easily out pull a 6 speed on launch and they were left to make up the difference the whole way down the track.

Dave