The idea of the 7AT is to have closer gear ratio's (along with better overdrive gears) which should keep the car in it's powerband more. Try road racing a car with a 5 speed and then a car with a 6 speed (like an evo 9 GSR and MR) and you will see that the 6 speed's ratio's are better for track work. It depends on what ratio's the 7AT will have to see if it increases performance or not. Even if it does, it will probably be a tenth of a second quicker nothing to brag about.

 

I probably would have bought a Audi A5 if the Jouney didn't come with a sport option. I was looking for luxury, technology and sleek looks after driving a manual Celica GTS for 7 years. Performance really wasn't high on my must have list... until I took my first test drive and I realized you can have your cake and eat it too. The G37 delivered the most for the least in all areas.

Granted even with the manual mode, the AT doesn't give you full control of the car as the 6MT does with full clutch control, but then you really only need that if your tracking the car. What it does give you is the ability to pick what gear your in and when it shifts, all you need for street sport driving. In DS mode lateral G force sensors work to keep the car from changing gears on hard corners to avoid upsetting the car's balance. A nice little feature to have in a 45K car.

In Standard Automatic mode, this car is the Smooothest ride I've ever driven, definately earning the luxury in it's class title. Gear changes are practially undetectable. Flip it into DS mode and you will know when it shifts. It will be interesting to see how the 7AT compares, it's definately an option I would have loved to have, not quite worth trading in for this year, but we'll see what comes out for 2010/11 a TT and more GTR like front since they'll need to make some room would be nice.

 

That's what I love about the AT on this car. It will drive smooth and seamless when your just relaxing, then it shifts hard and fast when your on the gas.

 

Well the difference in 0-60 between the 08 FX35 and the 09 FX35 is one full second. The car has 20HP more than the old one but goes from 5AT to the new 7AT. We'll see when the G comes out, but I think it makes for quite the performance boost.

From my day-to-day experience in our new FX, the shifts are slightly faster, the gears are significantly shorter, the downshifts more aggressive (revmatched downshifts into 1st gear at 6k+ rpm), and the torque converter spends a lot more time locked up. So for me, the 7AT is a vast improvement.

However, these are not F1 paddles -- this is an automatic tranny with paddles to tell it what to do, not a computer-controlled sequential manual like an F1 car or a Ferrari. Huge difference in feel, but a lot less than it was with the almost boaty 5AT in the old FX we had.

 

Im the the 7AT in the FX will be similar to the G37 7AT. It sounds good mal tax. I like how the torque converter spends a lot more time locked up. that's one thing I always liked about the 335i's AT. Their torque converter would be locked up after first gear.

 

I chose 6MT on my G37S, but I was torn between the 6MT and 7AT. I am an older guy (38) and I have always driven MTs, but I am also a tech buff and the 7AT was very attractive because of the technology used in it and the resulting performance. In the end it came down to the color combination of the G37S regardless of tranny. The dealer only had one BS w/ B interior, and it happened to be a 6MT. My next car is probably going to be an M3, GTR, or C63 and it WILL BE an AT.

 

The 5 AT under full throttle shifts pretty hard and quick. No it's not a DSG but it also not an old slush box with smart software. Our cars have an LSD and a converter that locks up quickly, maybe not in first gear but quickly enough to surpass any MT shift. The comment about the FX 35 being a full second quicker with the 7AT I just do not believe as it implies the reason is the tranny given the minor increase in HP (20). If that is a factory 0-60 quote then I don not know what to say,except BS.
Back in the day a cheap shift kit in a hydra-matic 350 Gm tranny would chirp tires through all the gears but you would need a rebuild every 50k miles. Our 5AT are quite a bit ahead of those days technology wise.

 

i bought my g37s 5AT because i never learned how to drive a manual car. no one in my family knew, or drov one so i never learned. I've always wanted to learn though. I sorta thought this would be close to the next best thing. Any tips for using the paddle shifters/ds shifter for someone who's never driven a manual car??

 

Regarding the 7AT in the FX35 (likely to be similar to the G's), the FX35 0-60 full second drop is sourced from MotorTrend test times. From personal experience driving both quite a bit, I support their claim. The old FX was a 7.1 and the new one a 6.1.

All Infiniti said about the FX35 is that it is faster than the old FX45. At 6.2 for the 2008 FX45, they are correct -- the 09 FX35 is a hair faster at 6.1 according to MotorTrend:

http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/...fications.html

Note the 7th gear revs @ 60mph: 1960rpm.

 

I love how the paddles shift. I won't use them for track, but for fun, hell its a thrill!

 

The paddles in a Ferrari are more similar to the SMG semi-automatic (Sequential Manual Gearboxes) in the M3s, the G's Paddle Shifters are Glorified Tiptronics compared the mechanics of a Ferrari Paddle Shifting system that is designed for immense amounts of power and seamless shifts. Ferraris have "automatic modes" that can change the gears for you; these are not automatic transmissions, but clutchless manual transmissions that shift automatically to save you the time of erroneous true manual shifts.

 

I would enjoy having the 7AT, but mostly for fuel mileage. 75mph and I'm running 3k rpm. I suspect the 7th cog would be running closer to 2k rpm. This has to tack on 1-2mpg highway. From a performance standpoint, time will tell. Extrapolating from the FX35 I doubt you'd see a full second quicker to 60, even if you added 20hp more to the G. I'd love to see a sub-5 sec run to 60 though!!

 

My last car was a 6MT. It was a lot of fun but I drive a lot for work and I just got tired of shifting. Maybe I am getting lazy but either way I really enjoy the paddle shifters. I probably use them a couple times a day on average.
Then if I need to take a call or something I just put it back in D and drive....

 

Has anyone noticed that manual shifting seems to be faster then DS on acceleration. This engine has a huge powerband and it takes me less then 2 seconds to redline 1st and 2nd, by the time i'm in 3rd I'm already doing over 60 and have to start letting up since 100 isn't that far away. It seems to me these gears are already tight enough for this engine, what the 5AT is missing is a good 80mph cruise gear so I'd have to agree that's going to be the real benefit of the 7AT over 5AT.

 

There's certainly room for gearing advantage under 1st in the 5AT. What are you RPMs on a standing start in 1st? There's also plenty of room above 60, as the 5AT gearing gets a bit conservative starting with 3rd gear.

My guess is we see a 2/10ths performance improvement 0-60 and maybe 3-4/10ths in the 1/4 mile for the 09 7AT. Fuel mileage-wise, my prediction would be 1-2mpg overall.