Does anyone have anything good to say about automatic gearbox ?

scb1957

Club Member
I really dont have a problem with an automatic box, especially when you can select 1st and 2nd gear before you select drive. The gears don't change until you hit red line. It's like having tip tronic on your gear shift, without having a clutch pedal until you hit the legal speed limit. I also drive a modified Mondeo ST220 manual, and there isn't much difference in performance.
 

Geoff-R

Club Member
Autos either suit a car or they don't. I can't speak for S30s and autos as I've never driven one with an auto box. I do think they have a place in classics though, having driven an SL280 Pagoda quite a bit I can't imagine that with a manual box, the auto box suits the laid back feel of the car. Auto boxes are just subjective, 95% will prefer a manual box in an S30 but there is that 5% that just want to deal with 2 pedals and go with the flow, not everyone will track their car and not everyone will go b road blasting. I often hear this argument as one of my other cars is an E46 with an SMG box and people ridicule that, besides the point that I don't think BMW manual boxes are that nice to drive, but again, that's subjective.
 

TimFZ

Club Member
Actually, I think the Fairlady Z could be good with a simple slush box. It has a laid back feel and I would have no problem with it as an auto. I think it's different for the sportier models but mine has an American feel and auto could work!
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Mr. F (RIP) always said how great the B&M shift kit was on the autobox, he said it transformed them.

B&M shift kit is an interesting idea - I will have a look

Something that transformed my car was filling it to the neck with petrol o_O
the auto gearbox was really good, pulled throughout the rev range and felt quite amazing - in comparison to half a tank
[which, of course means I have crud blockage in the tank so thats a.n.o.t.h.e.r job to add to the list]
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
B&M shift kit is an interesting idea - I will have a look

Something that transformed my car was filling it to the neck with petrol o_O
the auto gearbox was really good, pulled throughout the rev range and felt quite amazing - in comparison to half a tank
[which, of course means I have crud blockage in the tank so thats a.n.o.t.h.e.r job to add to the list]

Trying to understand this.

So are you saying that the higher pressure of the fuel in the tank helped push it through the 'crud'?

Hard to believe tbh.
 

Jason McIvor

Club Member
Trying to understand this.

So are you saying that the higher pressure of the fuel in the tank helped push it through the 'crud'?

Hard to believe tbh.

No, sorry, not that
Apparently there is a build-up of crud at the bottom of the tank at the entrance of the pipe that takes the fuel to the engine
this crud leads to pickup issues when they tank is less than half full, as the pump has to pull fuel through the crud
A full tank means the top of the pipe (where there is no/less crud) is clear and there are no pick-up issues

I was under the impression this is a very common problem on old fuel tanks as there is a load of chatter about it on Zcar.com
I will have to drain the tank, take the pipe off the tank, clean the exit hole, possibly add another filter for future proofing etc etc
My tank is a mess and needs a complete clean-out so I'll likely do the whole lot in one go
 

Robbie J

Club Member
I actually have a Stage 4 2009 Nissan GTR so I know what a performance auto transmission can do

But I guess I will have to get a 5 speed into the 280z as soon as I can afford the cash/time
I want that old-skool classic car feeling too :hurray:

I came from that way with a R35GTR and have a PDK in my porker, when I was driving my 280z with the 4 speed it was OK. I'm sure these will make a adapter for you if you want to go mad https://www.hpr-tuning.com/product-page/nissan-skyline-gtr-gs7-dct-kit

thinking about it for my R32...
 

Bazzateer

Club Member
No, sorry, not that
Apparently there is a build-up of crud at the bottom of the tank at the entrance of the pipe that takes the fuel to the engine
this crud leads to pickup issues when they tank is less than half full, as the pump has to pull fuel through the crud
A full tank means the top of the pipe (where there is no/less crud) is clear and there are no pick-up issues

I was under the impression this is a very common problem on old fuel tanks as there is a load of chatter about it on Zcar.com
I will have to drain the tank, take the pipe off the tank, clean the exit hole, possibly add another filter for future proofing etc etc
My tank is a mess and needs a complete clean-out so I'll likely do the whole lot in one go
So the fuel intake is attached to the sender float thus rises and falls with the fuel level???
 

TimFZ

Club Member
No, sorry, not that
Apparently there is a build-up of crud at the bottom of the tank at the entrance of the pipe that takes the fuel to the engine
this crud leads to pickup issues when they tank is less than half full, as the pump has to pull fuel through the crud
A full tank means the top of the pipe (where there is no/less crud) is clear and there are no pick-up issues

I was under the impression this is a very common problem on old fuel tanks as there is a load of chatter about it on Zcar.com
I will have to drain the tank, take the pipe off the tank, clean the exit hole, possibly add another filter for future proofing etc etc
My tank is a mess and needs a complete clean-out so I'll likely do the whole lot in one go
Wouldn't this suggest the crud is floating as the pickup is at the bottom and crud would float higher when full.

Most crud is either rust or water emulsions which usually sit below the fuel level. Unless you have broken up rubber bits blocking it floating, not sure what that is?
 

Nmd14

Club Member
Hello,

Late to the party but as the driver of an S30 with a US auto box and 2.8 engine, I thought I would add my thoughts. When I bought mine (back in 2014) I had damaged my achilles and so the auto was ideal.

Being a large driver, I find the leg room can be a bit of a pain on long trips and one of the reasons the car is still auto is my concern over ankle / leg movement using a clutch. Also, the first 30 / 40 mins of any journey for me involves a crawl through dire London traffic, so again the auto helps. Where it doesn't help is with motorway trips, with the high revs.

All that said, and having decided to keep my Z long term, I shall shortly be making a call to Fourways to enquire about fitting an S14 manual box!

Cheers, Nick D
 

TimFZ

Club Member
I think a fairlady suits the auto box more, softer and more sedate GT rather than sporty. The auto may eventually suit my crumbling left knee when I'm old!
 

richiep

Club Member
I think a fairlady suits the auto box more, softer and more sedate GT rather than sporty. The auto may eventually suit my crumbling left knee when I'm old!
Depends on what you mean by “Fairlady”...

If you are referring to a Fairlady Z 2/2 with a factory L20, then maybe the auto might suit. But that’s about the only Japanese market Fairlady Z version where that might have some appeal! All the 2-seater 2.0 or 2.4 versions, L-series or S20-engined - mmm, not so much. Never mind how many of those are beefed up with bigger displacements or tuning goodies.

So saying a Fairlady suits auto more needs slightly more specificity given the wide range of variants involved. I doubt anyone with a Fairlady Z 432R would agree that an auto would suit. Soft and sedate they ain’t...
 

TimFZ

Club Member
Yes, was referring to my soft and sedate car, as I stated, not the sportier versions... And by "more" I meant more than the sportier versions. I think the manual suits all of them more, just that there are few it would suit....
 

Mr.G

Club Member
I had a mad idea once to fit an auto tranny on my Z for drag racing.

The idea was to fit one of these shifter kits to firm everything up.
 

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TimFZ

Club Member
Don't know if anyone has seen this but it seems a relatively simple swap from auto to manual, possibly even easier from manual to auto as you are deleting rather than installing slave cylinder etc.

 
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