Just recently got my coupe and i friggin' love it. Seats fold down, japanese reliability and good priced parts, and of course, front-mid engine. Its almost like owning my old mr2 with more practicality once you get the handling down (just a little different handling-wise).

Anyways everythings great but i noticed one little niggle thats sort of an issue for me.

i got the car as an all-round car id need, i got an automatic out of choice (which is the first time in 10 years ive done that) and the manual shift mode is pretty decent and gets the job done when im in the canyons for the most part.

The biggest problem is theres a sweet spot that im constantly in that doesnt agree with the gearing. The canyons im in demand that im either at the very top of 2nd, or the very low of 3rd. Having to constantly shift up and be back on the low end of the gear isnt ideal for taking the corners perfectly. (I have a 5 speed)

I was thinking about getting a manual but i love my car, was wondering if anyone has experience with either the 7 speed in the canyons and knows if its better, or if anyone has swapped their 5 speed for a 7 before and know whats involved? Im assuming it should be mostly bolt on with maybe just the final drive being switched and the ecu being reprogrammed, or do i need a whole knew ecu for it?

 

It's probably best to sell the car and buy one with a manual instead. The 7-speed auto has it's own set of quirks.

 

I didn't know the G37 came with a 5 speed auto?

 

If you do not like the 5AT, you will despise the 7AT. The 7AT has too many quirks. There are a ton of posts here on the forum and basically everyone who has one agrees: the 7AT sucks.

Either keep your 5AT and learn to deal with the behavior of the car, or sell it and buy a 6MT car (if you can find one). Unless you have a mint of money, it would cost more to swap/ upgrade components than the car is worth.

Just my 10¢

2008 models had a 5-speed automatic transmission. 2009+ models have the 7-speed slushbox.

 

I hear the early 7 speeds were pretty lame when it came to the manual mode but they fixed the issue with later models and an ecu upgrade with the old ones.
Id buy a manual but this car's meant to be my all-around daily driver.
the whole reason id like the 5 speed is because the canyon im in keeps it right between the top of 2 or the bottom of third (and when i mean top i mean redline). So its really not ideal.
i got a good deal on the car so the price of a swap would equal the cost id pay for one anyways but i get a new reliable transmission out of the deal.

 

It might be cheaper (and easier) to swap the rear diff with one from a manual. The manual sport models came with a 3.69 rear gear as opposed to the 3.35 ratio in the automatics. That should help your gearing issue.

 

For 2008 models, the ratio was 3.692 for both the 5AT and the 6MT.

It was with the introduction of the 7AT in 2009 did the gearing change between transmissions. For 2009+ models:

 

Thanks for letting me know, I had no idea. You learn something new everyday I suppose! That being said, I still think changing the rear gearing would be the simpler option; given that or a trans swap.

 

That definitely could be a good solution.
With that, does anyone have a 7 speed? If you do could you let me know what rpm your spinning at at 80mph in 5th? Dont want to screw up my top range for the low =p

 

its probably a couple hundred RPM not much of a difference in gearing

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...-3-69-1-a.html

 

I spoke with a guy who regularly builds transmissions for the G about swapping from a 7AT to a 6MT. He basically said that there's a lot that has to change (transmission, wire harness, computer, etc.), it's expensive, makes the car slower, and it has some issues (not reliable). He said he had some customers who did it, and they all wish they never had.

I know it's a different scenario than the one you described, but there might be some common ground with swapping from a 5AT to a 7AT. As ILM-NC G37S alluded too, it might not be worth it. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the input. Ya im finding that if i just have a little more ***** in the corner seems to solve a lot. Just never had a car with this much hp so not sure when the rear wants to let go. Theres still a bit of a gearing issue but oddly enough i think my cheapest solution is to get a tune and gain around 20hp. Technically it changes how much power i get so in low third it should give me the kind of "gearing" i need to be in third all the way through the corner rather than switching between top of 2nd and 3rd