Good evening. I drive a 2013 G37 Journey Sedan. I have been driving in manual mode most of the time on the highway because for some odd reason my car slacks off downshifting when driving on D or DS. There are multiple times I pushed the accelerator full throttle and it downshifted but it still felt slow and sluggish. These past month I always drive in Manual mode. Every time I have to pass a slower car, I go from D to Manual mode and eventually back to D mode when I have passed and cruising. Is there damage to doing this? I often switch from D to Manual because I feel that I have better control of the power band. My question is there any damage done or will driving in Manual mode affect my engine or transmission longevity? I always thought Infiniti engineers programmed certain shift points of the car for longevity or safety of the transmission/engine. I also noticed up shifting and down shifting using the **** is a bit hard and not smooth. Takes a bit of effort to push the lever up and down compared to my past cars with manual mode. I also do not have paddle shifters because I do not have the sports package. Thanks for your time guys.

 

No, its not going to damage anything... It's designed to be used. But as you noticed manual mode isn't exactly the smoothest thing.

 

I do the EXACT same thing! You hit the nail with complete control of power band! I'm used to my 6mt Nismo 350z that o must be in control. I'm going on year 3 with the IPL G coupe and I've been doing this since day 1 no ill affects. I'm at 42k and plan on swapping trans fluid at 50k.

 

Good evening gentlemen. It is good to hear that it is safe to use. I am planning on using more often even if it is not as shift as automatic mode. Any reason why it is so rough? PNW : I actually just had my transmission serviced at 50k miles. It seems the same, but I trust that it will contribute to a long and healthy life for the trans. For some odd reason the car feels lazy in automatic mode. It just wants to cruise and it feels like it is in "eco" mode because it just wont downshift. I remember driving a Nissan Frontier and that truck felt livelier because it will quickly downshift the moment you put your foot down.

 

I also use manual or DS mode all the time. No problems that I can detect after 22,000 miles. Drive is indeed a miserable mode for deceleration. It doesn’t upshift fast enough trying to return to speed and lugs the motor. From a dead stop it seems okay or when needing to pass someone it downshifts right where in DS mode it holds the gear too long and doesn’t upshift on time. Goofy. I think a good tuner can sort this out by adjusting the torque tables.

 

I started driving almost exclusively in manual mode after the car was paid off and I installed the ARK so I could hear the exhaust. Granted, I use the paddle shifters; tried the shifter twice and didn't care for it.

The reason the car holds gears for so long is for EPA mileage.

 

I also feel that D mode lugs the engine too much. I remember going 45 and accelerating and the transmission just wont downshift. That is the most irritating thing that the car does and it happens almost all the time. I also wanted to ask how long does it take for the to "warm up" before we can start hitting higher revs. My commutes are very short and often get on the engine after a couple of miles. Not red lining, but spirited driving.

 

i suppose one potential consequence to constant 'manual mode' driving is envy for an actual 6MT manual? heh heh...

 

I've had my G for 5 years and i've used nothing but manual mode for the last 3 years. I have 145k miles on it now no problems

 

I used MM mode primarily in my '08 for over 100K miles and experienced no issues.
I had an '03 G35 where I drove it the same way. I had no issues with it either.

 

not really

 

During manual mode, have you guys ever experienced a "hiccup" in acceleration. Almost as it is slipping gears. There are other threads about it but no solution. They all mentioned it happens sometimes though.

For example , if you are driving in M2 and you accelerate to 4k RPM and shift into M3 (at exact 4k RPM). Between the shift , my car sometimes jumps up to about ~4300k RPM between shifts as if it slips a gear. This is an awful description but do any of you guys experience something similar?

 

I wanted a manual but there was only one in the entire southern half of the U.S. when I bought my car new. I would have waited three months to order a 6MT sedan. The G was an impulse purchase so waiting wasn't in the cards.

My 7 AT slips when going into 4th from either direction, some times worse than others.

 

Mine slipped going into 3rd like 15 minutes ago. The Rpm jerks up by like 200-400 rpm then shifts. The car sort of jumps a little. The good ol' 7AT. Gotta hate it ...

 

I driven mine in strictly MM since i got her 6 months ago. One thing that was a huge difference to me was Vince from R/T also tuned the shifting, its so much smoother now and its a lot easier to know in between which gear to rpm you can shift to get the most satisfying exhaust notes and have it really take off also.