Cvt8 Or Regular 5 Speed Auto?

[dacoyne]

Hey all, first time poster to the forum! Well I'm fairly close to purchasing a V35 sedan, will get a 350GT8 or the 5 speed but not too sure which to go for, performance, reliability etc are factors. I know the 5 speed is quicker, but the 8 speed is more efficient. The missus will be driving it most of the time so that has to be taken into account! Also I have seen in the private sale area and used dealer sections on Carsales, the prices are fluctuating quite a bit. For example found a very tidy 350GT8 in SYdney with 76K for only 21K. But some cars of the same year and same model are asking up to 30K? What am i missing? Also, 3 or 4 key points to focus on in regards to having a vehicle checked over, trouble spots? Thanks for any help you guys can give and I hope to return with some good news soon!

[rs73]

The 350GT8 with 8-speed CVT would be nice and probably more fuel efficient...

get one with complete japanese service history as if the CVT breaks down no one here in Australia knows how to fix them yet. closest bet is send the trans to NZ with a repair bill of around $15k which is like 75% of the car purchase price.

5sp tiptronic is safer as local Nissan can fix them if anything went wrong.

[WazR32GTSt]

ok the long and the short of it (this is based on what i know only)

the short - you don't really have a choice between 5sp auto and CVT, that is determined by what car you get

the long - early model V35 sedans have only manual or CVT, no regular 5sp that i'm aware of. this means that if you wnt a series 1 sedan (2001 to 2004) then you must get CVT. if you want a series 2 car (late 2004 onwards) then you only get 5sp auto

and of course if you want a coupe then 5sp auto was the ONLY choice again

so choose what year you want and the rest will be determined by that

what to look out for?

do a search i have written this many times in other threads, essentially look for the car with the MOST features you can get, make sure it has leather/suede, bose upgrade, steering wheel buttons, auto-off headlights, dual climate control, TV/nav, etc

[Erasmus]

the long - early model V35 sedans have only manual or CVT, no regular 5sp that i'm aware of. this means that if you wnt a series 1 sedan (2001 to 2004) then you must get CVT. if you want a series 2 car (late 2004 onwards) then you only get 5sp auto

The 300GT Series 1 Sedan has a 5 Speed Auto gearbox.

[n15m0]

Get the 5spd auto in the Series 2 if you're after a sedan (12/04 onwards).

I had to make the same decision as well before I bought mine and after reading some of the horror stories with the CVT8 going wrong with a few members on here, I took the safer option and got the 5spd....and haven't regretted it since. The tiptronic on these actually sound like a manual when changing gears. With regards to fuel consumption I did 800kms in one tank driving from Bris to NSW once..and during a combination or highway/suburb driving I get on average 600+kms to a tank (80L)

Regardless of how good the service history on the CVTs are they WILL break down one day...and if they do prepare to sell ur left nut

[WazR32GTSt]

The 300GT Series 1 Sedan has a 5 Speed Auto gearbox.

sorry i was referring to 350GTs

[tienscissors]

How much faster are series 2 5-speed compared to series 1 GT8 for 350GTs?

How much more fuel efficient are the CVT over 5-speed? I'm only getting 500kms out of 75 Litres on my GT-8, but I am fairly heavy footed and I live in adelaide so there's no highways here.

Are 300GTs much slower than 350GTs? I think the power figures betweent the two aren't much different (10-15kw), not sure about torque.

I don't think there's much difference between performance + efficiency between the 2 gearbox types and its down to personal preference.

I can tell you that the GT8 is super smooth, and the acceleration does feel a bit slow. Don't get fooled by the 8-speed paddle shift gimmick, they change gears automatically when you redline and acceleration is not much faster than when you're in auto-CVT mode. However, if you like driving on winding roads or in the hills like me, the paddle-shifts are superb and good fun cos you can always keep the car in the sweet spot of the rev band. Gear changes are instant!

I think if you get a GT8, try to look for one with lower KMs to lower the risk of gearbox problems or maybe get one from dealer with warranty? I think within the next 2-3 years these cars will be fairly common so if you make it for that long than you're probably safe.

Price range difference is probably due to number of extra options you have and the KMs on the car. I think some people set a higher price hoping some buyer that doesn't realise how cheap these cars can be aquired for will buy it.

[dacoyne]

Ok Cool thats some good feedback from everyone! Just out of interest can people reply if they have had serious issues with the transmission? Im looking at cars with under 50,000 km on it so I'm unsure of the life of these gearboxes. The car will be driven fairly conservatively though so that should help. Also I am interested in people who have the 300 and not the 350 what they think of their cars performance wise? Worth paying a little less for only a drop in power?

Edited July 25, 2008 by dacoyne

[WazR32GTSt]

i have spoken to someone who has driven the 300GT and driven my car (350GT) and he said that the 300GT feels a LOT more slower than it seems on paper

the 350GT is rated at 206kw while the 30GT is 171kw from memory

i have also read that the 206kw in the 350GT is more like 222kw but given the gentleman's agreement it stays at 206kw

[dacoyne]

i have spoken to someone who has driven the 300GT and driven my car (350GT) and he said that the 300GT feels a LOT more slower than it seems on paper

the 350GT is rated at 206kw while the 30GT is 171kw from memory

i have also read that the 206kw in the 350GT is more like 222kw but given the gentleman's agreement it stays at 206kw

Yeah I drove a 300GT the other day and it didn't exactly excite me! You've all got me freaked out now though about the CVT transmission. but I did a Google search on CVT and CVT8 problems and came up with nothing? Only issues with the Nissan Micra CVT!

[rs73]

Remember KW/HP sells car. Torque moves car.

Even though 300GT may have just a little bit kw less than 350GT, what's the torque figure based on std spec?

Less torque can make the car felt like a lot powerless, even though the kw rating is only slighly bit less.

Not everytime you will be using the top end kw on high rpm...!

Also regarding CVT, do a search on 350GT on eBay, there's one asking for $16k starting bid, a blue 350GT8 sedan with broken CVT8 transmission. Now don't tell me the issue only happens to Micra's CVT.. there's a living proof out there.

[n15m0]

Yeah I drove a 300GT the other day and it didn't exactly excite me! You've all got me freaked out now though about the CVT transmission. but I did a Google search on CVT and CVT8 problems and came up with nothing? Only issues with the Nissan Micra CVT!

Here's one example...there's a couple more floating around...will post if I find them.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Ch...hl=cvt%2A%2A%2A

And another:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/35...hl=cvt%2A%2A%2A

Edited July 25, 2008 by n15m0

[Leev_35]

I have a series 1, 300GT, I think they are 192 KW (not 171 - thats the maxima), I tested both 300 and 350 and honestly in the sedan could not tell much of a difference.

I had an issue straigh away with my CVT (yes even the mechanic advised it has CVT). The magnetic clutch had a loose spring which didnt effect the performance or anything but it did make a very annoying clicking sound from about 1500-2200 revvs. The part + labour was $3300, luckily it was under statuatory warranty so all it cost me was 2 weeks without my car.

[smeghead]

I have a 300gt P-collection. When we first drove it I was a little underwhelmed. However after owning it for a while it is pretty quick. It is quicker than it feels. There is no doubt the 350 is quicker but the 300 is by no means slow. As a bonus it gets terrific fuel economy. We get 12.5l / 100km of 100% city (mostly peak hour) driving. It is my wife's car and she absolutely loves it. The p-collection is fully optioned and has full leather interior so it probably a little heavier than the standard 300gt. It was the only choice for us as we couldn't afford to buy a 2004 and above and I wanted to avoid the CVT.

[DRIFTER]

can anyone see any problems with pulling the engine and dead box out and putting in a vq30det and auto in out of a leopard?

[CeffyNSW]

Hi Guys

My first time on the V35 site, usually hanging around on the Cefiro end of things.

In the process of buying Mena's V35, with the dead CVT8 in the boot.

So this is one example of the CVT8 failing, assume it was in one of the of the links that were put up.

The VQ30DET complete with auto is one option I have been looking at, but seeing as it is for my wife, I am likely to try and convert to a 5 speed auto out of a 350Z. This will depand on how difficult the electrical side of things gets. Ofcourse the other option is to go for the 6 speed manual, which will not be too hard to get up and running, I hope!

Would love to know a little bit more about the Leopard VQ30DET, a serious drift friend says they are going in a number of drift cars now as they are almost indestructable with standard internals. Not sure where it would sit with the emissions required for a 2003 V35 and ofcourse would require an engineer's certificate and more wiring mods!

Any advice here would be good, without hijacking the tread.

[DRIFTER]

hey andrew, because a vq30det isn't 15% larger capacity or 15% more powerful, legally you don't need a engineer's report, but it does give some peace of mind. the problem you do have is that you can't put an engine in your car that is older than your car, so you would need to right out a receipt with '03 on it . putting a different auto behind your engine is going to be very difficult.

p.s. i couldn't get that number, i'll try again tomorrow. nathan

[Guest]

In the process of buying Mena's V35, with the dead CVT8 in the boot.

So this is one example of the CVT8 failing, assume it was in one of the of the links that were put up.

The VQ30DET complete with auto is one option I have been looking at, but seeing as it is for my wife, I am likely to try and convert to a 5 speed auto out of a 350Z. This will depand on how difficult the electrical side of things gets. Ofcourse the other option is to go for the 6 speed manual, which will not be too hard to get up and running, I hope!

Any advice here would be good, without hijacking the tread.

Dont bother unless you have a lot of time and are a F@#KING good Auto Electrician as all of the running gear has to be changed, everything electrical and mechanical from the engine to the differential, their are 3 computers alone in the passenger kick panel for the gear box.

A mate has two cars minus just the 8 Speed, a 2.5 or 3.0 half cut and another damaged car is being collected this week but even then we will just part the cars out if no 8 Speed box can be found.

We did have my 2003 6 speed and a 2005 5 speed PV to compare with as well.

[DRIFTER]

by that do you mean, don't buy the car?

[n15m0]

by that do you mean, don't buy the car?

I think that is putting it politely. These cars aren't as simple as previous Skylines to swap and change parts. Think what it will do to re-sale value if this doesn't work out 100% as you wanted it to.