# Driving your Altima in tiptronic, it is safe?



## CALIGULA (Jun 12, 2005)

here and there i use tip mode, but its weird, i get this weird scent. I am not sure what it is. Am i burning up some type of fluid? In anyones knowledge is it safe for the car to be driving in this mode and if so does it use less gas? I figure if i drive in gear 3 or 4 with out redlinning, driving residentially will it be more econimical?


----------



## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

According to my owner's manual it's perfectly fine to drive it in "manual" mode for extended periods. I don't know what, if any, benefit that would have exactly, but it's ok to do it.

As for mileage, keeping the revs low should, in theory, lower fuel consumption. However, in most situations a slushbox (automatic) will always upshift at the first opportunity, so there's not much to be gained.

The real advantage of a manumatic over a pure automatic is supposedly the driving enjoyment, in that you can hold a gear when it suits you (through a curve, ascending/descending an incline, etc.). In practise though, most manumatics don't really give you full control on the transmission, and tend to intervene a fair bit. The only manumatic I drive is in my work car (Mazda Protege5), and Mazda, bless their souls, designed it to never intervene (i.e. I can redline the engine and it won't upshift). Not sure how Nissan designed theirs, as I don't have a slushbox in my Altima.

As for the burning smell, the only thing I can think of is overheated transmission fluid. That generally only happens in cars when they're driven really really hard, or are under a heavy load (i.e. pulling a trailer). I'm going to assume you're doing neither of these, in which case I have no idea why you're getting the smell. I'd suggest taking it to the dealer and seeing what they have to say about it (and don't forget to let us know what it was).

Good luck!


----------



## CALIGULA (Jun 12, 2005)

blitzboi said:


> According to my owner's manual it's perfectly fine to drive it in "manual" mode for extended periods. I don't know what, if any, benefit that would have exactly, but it's ok to do it.
> 
> As for mileage, keeping the revs low should, in theory, lower fuel consumption. However, in most situations a slushbox (automatic) will always upshift at the first opportunity, so there's not much to be gained.
> 
> ...


thanx or the reply, mayby it be a good idea to get it cheked out but thanx.


----------



## Marvin (Oct 16, 2002)

CALIGULA said:


> thanx or the reply, mayby it be a good idea to get it cheked out but thanx.



I drove mine hard, choosing my own gear. I started at about 20k miles doing this as I found that dropping down to 2nd or 3rd to pass someone helped a TON. You can redline, very easily in 2nd especially, so you have to be careful to not bounce it off the limiter often.

I just sold the car with over 70k miles on it and I had no ill effects on the transmission.


----------



## CALIGULA (Jun 12, 2005)

Mark said:


> I drove mine hard, choosing my own gear. I started at about 20k miles doing this as I found that dropping down to 2nd or 3rd to pass someone helped a TON. You can redline, very easily in 2nd especially, so you have to be careful to not bounce it off the limiter often.
> 
> I just sold the car with over 70k miles on it and I had no ill effects on the transmission.


I have not realized it yet, but does the 3.5 have a governor?


----------



## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

lets think about this for a second. why would nissan give you a driving mode thats NOT safe to use on a daily basis? of course you can drive on it everyday, anytime you like for the life of the car. its like manually shifting an auto - thats it.


----------



## Alti9 (Apr 13, 2005)

CALIGULA said:


> I figure if i drive in gear 3 or 4 with out redlinning, driving residentially will it be more econimical?


Say what? You cant put it in a higher gear then it will allow according to vehicle and engine speed. For example, if im cruising through a residental neighborhood and i want to do 20 mph and be in 4th gear, it wont allow that. it will only upshift when you get to a certain speed, so im not following your above comment?


----------



## CALIGULA (Jun 12, 2005)

Alti9 said:


> Say what? You cant put it in a higher gear then it will allow according to vehicle and engine speed. For example, if im cruising through a residental neighborhood and i want to do 20 mph and be in 4th gear, it wont allow that. it will only upshift when you get to a certain speed, so im not following your above comment?


When i am not on the freeway, what i was trying to say is that if i just drive in a lower gear while going down side streets, basically just using a low gear at a low speed. But for the last 2 weeks since i made this post i have looked at my mpg read out on my navi and it makes no difference really. I am averaging about 21.5 mpg. What kills me is LA traffic. I started to car pool so i am saving now on gas.


----------



## Jerad (Aug 24, 2005)

CALIGULA said:


> here and there i use tip mode, but its weird, i get this weird scent. I am not sure what it is. Am i burning up some type of fluid? In anyones knowledge is it safe for the car to be driving in this mode and if so does it use less gas? I figure if i drive in gear 3 or 4 with out redlinning, driving residentially will it be more econimical?



I have a 3.5s with the 5-speed auto. I find the tiptronic annoying because Nissan's transmission needs to be in control of every situation. In my experience, it won't let you shift unless it feels you should shifting. 

I have noticed the smell you mentioned before. Once when I was "matching" a G35 (apparently $15,000 more doesn't get you a faster car) and one other time. It only happens when the engine is being pushed full throttle. It smells like burning from a clutch (if it was a standard) and I assume the smell is related to the transmission. I suspect it is normal though and simply means that I shouldn't push the car so hard - despite the cool TV ads that show the Altima doing spin-outs and racing to 60 in 5.9s (*). 

But I would appreciate hearing about anyone else who has experienced this smell. I'll also ask the dealer at my next oil change.


----------



## 1AltimaR (Aug 12, 2005)

The 'smell' is coming from the trans and the engine as well as the brakes. I had the same felling 'what the?' when I got out after (enjoying) some back roads. Took the car to the dealership the next day and they said "Its the motor and trans heating up. No harm done just the heat from either will cause that. Just don't drive hard all the time and it won't shorten the life of the car."

I find that if I'm driving at 40-43 it won't let me shift into 5th untill 45. So the ability to choose a gear is limited. Unless you are starting off, then you can get 2nd faster than in auto mode. 
The dealer say's driving in manual mode all the time won't harm the car. Only will shorten the life of it if used 'harshly' everyday. Like using it to do down shifting, while slowing down, instead of letting it down shift.


----------

