Should I buy a tiptronic?

ygoslo · Post by **ygoslo** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:21 pm

I'm buying an FTO GPX.. I've decided it is my next car.

It will be my daily, as I have a reasonably heavily modified SR20 Silvia as my "weekender" and track/drift car.

I am a manual person and I love the feeling of driving a manual car. I want my FTO to be a fun thing to drive - it will do plenty of hills runs etc as well as tooling around in town. I don't live in the city so city traffic isn't a problem.

Having said that, though, I have found a tiptronic I like. It is a great price, looks nice, and has nice mods. So what are they like? Is it an involving car to drive? It would spend very little time in auto mode if I bought it...

Are all GPX tiptronics 5 speed?

BTW sorry if this is a stupid newbie post - I searched but didn't find anything...

kid_dynamite · Post by **kid_dynamite** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:09 pm

Only the post Feb 97 ('facelift') models have a 5 speed tiptronic gearbox. The earlier ones have a 4 speed, which is slightly weaker.

Tiptronic FTOs are fine to drive. Like any auto, treat it right and it will last.

AJ · Post by AJ » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:16 pm

Hey YGOSLO, and welcome to the club. The whole man/tip thing is like chicken before the egg. I have a tip and always use tip mode unless in very slow traffic, I live in Sydney but only drive at the weekend so thats not too much of a problem. This is the first auto I've had and I do really like. I couldn't fault it. But if traffic isn't a problem for you and you want to do hill climbs then a man would better for you IMO. The tip is great and once you get going, it's just as fast as a manual. I do miss doing big wheel spins but I guess that saves my tires

Tips mostly come in 4 speed and later models are 5 speed. I think 97 onwards are 5 speed (mines a '96 4 speed)

Hope that helps, and keep asking questions, don't worry if they sound silly. Good luck. AJ.

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:07 pm

heya dood

you'll find the fto much differnet to your current car...

I have a TIP (4 speed) and drive almost every day atm...I have had little to no drama and i only use the tip mode when I feel like a spam...the auto seems ok...but the fto doesn't deliver big power so it seems to handle it fine. One member here as a turbo FTO which is a std. tip and it seems to hold up just fine...

there has been some aparent issues with the tip being weak...I have read plenty however I dont belive this gbox to be either excellent or sh*t...just normal - but given its age its probably damn good all things considered.

I tell u you left foot will not know what to do with itself...I use my left knee to balance my coffee while I'm talking on the phone

lol

KJ

sublime19 · Post by **sublime19** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:09 pm

i myself havn't driven tip, and if you already love manual, i definately think you'll have more fun driving manual, cos after all, even on sports mode it's still semi-auto.
gotta friend who bought a tiptronic new celica, but can't handle it any more cos he misses the feeling of driving manual.
It's all up to you, but if i had no peak hour traffic and an area with winding roads perfect for a drive, I'd get a manual without any second thoughts, but well that's me, everybody is different.
Right now I drive manual to and back from work in peak hour bumper to bumper traffic, but even then I don't get driving manual.

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:35 pm

sublime19 wrote:i myself havn't driven tip, and if you already love manual, i definately think you'll have more fun driving manual, cos after all, even on sports mode it's still semi-auto.
gotta friend who bought a tiptronic new celica, but can't handle it any more cos he misses the feeling of driving manual.
It's all up to you, but if i had no peak hour traffic and an area with winding roads perfect for a drive, I'd get a manual without any second thoughts, but well that's me, everybody is different.
Right now I drive manual to and back from work in peak hour bumper to bumper traffic, but even then I don't get driving manual.

he already has a SR20 Silvia which is not a bad beast with some mods and probably wants the FTO for looks and easy of driving...not so much performance as he can get an easy 160-200rwkw from his silvia.

Breza · Post by **Breza** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:38 am

Mate,

Buy a manual............you will be disspointed with a Tip.

For comparison to your situation I used to drive a modded Liberty RS Turbo then bought an FTO.

Test drove both manuals and tips, there are heaps of tips about but held out for a decent manual as the tips just felt slower and not as responsive.

Flame suit on!

Cheers

Chris

Teania · Post by **Teania** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:28 pm

Depends a lot on what sort of traffic you drive in........

I drive in Sydney traffic every day and bless my tip

(our other FTO is a manual and the days I take it to work I curse)

On the weekends - I bless the fun of the manual

I suppose its a matter of weighing up what you drive in the most

Good luck!

ygoslo · Post by **ygoslo** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:12 pm

Yeah the Silvia should have about 200rwkw (here's hoping) by the time it is back on the road. Just got my Nismo 740cc injectors last night...

The Silvia won't be the most streetable car though once it is done, so the FTO will be more of a fun daily. I live in the country so there's no peak hour traffic etc. I have to say, after reading all the opinions (and looking deep within my soul...

) I'm leaning heavily towards the manual. My mods on the FTO won't stretch futher than suspension, exhaust and pod (mainly for the noise really!) so I'm not too worried about durability - fun is the main consideration. And I've been driving an auto for the last 4-5 months (my Celsior) and I think the left side of my body is deteriorating!

Thanks for all the help - you guys are easier on newbies than they are on nissansilvia.com!

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:27 am

ygoslo wrote:you guys are easier on newbies than they are on nissansilvia.com!

haha we are a friendly bunch

anyway i drive a tip and wished it was a manual at times

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 7:08 pm

Nismo 740cc injectors last night...

how much did u pay for those babies??

ygoslo · Post by **ygoslo** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:08 pm

khunjeng wrote:
Nismo 740cc injectors last night...
how much did u pay for those babies??

$675 delivered to my door straight from Japan... Pretty good deal I reckon!

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:38 pm

yeah nice one...did u only upgrade the injectors??? I'm looking for some atm for my R33.

Post by **dstocks** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:33 am

I have a tip too - should have got a manual. Its the lag that keeps getting me. Decided im gonna import one!

kid_dynamite · Post by **kid_dynamite** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:20 am

khunjeng wrote:yeah nice one...did u only upgrade the injectors??? I'm looking for some atm for my R33.

Talk to drift007 (trader) on nissansilvia - he's one of the cheapest around for the Nismo 555s.

/offtopic

ygoslo · Post by **ygoslo** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:12 pm

kid_dynamite wrote:
khunjeng wrote:yeah nice one...did u only upgrade the injectors??? I'm looking for some atm for my R33.
Talk to drift007 (trader) on nissansilvia - he's one of the cheapest around for the Nismo 555s.

/offtopic

Yeah this has gone way off topic.. Ah well.

I got my injectors off homerrules. www.pp-oz.com - Recommend him for any parts requirements.

And I'm doing some major work on the car khunjeng - PM me for details if you're interested!

BuCkEt · Post by **BuCkEt** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:17 pm

My opinion:

Get a manual. If you plan on doing any kind of spirited driving the tiptronic will die unless you've got an oil cooler in there.

I turned my GPX into a manual and am bloody glad I did.

Post by **Bennoz** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:58 pm

BuCkEt wrote:I turned my GPX into a manual and am bloody glad I did.

Memories hey Pete?

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 3:23 am

BuCkEt wrote:My opinion:

Get a manual. If you plan on doing any kind of spirited driving the tiptronic will die unless you've got an oil cooler in there.

I turned my GPX into a manual and am bloody glad I did.

the Tip does have a cooler.

Like all autos they would be weaker than manuals. One massive problem is the weak torque convertor its fragile and small. High revs dont do your transmission favours as well.