Steptronic vs MT for the ZHP

[Mike2003ZHP]

Can members chime in on the steptronic vs the manual for the ZHP. From what I've read, it seems to be a good transmission overall and that in sport mode, it's reasonably quick in changing gears. But step owners use the manual shift a couple of times and then just ignore it in the long run. I'm surprised that it seem most used ZHP's are steps, considering this is a performance oriented car.

[Newjack]

Can members chime in on the steptronic vs the manual for the ZHP. From what I've read, it seems to be a good transmission overall and that in sport mode, it's reasonably quick in changing gears. But step owners use the manual shift a couple of times and then just ignore it in the long run. I'm surprised that it seem most used ZHP's are steps, considering this is a performance oriented car.

There was a long thread discussing this a long while back. Hopefully someone can link to it.

Nonetheless its a good question. I own a 6mt zhp so I can't say from experience how good the auto trans is for the zhp. But those on this forum that own an auto zhp love them. The shifts are quick and as long as you keep up the maintenance (flushing trans fluid and changing trans fluid filter) it shifts smoothly. Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that the auto zhp has a slightly different final drive ratio from its manual counterpart. As for performance, the auto and manual are almost identical in 0-60 times and power. Its all preference.

Why are there so many more autos for sale than manuals? People that own manual cars are more often than not enthusiasts. They bought a manual because they enjoy driving one and don't see it as a chore. Because of this when the find a manual car they hold onto it for a longer time.

That's my explanation. Off the top of my head I know Rando owns an auto with a lot of tasteful mods on his zhp so he should have some sound input.

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[johnrando]

Thanks for the props Rob. The question is what are you using it for? Frankly, the shifts are too slow for me in D or in S (sport) mode... and I believe that's the general consensus. (BTW, shifting it yourself isn't much better, but it helps). You have to anticipate the shift, as when you shift, the car says, "oh, I need to shift", then it does. The good think is that if you screw up and shift at the wrong time (too late), or downshift to early, there is really no penalty. It won't let you make a dumb mistake.

To help with that slower shifting, I bought the Dinan STEP s/w which ever so slightly mods the shift points and shifts quicker, and I did the paddle shift mod. So, using paddle shift makes the car much more fun to drive, especially if you're stepping (no pun intended ) on it. Even then, it's not as quick as I'd like. I'd rather have a manual but there were several reasons that AUTO made sense for this particular car.

The verdict: It works fine, S mode is better than D, paddle shifts are better (quicker) than shifting it on the floor, and Dinan s/w on top adds to the experience. It's OK as a STEP, because at least you can shift vs. a plain AUTO, but it's nowhere near an MT. Given a real choice, I'd go MT. Given my reasons (LA Traffic, wife not being able to drive a stick, availability, etc), STEP was the right choice. The STEP technology is better now than it was back then, so this works for what was available at the time. I hope that helps.

[wsmeyer]

That was my number one requirement when I bought my car. They even kept trying to sell me SMG M3's for the same price but I wouldn't take anything without 3 pedals. I finally found and bought my car on Oct 30th 2006. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the last 6MT ZHP in the country at that point.

[JKO_ZHP]

I don't know if I broke my steptronic system but it still seems fast to me. I never realized until just recently that S itself was a mode - I never left it on S much since I thought it was just to tell the driver that you're about to enter steptronic mode.

I used to abuse the steptronic in a past '05 325Ci. With the 330Ci I try not to although by now I can leave it on M2 or M3 and drive at 6,000+ RPMs until the very last second. I don't remember it behaving like how it does now when I test-drove it and beat it to see how the internals were.

I use Steptronic almost once a day now for short periods of time. It's been 35,000 miles over the span of 1.2 years and nothing has gone bad, just replaced the wear-and-tear usual suspect parts and do 5,000-mile Lubro-Moly oil changes. 110,000+ miles and counting with a strong transmission.

I still want to see how an auto compares with a manual. Saw a thread on here a while ago saying that the auto's 3.46 differential makes it faster than the manual, or something along those lines....

[Avetiso]

MT has it's flaws, too. It frustrates me how slow revs fall when you are flogging the car. DMF may be nice for DD, but I think flywheel is a necessary upgrade if you want to drive the car hard consistently.

[kayger12]

While not on a ZHP, I had a step in my 325i.

I had zero complaints about the transmission or driving experience with it.

That being said, I love the 6MT and wouldn't go back.

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[ELCID86]

I like em both for different reasons. If it weren't for traffic I'd have gone for a 6MT in my car.


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[stephenkirsh]

I uh. I... can't drive a stick. *dodges tomatoes and shoes*.

I really wanted to learn but I literally don't know anybody who has a manual car. My dad sold his last stick in 1998 (when I was 10) because pushing in a clutch on his 100 mile Bay Area commute was destroying his hip.

So, that's how I ended up with a steptronic. I also plan to have my girlfriend/soon fiancé drive the car and hopefully get her into autocross. So that's also why I don't mind it.

I've yet to autocross my zhp (next week is the first one!!), but I autocrossed my 325 with a steptronic and it was fantastic, shifting it myself. My times were dead in the middle of the pack for all classes, so the tranny never held me back.

I drive in full manual mode 100% of the time. I don't like when the auto thinks it should shift.

Overall the tranny is a big thumbs up for me.

Also, my zhp has a ZF tranny, just for the record.

[stephenkirsh]

Oh and the differential on the steptronic is a 3.64 compared to the manual's 3.07. So that's where 95% of the zhp's speed comes from.