ve ssv auto or manual best for mods afm or no afm

[marcus1]

i test drove the 2010 sv6 ute auto and the ssv 8 ute auto today, the ssv8 was good it had the active fuel managment which seemed good half the time didnt relise it was on seemed smooth, when i planted the right foot it had decent acceleration for stock. the sv6 on the other hand i was pretty dissapointed not enough power for the weight of the ute even with out traction controll still didnt do it for me it felt to run out of power by about 5000rpm, im coming from a 650rwhp supra sooo iv decided to go the ssv8 in eighther black or blue and plan on doing decent mods (supercharger, mafless tune, dual 3 inch zorst) so im going to test drive the ssv in manual next wednesday although iv gotten pretty lazy the past 10 months driving a nissan 370z auto with tiptronic paddle shift. i was planing on getting the ssv with auto but if anyone knows is it hard to mod because of AFM?? if i was to do a mafless tune would this play up with the AFM and then if i went to supercharging would that be a no no with the auto ?? can the auto handle 400 to 500 hp. on another note the auto didnt feel to bad when in manual mode the changes were direct and could hold the gear right through but i think it changed afew times near on the rev limiter down shifts were smooth and direct the ute felt pretty solid round corners when traction was off over steer felt controlable although wasnt pushing to hard with the sales guy in the ute so basically from a mod point of view can the auto with afm be upgraded easy for more power ??

 

[davey g-force]

People are having troubles fitting aftermarket exhausts to AFM cars which don't drone/rattle like a bitch. Even those who said they can handle some drone couldn't handle it from the AFM - it's that bad. Nobody I know of has come up with a solution yet for providing a free-flowing exhaust which doesn't drone on the AFM's.
Many people who are getting maf or mafless tunes are getting the AFM disabled, so that's an option too if you really want the auto.

I and a few others have found the auto to be a bit tempremental in the SSV's, although they're generally pretty good when in manual (active select) mode when you get used to them. You say the one you test drove behaved well, so they may have corrected the issue in the later models.

If I could do it again, I'd personally just get the manual - even though mine is a non-AFM.

 

[TinSnips]

As above, mate. A lot of people are having serious drone issues with AFM when teamed with aftermarket exhausts and the only real solution seems to be to have it tuned out.

There's also less risk of drone with a manual, especially in the utes. Less work to tune it also as there's no need to worry about recalibrating shift points.

 

[marcus1]

oh cheers guys yeh i hadnt heard of the drone problems with afm ssv auto models but seems like its manual for sure then as i dont want a cop magnet, cant wait to try the manual on wednesday now! its up on power over the auto too, iv notice that capa performanve have two supercharged ssv utes for sale black and blue around 50k lowered with exhaust and 20"s how good are the standard clutches and the vortech kits are they any good? how do these engine go with forced induction? 6 psi ok?

 

[TinSnips]

Yeah, the drone can be a bit of a teeth rattler when the AFM kicks in apparently.

6psi will be fine. You might want to change injectors, valve springs, etc - but that would be precautionary.

 

[marcus1]

tried manual ssv vs auto ssv the manual is definitly more fun to drive and the engine did seem to build revs alot faster really throw you in the seat, the auto was still good in manual select mode just didnt seem to have the wow factor although would still be fast for a streeter. definitly going manual gearbox felt great clutch was pretty light though wich is great for stock power but i was wondering how much the stock clutch can handle?? nothing worse than a clutch that slips sometimes

 

[TinSnips]

If I'm honest.. change the clutch if you're going more than moderately over stock. Mine is a crap example (on my second - due to faults though - not wear). Basic mods will be fine, but she'll struggle on bigger numbers. Not sure about the MY10 clutches though - apparently they've been redesigned and aren't as much of an issue. I'd be going for a textralia clutch or similar down the track though.