Did I not lower the clutch properly?

wdkwang · 03-16-2011, 12:49 AM

Not only myself, but my other friends who've driven stick shift for years have noticed it requires more work to smoothly drive the Z compared to the cars they've driven in the past.

JARblue · 03-16-2011, 02:10 AM

In my experience, the stock MT of performance cars is typically more difficult to shift perfectly smooth (as opposed to vehicles in a completely different hp class or custom clutch packages). The first manual car I actually owned was a 1994 Explorer Sport 5 spd which I bought at 70K and drove to 180K and it was a totally different than any MT I had ever driven before. The next MT was a 2004 Accord 6spd, and it feels like a feather compared to this beast. In comparison, my friend's SVT Cobra, with about twice the torque as the 370Z, has a linear clutch (not hydraulic) and is a different experience entirely. My wife's friend has a Hyundai Elantra 5spd which is ridiculous but even when driven smooth it is nowhere close to my Accord 6spd.

This is the first performance car I have owned, and it feels maybe slightly rougher than the variety of performance cars I have had the privilege of driving. However, this car can make very smooth, solid shifts both at 2500 RPM and 7K+ RPM with basic understanding of the MT mechanics and some practice. Clutches are all different, but they all have their sweet spots. With practice nearly any vehicle can be driven smoothly (and being smooth is, of course, the best as it will help your clutch last longer).

On another note, a bad clutch is no fun. I put nearly 5K miles on my Explorer after first gear could no longer be engaged. I got it into second gear a dozen times or so during that period and spent most of the time in third or fourth. By the time I finally took it into the shop, I had to spend 15 minutes try to jam the thing into gear - any gear! - before leaving the house. I finally got it into fourth and didn't touch the shifter the entire drive. BTW for anyone that might question it, I knew the clutch was going long before first gear got bad. It was a combination of financial woes and then it became a challenge to see how long I could still drive it.

03-16-2011, 12:49 AM	#16 (permalink)
wdkwang Track Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 899 Drives: slidewayz Rep Power: 21	Not only myself, but my other friends who've driven stick shift for years have noticed it requires more work to smoothly drive the Z compared to the cars they've driven in the past. __________________ Powerhouse Amuse \| K&N Typhoon Intakes \| MotorDyne ART Pipes \| Borla Catback Exhaust \| B&M Short Shifter \| Intake Ducts \| Ichiba 25mm F/R Spacers \| Carbon Fiber Interior Vinyl Wrap \| Tints \| 10000k HIDs \| Vtak, yo!

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03-16-2011, 02:10 AM	#17 (permalink)
JARblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Austin, TX Age: 43 Posts: 36,450 Drives: 11 Z34, 98 E36 M3 Rep Power: 2684440	In my experience, the stock MT of performance cars is typically more difficult to shift perfectly smooth (as opposed to vehicles in a completely different hp class or custom clutch packages). The first manual car I actually owned was a 1994 Explorer Sport 5 spd which I bought at 70K and drove to 180K and it was a totally different than any MT I had ever driven before. The next MT was a 2004 Accord 6spd, and it feels like a feather compared to this beast. In comparison, my friend's SVT Cobra, with about twice the torque as the 370Z, has a linear clutch (not hydraulic) and is a different experience entirely. My wife's friend has a Hyundai Elantra 5spd which is ridiculous but even when driven smooth it is nowhere close to my Accord 6spd. This is the first performance car I have owned, and it feels maybe slightly rougher than the variety of performance cars I have had the privilege of driving. However, this car can make very smooth, solid shifts both at 2500 RPM and 7K+ RPM with basic understanding of the MT mechanics and some practice. Clutches are all different, but they all have their sweet spots. With practice nearly any vehicle can be driven smoothly (and being smooth is, of course, the best as it will help your clutch last longer). On another note, a bad clutch is no fun. I put nearly 5K miles on my Explorer after first gear could no longer be engaged. I got it into second gear a dozen times or so during that period and spent most of the time in third or fourth. By the time I finally took it into the shop, I had to spend 15 minutes try to jam the thing into gear - any gear! - before leaving the house. I finally got it into fourth and didn't touch the shifter the entire drive. BTW for anyone that might question it, I knew the clutch was going long before first gear got bad. It was a combination of financial woes and then it became a challenge to see how long I could still drive it.