Why does first gear in every other car feel and seem faster than the Z?
 

Why does first gear in every other car feel and seem faster than the Z?

(THERE. Better? Jeez.)

My understanding is that 1st gear does not have a mechanical lock from the engine to the transmission where as gears 2 thru 7 do. It's probably to keep the car from smoking the tires and to minimize damage from people flooring it at every stop light! In my '09 370Z 7AT the shift from 1st to 2nd is a kick in the rear and is usually when I really feel the acceleration kick in.

I will disagree with you. First gear in Z seems pretty solid to me. However, Z transmission(350z) has always been problematic but so far I have no problem in my 09 Z (rolling into 44,000 miles). Try to find the perfect launch RPM (assuming it's manual transmission) and you WILL be able to launch it pretty hard. Keep practicing. And sorry we do not allow any street racing post in our forum hence I modified your post.

I pretty much can light up 1st gear at will so think it's ok. Are you sure you aren't activating traction control?

It depends on what you are after in the car, and what you are used to.

The 3.7 isn't terribly short for the torque levels that the Z produces. If you are used to driving a car with a notably shorter FD, the Z may feel sluggish.

should have bought a Nismo! lol

lol

Agreed:tup:

because race car :stirthepot:

Mine is not a Nismo, and definitely doesn't feel slow. Can spin the tires at will pretty much.. Rolling or not

Then just try and keep those 16 extra ponies planted! lol

Car feels fine to me in first. Maybe you're just not launching/hooking up correctly.

The 370Z isn't the most torquey car to begin with. I don't think the gear ratios are that bad. Its neitblher a V8 muscle car or an awd turbo car.

^ I agree, I had 2 gt's and man they set you in the seat compared to the Z. In the Z's defense though, it is by far the most balanced. I noticed once I bumped my tire pressures up, (very novice observation) it was much easier to break traction. I used to run 28-29 in the back and had some unfortunate outside scrub. So im runnin 31.5 and im breakin traction like a bad habbit.

It seems like the torque piles on towards the mid-range. The tuning of the Nismo yields pretty soft torque down low, but power in the high rev's.

Sluggish 1st gear? What are these other cars you speak of that are so much quicker in 1st?

If you are used to driving automatics and now drive a manual transmission, those autos probably feel a lot more frisky off the line in regular driving than your manual transmission car does. Why? Because with the MT you have to consciously operate the clutch and gas pedal simultaneously to get moving. Unless you're purposely launching they it's a little slow to get a quick getaway. With the automatics, they just feel like they are ready to get up and go since all you've got to do is give it gas.

I feel this way when I drive my girlfriend's CLK500. In regular driving it feels much peppier off the line than my Z did and my 5.0 does.

Also, as has been documented here before, some people have experienced a severe throttle input lag under 4k (the car feels like it bogs down and just about dies when you give it throttle), so it's possible the OP could be experiencing something like that.

/\ quoted for truth. If you keep your rpms under 3K and try and take off from a stop w/o trying to be a street racer, the car is downright slow. For me, this car seems to be either on or off as far as acceleration goes, there's no middle ground like there is with an automatic.

I disagree. The Z does 0-60 in less than 5 seconds. If you know how to shift, this car is not sluggish in the lower gears at least for a M6.

I think you're missing the point. There's no argument that the car is quick when you actually get on it, but we're talking about regular driving where things slow down a bit with an MT due to clutch operation from a stand-still.

In that case an automatic tends to feel quicker.

I also agree with the regular driving sluggish feeling. The Z is a drivers car, if you want the most out of it you need to get her going. During normal driving it definitely feels slow, but that's because of my driving style. OP, you might want to look into the "sprint booster." It won't give you any extra power but it'll wake you up from that 1st gear lull.

I don't think so and you said it yourself - the Z is quick. If the OP is reluctant to rev the engine, then of course it will be sluggish. Am I missing something here?

Well, considering the Z is quick when you actually launch it, I think the OP was talking about sluggishness in "regular" driving. So that's what I was trying to explain. Everyone knows 0-60 in 5ish seconds is quicker than most cars on the road.

Yeah, it is a little different pressing down on the gas in an auto vs a manual. I drive a tad on the aggressive side with my manual. I don't like an auto for a sports car but that's just me.

I don't care for them either but it's great that they are as good as they are now. It used to be that autos were painfully slow relative to their MT counterparts... not true anymore!

/\ exactly.

Oh and yea, another auto vs. manual debate. :stirthepot:

Whoa. You guys were busy while I was away. A few things:

I'm not afraid to hit the gas. Whenever I'm in the Z, I drive it. (This thread originally got modified for being too close to the topic of street racing and in that process brought up an important fact that off the line, I've found the Z to be slow.)

I think first gear is slow in both regular driving and.. track driving.

I've only owned manual transmission cars, so I can't really compare to automatics except for the rentals I've had, and those are usually either Ford Focus types or Suburban types so not the same thing at all.

What I *am* comparing to is my husband's Mazdaspeed 3. He would beat me off the line, no doubt about it. And my car has how much more hp than his? He says it all comes down to torque. That the Z can't have that much power in first because the tires would just spin. Is that all it is? Seems crazy to me that a 4 cylinder turbo could beat a sports car.

My previous car was a VW GTI 2.0 4 cylinder. Yes, for a few years in late 1990s-2000s they made a 2.0 non turbo GTI. Great car. It was fast off the line for what it was. Really fast. Dare I say it would beat my Z off the line? Who knows. We sold it.

When I first bought the GTI (used) it had a problem I can't exactly remember, I think it was a completely bad catalytic converter (I could be totally wrong=GIRL). It was BADASS off the line. Stunk like crazy, but it could GO. We had to fix it, it slowed it down quite a bit. But still.

So take away manual vs auto in this argument (we all know autos suck anyway :happydance::stirthepot: :rofl2: j/k)

Compared to most cars on the road, regular driving and track driving, first gear in the Z is slow. Maybe I need to take it to a track and have some lessons, but I think I'm pretty good with my launch. When I first bought it, no. But a year later, I'm not bad.

So... ????

Your Z will absolutely beat a MS3 off the line and all the way down the track... trust me :)

MS3 has the disadvantage of FWD. If you do your job right you should be able to beat it off the line if you are both on comparable tires.

Of course it doesn't help that the Z on street tires isn't exactly the easiest car in the world to launch quickly. Only a handful of people are able to successfully cut sub 2.0s 60' times on the stock tires.

ALSO, since we know where this is taking place... anything can happen. You both need to get to the track and see what happens there.

geez... i was cutting 1.90 60's on stock 19s/tires, completely BALD, when my car was stock, on a 95 degree day, with the added neg camber from lowering without alignment!!@ pretty easy car to launch (at stock power) if you ask me!

I find that the Z has a issue of shifting between 1st and 2nd if not timed perfectly. My 6 speed manual accord had issuses from 2nd to 3rd. Each transmission has it quirks. Its just learning how to deal with it.

You know how it is.

Anyways, since the problem at hand is beating an MS3 off the line, the only solution is to hit up the track and practice.

:iagree: what is your launch RPM?



:tup: :tup:

My husband would never drag race me on a track. He knows his precious Speed would lose, and he's not interested in proving it. And he's a big fan of the Z, too, so there's really no need. But I can't deny that when I drive his Speed, it just feels crazy fast. Almost hard to keep on the road fast.

But, let's go back a little. Forget about a launch.

Say you're on the track next to a brand new stock automatic Chevy Malibu. Say, rule is you can't touch the gas until the flag comes down. Theoretically, the Malibu driver is going to stomp that pedal and you hit the gas and let out the clutch. Even if you're really good, it's going to be him off the line first, easy, and then it will be neck and neck, probably him ahead, until you're in high RMPs in 2nd. Then you win.

That's what I'm saying.

In the race for fastest 0-6, prius owns all, jsut sayin.

Truth.

:icon17:

Anyways, if someone gets the jump on you, then yeah, you're playing catch up.

However, if you're planning on getting a move on at launch your foot should be on the gas while you're sitting still.

Hold your launch RPM, prepare to slip the clutch and modulate throttle.

:icon18::icon18:
I thought the Leaf pwns all. We've already seen a video of it beating the Z in a drag race :roflpuke2: