Noob Z Manual Transmission Question

NorCAL370Zed

Hello everyone. New to the forms and to owning a Z! The last Z I drove was my college buddies old school 1970s era Nissan Z. I recently became the proud owner of a new 2012 370z Sport. My question is about the Manual Transmission on my car. I have noticed that when shifting from 1st to 2nd its fairly difficult to make that transition smooth with the clutch. I have been trying various amounts of gas and clutch and its a challenge. I recently turned off the traction control and its a little better. 3rd -6th are fine and fairly smooth.
Am I still in the "breaking in process"? Admittedly, I have never owned a new car with a manual transmission. My previous vehicles, a 88 mustang and 2008 Subaru outback XT all had over 40k mileage when I bought them and shifted fine.

Anyone drive most all the time with the traction control off? Pretty annoying shutting it off every time I get in the car.

Thanks

Notsud 13

i think that's just the way it is. it took me a week or two to get use to it.

phohman

There is alot of threads on the MTransmission. I have the same issues with 2400k, but I have changed my fluids (Red Line- Trans & motul 600-Clutch) and feel a BIG difference. These are traits of this unit.

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DesertZ

Take a look at this thread. Clutch pedal too soft/no feel? Remove the helper spring!

I am going to give this a try with the 200 other people that have done this. I hate how the clutch is in this car.

B&W_Evader

Try adjusting the clutch engagement position. Get it closer to the floor. Biggest improvement will be in stand-still starts but it makes every gear better.

BTW, there's a clevis on the end of the rod that goes through the floor to the clutch master cylinder. Not mutch adjustment in it, mine is all the way in now. Pedal engagement is about half the distance it used to be.

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Grindkiezer

Noise when going from 1st to 2nd *Help*

Somewhat the same issue that I have but I think that it's just a "normal" thing for these cars with their clunky gearboxes. You aren't the only one with this issue

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NorCAL370Zed

Sounds good guys, least I know its normal and will give the engagement some adjusting and look for some different transmission fluid.

jcosta79

Do you have the Synchro-Rev turned on or off? If it's turned on (default) you might be giving it too much gas as the computer is already matching the revs for the next gear. Try not giving it any throttle before releasing the clutch and see if that helps.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...atch-explained

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anthonyy

this is normal... especially when the fluid and gears are cold.

binary0x01

Drive slow, shift slow, drive fast, shifter faster (not too fast though)

After replacing the clutch pedal it is totally different from stock, I know what you're talking about, I didn't like that feeling so before I even had 1K miles on my Z i've already switched out the pedal for the RJM adjustable one. Good luck.

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.c2

No, this is completely normal. Something about this car makes it harder to get it from 1st to 2nd smoothly. I've driven tons of mt cars when I was working as a lot boy a while back, and the Z is by far one of the hardest to drive smoothly stock (imo) lol. You eventually get used to it and it'll evennntuallyy be a smooth transition. I remember when I was first getting used to it, giving it a little bit of gas when in 2nd and letting go of the clutch made for a smooth transition. Not too sure what I do now since I've gotten used to it, but I think something like that too... That little rev hang thing annoys the hell out of me too, sometimes makes shifting kinda bumpy feeling because the revs are still hanging when they shouldn't be

Replacing the tranny fluid won't make going from 1st to 2nd any easier, given that your fluid doesn't need replacing yet. And no I drive with the traction control on, though I find that turning it off is really easy in this car because you don't have to hold the button like you do in some other cars.

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ayrton88

Coming from a BMW, which was easy to shift smoothly, to the Z, was quite a transition. After a little over 6 months of ownership I am much smoother now. I still have to more aware of my shifting than I did in the Bimmer.

Ryan @ RJM

This will make a huge improvement in your overall driving enjoyment over the stock setup or stock with a spring mod.

Have a look
Review: RJM AFP Clutch Pedal System

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fuct

this is actually spot on with our cars. if you are putting around shift that way. if you are being agressive shift quicker. sounds simple but finding the right amout of timing and effort takes practice.

houkouonchi

I think a smooth 1st to 2nd transactions most important thing is timing more than anything. Especially when its cold I generally have to give it a little more time before depressing the clutch than I do for most other gears.