It happened to me too. If you shift fast from 1st to 2nd at redline it may balk. If you slow it down a bit or shift a little early it goes ok. I'm hoping it is just because the tranny is new and tight and will get better with some miles on it.

i thought it was only me but the gears do clunk, the 1st and 2nd and also in R. i dnno if anyone else has encountered a problem with R.

I haven't noticed a problem with reverse, sometimes 5th to 6th is a little awkward though.

Ok, I shifted at high RPM from 1 to 2nd very carefully and nothing happened. Im not too worried about this. Im used to a clunky tranny coming from a 03 350Z.

damn.....so if u do a hard 1-2 shift at redline the tranny will grind? if that's the case, eeek not a good news....it should not grind nomatter how hard you shift at any rpm...

I've shifted many times from close to redline since break in, and I've not had any issues. I've shifted hard too. i think people are just not used to it. Its the most fickle MT i've ever driven x 1000.

I've driven manuals for years and also had some 'smoothness' issues when starting out in my new 370z. I've now put about 170 miles on it, and have definitely gotten the feel of the shift. One thing I noticed is that the Z likes a little throttle as you release the clutch into 2. My first reaction to the 'clunk' initially was to go slower, engage the clutch, and THEN lay on the throttle....it only made things worse. Instead, make sure the throttle is JUST BARELY starting to increase RPMs when you're at the last part of engaging the clutch. I'm not suggesting to ride out the clutch as you overrev, just change your throttle timing a bit earlier than you'd otherwise expect. You'll get a nice smooth shift and the car just zooms off into 2.

yeah i have noticed that its just that im not use to doing that. i guess i need to spend some more time driving it :tup:

what a great excuse to drive for no reason ;)

Exactly! Yesterday I was stuck in gridlock traffic for an hour and I enjoyed the repetitive 'practice' of 1-2 shifts. :driving:

Yes, I've done this too. At least 10 times (only 1st to 2nd, and only at close to redline) :ugh2: It pisses me off every time it has happened. Now I've owned over 10 cars in the last 15 years, all manual transmission, and some with more power then the 370z, this was never a big issue. Occasionally I would miss a shift, but I never had to focus like I do with the 370z 6MT. It really takes the fun out of driving the 370z. Don't get me wrong, I still love the car for many other reasons, but there really needs to be some kind of solution for this.

One thing I'd like to ad, is that I installed the Nismo alloy shift knob, I can only think that this has made the problem worse. I know others have had the issue even with the stock knob, but the Nismo is shorter and lighter, which doesn't help to get it into gear. (it sure looks good though)
Im going to change this out as soon as I find one that I like, just a little taller and something with a steel or heavy insert that will help ease it into gear. I'm sure this isn't the cure all, but it can't hurt. There probably needs to be some type of linkage or shift kit upgrade inside the tranny to really solve the problem.

I think transmission oil temperature may be a large issue. Driving at the auto-X today my first 2 runs had clunky 1st to 2nd changes, despite having driven about 50 highway miles that morning. After that the shifts were a lot smoother.

Switching out to a better transmission oil might help.

I wonder if good synthetic transmission fluid will correct this?

In terms of difficult manual transmissions, I'd put this car in the middle. The absolute toughest I ever encountered was a Jaguar X-type manual whose clutch would 'take' about 1/2 inch off the floor. We stalled that car more times than I care to count, and the shifts were incredibly uncomfortable and 'jerky'.

^^ I believe you have some valid points. My first oil change will be at 1,200 miles for the exact reason you have just mentioned.

I'll be re-loading with Royal Purple 5W30 ( magic stuff )

The engine oil change will have no effect on your transmission. The factory scheduled change for the transmission is like 60K miles.