Rev to 4500. Drop the clutch. Hold on tight. :stirthepot:

Wouldn't the VDC go crazy?

He keeeeds.^

Imagine two pieces of sandpaper. One is spinning, the other isn't. You want to bring the non-spinning sandpaper up to the same speed as the spinning one by letting them rub together. Not too long because you'll grind down the sandpaper... But just enough so they get you moving :)

Wait, what?

P.s. - stop looking in your rearview mirror so often. That car behind you is probably 5-10 feet away :)

P.p.s.- plant your left heel on the floor as a pivot point so the act of the car moving forward doesn't make you take your foot off the clutch all of a sudden

So, not to keep bumping this thread over and over again but I have an update. I showed my new Z to my parents for the first time last night and of course my dad wanted to drive. He hasn't driven manual in probably 20 years now. I was telling him how tricky the Z is to drive and I figured he would have a bit of trouble when he first got in.

So we get to a parking lot with me driving (rather sloppy, since I'm still learning). Then we switch sides and he gets used to the gearbox. Then he takes off promptly with no jerking, no stalls, no nothing. It's like he's been driving the car for years, I couldn't believe how smooth he was. So WTF, now I look like an idiot that's been driving the car for a week and still suck, and he drives it flawlessly after not having driven manual for 20+ years. Ouch. By the end he nearly had the "trolldad" face:

http://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/6036/trolldad.gif

It's like riding a bike. Once you figure out how to do it, you will never forget. Give it time and you will soon be driving it like your dad does.

About your PPS - at what point in the clutch travel do you want to plant your heel down? Because if I try to plant it right away I can't move my toe back far enough to hit the engagement point. Do you want to let out the clutch partway until you just about hit the point and then plant your heel and rock to the engagement point? It just seems like I'm doing the clutching too much with my whole leg/thigh and that can be a problem when I hit a bump or something and my foot moves.

:iagree:

Exactly! My mom and dad havent driven stick probably for 5 years or so and hopped in and rocked it like they have never missed a beat. I was jealous.

Vaughnable, I am in your shoes with the Z being the first manual I have ever really driven. I got it last tuesday and now I am cruising all around town and feel really good with it. All it took was to actually mechanically understand how it works and then go from there. That and my dad throwing me into the fire lol. Once you get the shift from stop to first or second you have the hardest part down IMO. I know its really hard, but try not to get flustered by the other people acting like dbags on the road either. It will just click for you man!

Hey there thanks for the followup question.

I keep my heel off the floor until I clutch all the way in.
Then, I can plant it down and have control over how much I pivot. (calf/shin muscles, NOT thigh muscles).

I repeat this foot-in-then-heel-down-lift-up motion for each gear. It was just my way of being consistent each time, if you are like me and apply the scientific method to this stuff :)

Your leg will get stronger and clutch will get easier over time, too.

I'll try this out tonight, it definitely seems the way to go. Yeah I understand mechanically how things work with the manual trans, the biggest thing I suck at is keeping the rpm constant as the clutch starts to engage. Like I can quickly get to 1500 or so RPM with the throttle as I am letting the slack out of the clutch, but then when I hit the engagement point the revs drop almost to 0 and I have trouble giving it more gas without overshooting. I think once I get that down I should be good, I've already got 1-2 shifts down fine and the other shifts and reverse fine.

double post

Excellent! Keep it up and you'll be confident in no time, like I became.

Yeah man keep at it. It will click!

Again being in your same position, its such a good looking car when you are at a point where you havent mastered it yet. Its frustrating as hell, but it still looks good even if I cant really drive it yet. But its like a completely different car and 100 times better when you can actually drive it and really know all the awesome capabilities of the car other than looks. Youll get it in no time man!

Ditch the awful OEM clutch spring, it'll make things 10000000000 million times easier.

Driving a vehicle with no clutch feel SUCKS. 1 of my dads Harleys is like this and I always have trouble for the first 3 or 4 starts when I ride it.

*Cleaned this up a bit.*

My 370z is the first standard/manual transmittion, and first sports car Ive ever owned.
This is not my daily driver either, so I do not get much of any time with it as a normal person would who purchased the car for their DD.

I have driven manual in Toyota pick-ups/tacomas, VW GTIs, WRX's. No issues.
Dirtbikes and streetbikes no problem. I clearly understand the fundimentals of driving a manual transmittion vehicle.

With the 370z however:
Ive never felt such a high initial engagement point for the clutch, and it's very short lived friction to full engagement point. This is what I needed to get used to.

PERHAPS THE BEST ADVICE I WAS GIVEN FOR ANY MANUAL TRANS YOU ARE UNSURE OF ( Did this the first weekend with my 370z btw):

What you should do first before going on the road is, find an empty parking lot and do the following:

Make sure you are rested on level ground, so there is not way to roll forward or backward with the weight of the car while in neurtral/clutch pressed in.

Right Foot on the brake.
Push in the clutch pedal, with left foot.
Shift into first.
Now, let your foot off of the brake.
SLOWELY let out clutch out UNTIL you feel it bite, aka initial engagement.
DO NOT APPLY GAS/THROTTLE, not even a bit. YOU WILL NOT STALL IT.

KEEP YOUR LEFT FOOT AT THE ENGAGEMENT POINT TO NOT RELEASE FURTHER.

You should feel the car move on it's own, with no gas, just your foot stuck at the inital point. That's your sweet spot.

Once she gets moving enough, you can slowely let out the clutch the rest of the way without stalling.

Other worries? Rolling into someone/Hill start/stalling in traffic or at a light?

The 370z's initial clutch engagement point is also very 'forgiving' with the brake fully applied at a dead stop. Forgiving as in you will not stall the vehicle staying at this point, you can inch forward, and use it to prevent roll back.

If you still are sweating the roll back, yank up your parking brake. Feel the clutch engagement and give a little bit of throttle on the until you feel your Z wanting to move forward and then release the handbrake.

Number 1 reason why people stall is due to anxiety/excitement. Calm down and let that clutch out slowely, while applying some throttle. Most people want to dump the clutch and get going to avoid further embarressment.

happy travels :)