Need tips how to shift smoothly

cobra

Funny as it may sound but I need tips how to drive my 6 speed Z.
I cannot seem to get the hang of it from 1st to 2nd gear. It's always a little jerky when I release the clutch because it grabs so fast compare to my last car.
At what RPM is the best point to shift between 1st and 2nd. It seems to be
smoother when I don't rev the engine too high between shifts and keep the speed low. The higher gears are ok but it's between 1st and 2nd gears that cause me problems. I don't want my wife to snap her neck on her first ride with me, it will be embarassing. I've had the car for a full week of commuting now, stalled maybe twice but I'm better now. It's not my first 6 speed but this one is different.
I try not to push the clutch too far down and not rev too high,is it the best way,what's your technique, thanks

edub370

actually, the first to second shift is much smoother if you rev to around 3500 rpm's before shift. the lower rpm's i shift at, the jerkier the 1-2 shift is. give it a couple hundred more rpm's than usual and see if that solves the issue

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6MT-Z34

You can also change the spring on the clutch..search helepr spring ...I think they sell it for 20 bucks and there's a diy on how to change it

MacCool

Pause briefly in the mid-point of the 1-2 shift. RPM will match better. With my 2011 Z, I had a really hard time driving it smoothly. I notice that they must have made some changes to my 2014 because there's a night and day difference in the ability to shift it smoothly.

Other solutions are a weaker ( or remove altogether) clutch helper spring, or an RJM clutch pedal assembly.

Elan

Shift 2500-3500k RPMs. When you are letting out the clutch, just before it catches, hold it for half a second to allow better RPM matching. Just gotta play with it!

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cobra

I guess before I change the spring, I will try to rev match it better, thanks guys keep giving me your experience.

TreeSemdyZee

I've always sucked at 1st to 2nd shift. Regardless of the car. And I've been driving stick for 30+ years.

3.7 ZPA

Yea, the 1-2 shift is just a bastard in this car. All the advice thus far will help. You just have to work it. Even then, if you're not paying attention, you'll jerk the crap out of it. I bought the lighter spring a month ago. I'll probably pop it in this weekend.

Akurei

When I shift from 1st to 2nd, it takes a full second before i totally let go of the clutch since its just a gear. When you shift from 2nd to 3rd, you can shift faster and smoother probably because its a higher gear. Smaller gears always seem more torquey feeling.

zaimer

Interesting..I wonder exactly what changes they made with the new Z? I know when I made the transition from my 350z to my 370z, there was a night and day difference. I could tell immediately on the test drives that the 370z tended to shift a little easier, especially from 1st to 2nd.

MacCool

I really have no clue. All I know is that my ability to shift the 2014 smoothly on the first day I drove it is completely different than my ability to shift my 2011 on the last day I drove it. The pedal doesn't really feel any different to step on, but maybe they did something to the helper spring, or maybe they changed the geometry of the pedal mechanism somehow. Even my wife noticed. She normally shied away from driving the 2011 because of the jerky 1-2 shift and she's an experience MT driver. She has no reluctance to drive the 2014 and does well with it.

kenchan

change clutch spring. wear same shoes. practice

cobra

So I'm not alone, makes me feel better now, I thought it was me !

kenchan

yah, just the two of you really.

jaedub

Z is definitely one of the toughest car to master when it comes to butter shifting. I would suggest shifting around 2k~2.5k Go easy on the gas and get the momentum going at a linear pace. In another words, try to minimize the jerk of the car or else this will have a ripple effect when your shifting. It takes practice!!