MT Shifting Question(s)
 

So, realizing I'm coming from an '06 RSX S, I'm still wondering if that fact is what's swaying me or if, in fact, the Z's MT is a bit tough to shift.

When I first test drove it, it was cold outside and the car was sitting on the sidewalk in front of the dealer. When I went to pull in down into second, it wouldn't go in. Didn't force it. So, I "played around" in neutral territory a couple of seconds and pulled it down again. Finally, it went in. Thinking to myself, "guess it's colder out her than I thought...tranny must be cold". Sure enough, after warming up a bit, it shifted better but there still seems to be quite a drag on the motion of the shifter. MUCH different than the RSX shifter (which now feels like a cheap thing when I have to drive the wife's RSX).

So, in your comparisons with other cars you have owned, would you say...

(1) Moving the shifter around takes more pressure than the average car?

(2) For guys in the colder climates, how does your tranny and 2nd gear perform the first 5 minutes of driving?

Thanks !

1) compared to my 350 the shifter is very soft and less clunky

2) even in San Diego a cold morning start(55-60 degrees) it will take a few minutes to warm up the tranny

Ouch ! The 350 was worse ?! :wtf2:

So, when you say it needs a bit of warming up, I'd say, mine almost doesn't even go in without playing around with it. And that's shifting about about 8-10 MPH.

1) My experiences with MT come from F150 3 speed on the floor, 5 speed from a Saturn and a 6 speed from an RX8. To compare the 370z to the other MT, I would have to say that the other two (not F150) felt like I was shifting a plastic tranny and the F150 I can not compare because its stick was like 4 feet long. The 370 mt feels great to me but it is loud.
2) It does take a min to warm up in the cold. I know its been posted some where else but when trying to shift to another gear and it will not easily slide in, let is go into neutral release clutch and then engage clutch again, shifting into gear should be smoother.

The double-clutching definitely helps on cold starts.

A transmission fluid change will help, too. Cold shifts are much smoother with Redline MT-90.

Honestly...you cant compare a Hondas shifter to a lot of other brands. To me...the Hondas are one of the best shifters on the market straight from the factory.

Miatas are good too...but as a company, the Hondas in general are really easy to use.

The 370Z is "smoother" than the older first run of 03 350Z's and G35's...but it still could be a little better. Its bearable though to me.

Double clutching on upshifts? :rofl2:

Just rev-match while shifting and you should be fine...

If you time it right this will be automatic, as your rev's drop as you release the gas, just re-engage when you're rev's match your next gear.

If they drop too fast you can just use some gas to keep it up, or just shift faster.

But that could be just me....

It really helps the 1-2 shift when it's 8 degrees out!

Well, I'm guessing there's no reason to be alarmed, then. :crossing fingers:

Like anything, I guess I worry too much.

As to skill, for those of you who may have heard me say it before, I'm probably the oldest guy in here and have been shifting gears for a LONG time. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing... ;)

Thanks for all the replies and info/feedback. +1 for all-ya :)

best tranny on my 2010 compared to my friends evo x...

i used to work at a Honda dealership as a porter and, of course, was able to drive plenty of cars that came in. like someone stated above, Honda's MT is really easy and smooth. SIs, S2K's, RSX's, and even the regular 5 speed models were smooth compared to the 370. so yeah, it takes a little more effort but you get used to it and eventually find your own way of doing so.

I let a friend drive my car around the block - he's had his SI for a few years - and he had to get used to clutch/shifting right off the bat.

Thanks for the additional info, guys !

I agree with Xan on utilizing the rev match, especially when it's real cold outside.

I also find that shifting into second gear is a little smoother when you disengage the clutch slowly.

I'm from Ontario Canada and before I put my Z into storage this winter I drove it into work one morning at -8 degree Celsius. It was the biggest pain to try and shift, however it only lasted about 5 minutes down the road. After that she shifted perfectly as always!

IMO from my own experience, this is not a car to be driven in sub zero temps, mind you all trannys have a tough time in the negative temps

True. One of the reasons I sold my RSX (besides moving up to something with really nice styling) was because it was sluggish for 10-12 minutes on a cold morning. And at least the first 5 minutes during the rest of the year. And 2nd, till warmed up, seemed to notch or grab going in as if the syncros weren't quite warmed up enough to do their job yet.

So, call me gun-shy on the Z and worrying about it. I'm still in break-in period but when I can let it go, I want to be able to speed shift it and not have it balk/hesitate/stop in front of 2nd gear...

2nd and 3rd in Honda trannies are all bad. Synchro issues everywhere. I loved either riding with or launching next to my friend in his RSX-S 'cuz he would misshift 3rd almost every time. You just drop your head in shame :shakes head:

my previous manual trans. cars were a 1999 bmw 328i a 2005 mb c320 and i think the 370z manual transmission is at least the same or better than the trans on both of those cars.

And I think my biggest problem in the RSX was into 2nd. In the Type S, you could run 1st up past 8,000 and still have a good 500 more before redlining BUT, at least half the time you couldn't get it to go into 2nd without a problem--either missing it the first time or grinding.

Just hope I'm not in another car like that. :(

One things are warm shifting is smooth and easy. The firm "speedbump" that the gates cause takes a little getting used to, but it doesn't impede fast shifts. The only issues I had at the track was once instance where I was turning left hard and fast and almost went into 5th. I should not have down shifted into 2nd for the chicane anyways.

This transmission doesn't like uberfast speedshifts anyways.

I guess "uberfast" shifting is up for discussion. When I drove American muscle (in my day), speed shifting on the strip probably was done in a split second, like, maybe quarter of a second. You poised your foot above the clutch and when it was time to shift, you stomped the clutch hard as you shifted to the next gear and took your foot back off as fast as you could. You NEVER lifted your foot off the gas. Like I said, about a quarter of a second. During this time, you moved to the next gear. And, it was always slammed into the gear. Syncros in those days didn't seem to mind.

These days, nothing seems to be made that can shift like that. :(

That's what I'm talking about. The TR3650 in my Mustang handled those shifts just fine, but the Z doesn't like them... you need to lift.

The clutch needs to be depressed maybe 30-40% of the throw to shift. Don't pound it to the floor, you're wasting fractions of seconds. You should still be able to get a shift in roughly half a second.

Lift ? I'm lost... LOL

lift the throttle.

thanks to the fact that we don't have Carbs it's typically better to not just mash the throttle anyways. SRM takes car of your revs.

Well, I never pounded the clutch in the RSX like I mentioned above. And I don't plan on doing it in the Z. After just running up a lot of RPMs and trying to shift fast in the RSX, I began to understand it wasn't going to happen as fast as I wanted to. And, at that point, stomping and raising your foot back off the clutch as fast as possible is a total waste because the shift won't happen that quick in the first place.

I'll shoot for a controlled half-second shift once I'm through break-in.

Hmmm... break-in. 1200 miles minus the 320 I've put on it in two and a half weeks...I should be ready in about another month and a half... LOL

Haha... yeah, unfortunately you need to lift off the throttle when you shift.

:icon18:

Yeah, as I mentioned above, I let up on the gas these days. Thanks for the clarification and info!

powershifting. one of the main reasons why my dc5 had tranny problems. In the manual it says to double clutch for upshift until it warms up, since I read that I do it every time and it works about 80% of the time sometimes the tranny is just too cold and the hammer doesnt seem to want to engage. The gates or whatever they are called seems be less obvious when the tranny is cold as well.

Without grabbing the book and looking, you talking about the Z manual? God knows I've read a bunch of it... LOL

Wonder how many peeps gonna know what a DC5 is here... ;)

Probably a fair amount I would think. Maybe not exact years but at least the general designation.