Did I not lower the clutch properly?
 

I had a friend lower my clutch as much as possible but it maxed out after 2 turns instead of the ~4 that others have posted.
The clutch did engage lower but it felt very awkward. Once it engaged, it felt I had to slowly release the clutch that much more compared to the stock setting.
Was something not done right?
And is there an actual way to make the clutch have a short throw like a Honda?
Thank you.

I'm a little confused on what problem you are feeling. Are you saying it feels like it is taking too long to engage?

The DIY posted says you can only get 1.5-1.75 turns, so that's consistent with what you're experiencing. No idea what you're describing though.

Messing with this adjustment sounds like recipe for a toasted clutch.

I was agreeing with a lot of people on the forum saying the clutch grabs too high, and read out they were able to turn it anywhere from 2-4 times. The difference is "night and day" according to one of our forum members.
The DIY saying i can only get 1.5-1.75 turns does sound consistent with what I have but it has me wondering how the others have managed to get such different results.
I turned it back close to the original position now, but I'm feeling lost in what to do about our high engagement point and long throw, sigh.

Not sure how to describe it properly but I felt that I had to work harder to get it shifting smooth compared to the original stock position.
It's now changed back close to the OEM position.

Why would that be?

You might just have needed some time to get used to it.

if adjusted to low you may not be releasing the clutch as far as it should so it may be wearing all the time while depressed

what is the reason for this?

it's mostly just a feel thing for guys who can't just get used to it. In drag racing it takes the freeplay out of the clutchby not engaging it farther than ypu have to so it gives you reaction time boosts as it takes less time for the clutch to engage as you let your foot off, that said our cars need a feathered launch so it won't help because you have to release it slowly anyway.

Easier to adjust your own technique if you ask me.

That's true... I learned to set my seat further away, but it feels good to let my legs stretch out a bit, not have to fully depress the clutch all the time, and engagements are smoother. In terms of drag racing... no idea.

:iagree:

cheaper, less time consuming

Some cars show up in such a way that they are almost unusable the engagement is so high.

Mine was funky, but useable, so I just got used to it.

Honestly, the Z is the hardest car for me to drive clutch wise. I can not get smooth shifts or anything the like. After thinking about it it is because my engagement point is damn near at the top of the pedal throw.

It's pretty annoying and I hope this is something I can do to fix it.

Not only myself, but my other friends who've driven stick shift for years have noticed it requires more work to smoothly drive the Z compared to the cars they've driven in the past.

In my experience, the stock MT of performance cars is typically more difficult to shift perfectly smooth (as opposed to vehicles in a completely different hp class or custom clutch packages). The first manual car I actually owned was a 1994 Explorer Sport 5 spd which I bought at 70K and drove to 180K and it was a totally different than any MT I had ever driven before. The next MT was a 2004 Accord 6spd, and it feels like a feather compared to this beast. In comparison, my friend's SVT Cobra, with about twice the torque as the 370Z, has a linear clutch (not hydraulic) and is a different experience entirely. My wife's friend has a Hyundai Elantra 5spd which is ridiculous but even when driven smooth it is nowhere close to my Accord 6spd.

This is the first performance car I have owned, and it feels maybe slightly rougher than the variety of performance cars I have had the privilege of driving. However, this car can make very smooth, solid shifts both at 2500 RPM and 7K+ RPM with basic understanding of the MT mechanics and some practice. Clutches are all different, but they all have their sweet spots. With practice nearly any vehicle can be driven smoothly (and being smooth is, of course, the best as it will help your clutch last longer).

On another note, a bad clutch is no fun. I put nearly 5K miles on my Explorer after first gear could no longer be engaged. I got it into second gear a dozen times or so during that period and spent most of the time in third or fourth. By the time I finally took it into the shop, I had to spend 15 minutes try to jam the thing into gear - any gear! - before leaving the house. I finally got it into fourth and didn't touch the shifter the entire drive. BTW for anyone that might question it, I knew the clutch was going long before first gear got bad. It was a combination of financial woes and then it became a challenge to see how long I could still drive it.