Clutch pedal too soft/no feel? Remove the helper spring!

olddudesrule

Thanks for the heads up ^, but Jsolo came through immediately.

On the subject, I'm looking forward to getting the spring installed to see exactly what difference, if any, exists IMO. That said, I've been studying the clutch feel closely on this car (2012, stock Nismo, 11,000 miles, stock fluid), and am really wondering if the issue many are having isn't related, at least in part, but the "fly by wire" throttle we have. I find the response "mushy", especially from a stop, but I don't find the clutch engagement all that unusual. Engages near the top of the throw, friction feel is not great, but overall very linear. I've driven performance manual cars for years (two Z06's, a GTS Viper and a FFR Cobra), so I think I have a decent grasp on proper feel and operation.

Just my .02 thought. In my perfect 370Z world, I'd tighten both the clutch and throttle response up. I'm sure, based on what I'm hearing about Uprev, I could have the throttle response made a bit more crisp at lower levels. Used HPTuners on the LS for that too...

luigi90210

I feel that is only part of the problem, sure the flyby wire pedal sucks with pedal response, yes a better responding gas pedal will help out clutch engagement, but unfortunately the clutch spring is still part of the problem.

I use to think exactly like you are right now, and what got me to remove my spring was the fact that I drove my friends car and it felt natural and when I got into my Z again, it had to relearn the clutch I already know how to drive on because it was very numb. I'm also not a newbie at driving manual, I drove 5 cars with manual transmissions, all of which were different but none of them were like the 370z(heck my friends 1g talon with a stage 4 racing clutch had more feeling than my 370z)

I recommend you remove the spring and give it a shot, and if worse comes to worse, you can always put it back on if you don't like it.

Jsolo

I'll add in my 2¢ worth too . I do agree on the throttle response - the immediate off idle seems a bit lagged. That can probably be fixed via programming. I recall on the motorcycle's powercommander programming, more programming granularity was available at smaller throttle openings than larger (2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100% throttle positions). Not sure what uprev allows, but likely similar. Something else to keep in mind, it is a fine balance too. If the throttle is too responsive, slow speed driveability will be negatively affected.

I think the bigger issue at play is the small friction window in this clutch design. Great for the track, but really keeps one aware during street driving. Other performance cars i've driven such as the wrx sti had a larger friction zone window. While this can be remedied with a different clutch or the RJM pedal, after 18 months, i've more or less gotten used to it. To get smooth shifts, more focus is required while driving, so less attention is spent on distractions

In fact, the small friction window may be perfectly fine for the 370z, nissan chose to duplicate the drive line for the G with no significant changes, which is not a sports car by any measure. So we're both stuck dealing with the same issues. They did omit the SRM from the G version.

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olddudesrule

I think everything we've commented on is true, to one extent or another. I'm looking forward to installing the lighter spring, and seeing what difference it makes. Here's to experimentation!!

olddudesrule

Ok, Jsolo sent the spring fast, got it last night, and just installed it. Took about a minute, start to finish. The longest part was finding something in the garage (ended up with a piece of PVC pipe) long enough to wedge the clutch pedal down against the front of the driver's seat.

Popped off the c-clip, wedged the pedal down, pushed out the bottom pin only (came out smoothly), removed the entire spring assembly (top hat and top hat spring too), removed big spring, replaced with new spring, slipped it back on, reinserted bottom pin (went right back in), released clutch pedal, and reinserted c-clip. Could have only been easier if I was getting a back rub at the same time....

Heading out in a bit to see how it feels......

olddudesrule

Alright, first test drive after install. My impressions are, while I can't feel an 80% drop in spring tension (my understanding is, the replacement spring provides only 20% of the tension of the OEM), what it does provide is simply a bit better feel for where the friction of the clutch plate on the pressure plate picks up. On our stock clutches, this friction zone is near the top 25% if the pedal travel, and that seems to be a harder area to manipulate slowly and accurately with your foot/leg. For that reason, I obviously felt it improved the clutch pedal feel in initial vehicle movement from a stop in 1st, and in the 1st to 2nd shift. Definitely noticable, but I'm sure a switch to the RJM adjustable pedal would be a greater improvement. I have to say, for $17.00, you can't go wrong.

Anyone expecting a totally new feel will be disappointed, but if you want a bit better feel with clutch engagement, especially from a stop (annoying stall, anyone??), and from 1st to 2nd, then IMO, it's worth the cost and minor effort to install. If you have at least one hand, and decent eyesight, you can handle it...

Baer383

Put a RJM adjustable clutch pedal in it,you will think you went back to a cable operated clutch.

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