Ok about this issue, in my car the only thing stock Is the clutch/flywheel, I've put in the Z1 clutch line, motul 600 clutch fluid, helper spring & the TWM SS. My transmission is pretty much perfect as it does not "lurch" at all, but as my friend seeyabud86 stated the Z does not like to be redlined in first then quick shifted into second. The rest of my gears are fine 2-6 no problem. What I do now is just shift right before redline in 1st & I'm golden.

For what its worth: Drop engineering has transmission mounts that might help some of us.

Yes, stock . Yes, a "thud" when you put it in first

I hate using the S-mode, just doesn't feel natural to me. I don't have any issues with first gear lurch or the shifting being notchy. I did adjust my clutch to engage earlier (about 1/2 inch from the floor) and it feels much better. One benefit is the pedal does not have to travel as far to engage, which allows for faster shifting between gears. Very simple tweak to do.

Right now it feels like I'm not pressing the clutch pedal down enough to shift gears because every once in awhile when I downshift to 2nd for a turn the gears want to grind.

With the 350Z and clutch adjustment, I remember adjusting it in the wrong direction and getting almost the same feeling as if the clutch wasn't fully disengaged despite the pedal being fully depressed. It would allow me to engage sooner, but that was the draw back. To alleviate this issue, I had to raise the engagement point.

Right now the engagement point feels a bit lower than stock (near the top). It makes me wonder if this adjustment will help resolve this issue. :confused:

hmmmm interesting

no lurch for me at all when clutch fully depressed and 1st gear engaged.

So true... I can't tell you how many times i've grinded the **** out of the 1st to 2nd shift at redline. It sucks, because i know that i can drive... so at first i'm all like :driving:... then i'm all like :icon14:

I experience a similar problem to the one described here. When I'm slowing down to stop at an already very slow speed (about 5mph or less), when I press the clutch pedal and shift into neutral, I hear a loud clank, and the car lurches forward. Could this problem be relative to the shifting into first lurch and thud?

Strangely, I have always had a thud when shifting into reverse. Going into first is sometimes very difficult (embarrassing at stop lights) and I have to go back to neutral, clutch out, clutch in, then back into first and it usually works fine. I'm pretty used to that though b/c my old mazda3 and 330ci did this too. There isn't any lurch forward that I can detect but I'll try on a more level surface.

This is a bit off topic but the idea about realigning the shift gate got me thinking. My upshifts into 2nd were always very notchy and sometimes downright gritty for the first 4k miles. The only reason it got better was because I learned by accident that if I move the shifter closer towards the drivers side as I'm engaging 2nd the notchyness is almost eliminated.

Before, I would engage 2nd with more of a diagonal motion towards the rear and away from me. Now I pull the shifter almost straight back at first then, a sort of jog to the right to seat it in gear. Sounds ridiculous I know but it works. It seems like that particular issue could be related to the shift linkage and gate and not so much the transmission itself. OT rant over.

I know I just hear the rattle/marbles-in-a-can thing when coasting to a stop (esp going into garage) and depressing the clutch. Also hear it when starting from a stop in 1st, but releasing clutch too soon. Other folks hear this too?

It just dawned to me the 1st gear thud/clunk, lurching, rattling, and getting locked out at redline is nothing new. The 350Z had these issues. The notchiness is very similar, but I was still able to get in and out of gear in the 350Z. It didn't like fast shifts, which I hardly do for daily driving.

I'm not too peeved by the 1st gear lurching unless it's directly responsible for issues getting in and out of gear (seriously like shifting without using the clutch) whether moving or from standstill. It comes and goes, which is what's driving me nuts. When I had trouble getting out of 1st, I pumped the clutched a few times without any luck. I had to use more muscle to get it into neutral.

Juddering is still there, but it is not as frequent compared to the notchiness. When it comes back, it's like an earthquake. It judders a tiny bit everytime I get it moving in 1st.

I checked the fluids... still max level.

Anybody take it in for adjustments, bleed, etc. yet?

the reason you are getting a thud is becaue you are going too slow and the timing on the car is fighing the gear. try pushing slightly on the stick when slowing using the break and it will "slip" out of gear. normally it is about at idle that this happens because the computer try's to set the idle while your engine speed is decelerating. or just tap the gas verly lightly and give the stick a easly push to neutral and tada! there is always a point when you accelerate and let off that the gears do not completely touch and thats what you are creating.

I too get the issue of sometimes not being able to go into 1st when I want. I usually go into 2nd no problem. As stated on the first page I think its something Nissan did intentionally to keep you from going into to low a gear. I know the e46 M3 had a similar design, at certain speeds gates would close to prevent engine damage.

Fantastic explanation, thank you and rep added! :tup:

My anniversary has the lurching and lock outs every down shift from 6th to fifth and second to first. Im on the second tranny because it grinded like crazy from first to second on the first one. I havnt had a great experience with these trannys. The clutch slave cylinder is garbage and they locate it inside the tranny bell so it makes it a nightmare to work on for your average joe. i put TT and a stage one clutch and my pedal is stuck to the floor and had to be towed home with 13000 miles on the car and only 700 miles on the new clutch. CSC NISSA FAILLLLLL!!!! Tranny seems to be very reliable for your everyday casual driving but if you drive them a little harder they become loud and very hard to shift. There is after market fixes tho and after you do them the car usually is trouble free but then again why the hell we need to spend 40000 to have to spend extra money on after market. well it is what it is. Still worth buying zs in my opinion. My zspeed slave should be here and done by next week ill keep you guys up to date on how it feels

i can neither confirm nor deny this, but i've been told somewhere that the whine is a noise made by the carbon fiber drive shaft at high rpm. ok ready, discuss!