Does anybody else think the 370 manual tranny sucks!

Cmike2780

It's notchy as hell, but I don't get how 1st gear is a joke. You can hit 40mph in 1st gear...65 mph in second. What rpm's are you shifting at?

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[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

djrelic

The hell? is the one in my 2009 different than yours? I can only go like 20 feet before NEEDing to shift into 2nd. Most of the time if Im on level ground im faced down on a hill I just leave it in second, so Im using 1st for a split second just to get moving.

Cmike2780

Heck I can travel 2,000 feet at 5 mph. The purpose of 1st gear, has and always will be just to get the car moving. My car as well as all 370's, NEED to shift at a max 7,500 rpm's...which means 40 mph, irrelevant of distance travelled.

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[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

Batwing

So you shift your car at 7500 rpm redline every time you shift?

MJB

No problems here. I use MT-85 and other than clunky 2nd, every other gear shifts nice and smooth. Maybe some of you guys just need to learn how to drive manual?

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09 Nismo #0483 sold. Viper or C7 next time around.

FL 4Motion

I def agree with yoru last sentence but honestly, the MT-85 only "smoothed" out the trans for a couple weeks and then I felt like it was back to ol clunky for me. Still would rather have that in there than the oem factory fill though.

speedfreek

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Cmike2780

Hellz yeah!!

.....but only if I don't feel like shifting in 20 feet

This transmission isn't perfect. It's noisy, clunky........sounds like a cement mixer with rocks or possibly a midget with a hammer. It's far from refined, but it's really not as bad as you make it seem. I think what throws a lot of people off is that they're use to listening to the engine speeds when shifting. The problem with that is the VQ37 is sounds like a can of bees at high rpm's. It's really harsh to say the least once you get past 4,000 rpm's. Coming from an RX-8 that hit 9k rpm's without the drama... the Z took some getting use to. I guess my point is, there are plenty of things to complain about... but complaining about having to shift gear in a car with manual transmission seems kind of silly.

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[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

Chuck33079

I think you're on to something here. If you shift by ear, you might be short shifting it.

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2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

djrelic

I didnt mean it so literal to the distance traveled. I can creep in 1st at like 5mph for miles if I'd like. I was presenting it in more a stop light on main road senario, where you would be traveling from 0 - 40mph in a hopefully good amount of time.

It was just pointing how very short lived 1st gear is in our cars, and like I said I will barely use it unless Im at an incline or at a total dead stop.

But as my cousin put it when he drove my car..
Me: Ya, the first gear is very short you have to immediatley throw it into 2nd and give it a bit of gas during engagement.
Cousin: cause it's not refined luxury coupe. it's a sportscar. it just wants to go, no compromise. it's not made for going slow around starbucks.

Nak4mura

I know what he is saying. I have had mine for 6 months and of course with any car there is a learning curve but I find that my initial 1st to 2nd is terrible I have tried many different techniques but to keep up with the automatic mini vans next to me from a dead stop at a traffic light I have to go pretty hard in first, engine noise drawing attention from everyone around and shift into 2nd pretty quickly. I don't think it should be that intense to just keep up with "Slow" cars. 2nd gear and beyond the car is Incredible and rockets just that initial start or short distance that can suck. I have noticed it is easier and smoother for me when not in sport mode if shifting is done well.

Maybe a few of us did just get unlucky and our tranny's are not as good as those of you who say that yours great. I am thinking I will go test drive one at a dealership and see if I notice a difference. For a long time I wondered if it was just me but I have read too many similar experiences.

I also picked up a nismo shift knob and surprisingly it makes a world of difference over the oem knob getting into gears smoothly.

I Love my Z and this wouldn't keep me from buying one again

Z-Girl 12

Me too! My 1st gear is soooooo short it seems just wrong. I have learned to live with it tho. I just get down from 2nd to 3rd.

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2012 Z-SOLD
2014 Nismo #565 Fast Intentions CBE/HFC/Swift/SPC/RJM/H&R-15/20mm/Z1 CAI/Headers/Intake Manifold w/Uprev Tune 328.31whp/263.64tq