First 6MT. Questions on driving stick...
 

Hey guys,

I'll hopefully be the owner of a fully loaded 2010 Black Cherry next week. It'll be my first manual. I've driven stick here and there before, though never in a good amount of traffic, so I'm not extremely confident yet and so forgive me for my stupid questions. But here they are:

1) I drove one 370Z where the clutch grabbed more than half-way up (6K miles), and another 370Z where the clutch grabbed maybe about 1/4 up (40 miles). I have a feeling the 6K mile car was abused. But I'm still curious around where is the clutch supposed to grab when it's totally new?

2) When driving in traffic where I'll be averaging about 10MPH and frequently stopping and then immediately going again, is it okay to be in first gear as I'm about to stop with my clutch all the way down? I've been told as long as the clutch is fully depressed, it's not creating any wear. Is this correct?

2a) I know a lot of people throw the car into neutral immediately, but isn't that pointless since 3 seconds later it has to go back into gear? And instead of neutral you could've used the brakes with the clutch depressed, allowing you to get back on the throttle and ease off the clutch as soon as you need to start going again?

3) We don't have many hills here in NYC, but when I get to one, is it okay to have the clutch at the grabbing point as the light is about to turn green, that way I can get on the gas without rolling back? I know this does create a bit of extra wear, but I'm literally talking about a few seconds where I anticipate the turn of a light, lift my foot to the grabbing point to prepare the clutch, and then throttle as soon as I see green. Is this okay?

Those are not stupid questions at all.

1) Others may have various opinions on this and even more accurate opinions when it comes to the Z but from my experience, you want the clutch to feel as if its engaging when you first let up on the pedal and feel fully engaged toward the end of the pedal movement. New clutches should definitely feel as if they're beginning to engage very early in the movement.

2) Absolutely. As long as you foot is on the clutch you can leave it in gear especially if you're going to start moving again soon. I will quite frequently have the clutch fully depressed with my left foot while my right foot is on the brake. [I always put my foot on the brake just in case the guy behind me isn't paying attention]

3) I wouldn't let up on the clutch until the light is actually green. You can use the handbrake trick if you're worried about rolling backwards when you let off the foot brake. Another little thing, if someone is coming up behind me while I'm sitting on the hill I'll take my foot off my brake and let my car roll backwards a bit to let them know I'm in a standard and warn them not to get to close.

I didn't want to read all this but I will say this!
Live and learn!
If you do not learn quickly you will damage your tranny/clutch and some more goodies!
:D
Goodluck, have fun and please be safe!

The Z has a long clutch throw. If you have it depressed, it starts to 'take' about an inch or two off the floor, but isn't fully engaged until you're an inch or two from being fully released. Guys that have lost their secondary slave cylinders have noted the clutch action moves progressively closer to the floor as it goes.

It's important to note that all clutchs will be a bit different, usually with the same car they should catch in around the same spot, but that isn't a for sure thing. A car with 6k miles even driven hard should not be showing any negative clutch signs, so you don't have to worry about that. As for hill starts... I've lived in San Francisco for many years and learned how to drive stick here. Getting into the friction zone of the clutch right before a green light is totally fine. The handbrake trick is for rookies, when you get good, you can be depressing the clutch and brake, slightly let the clutch out while doing a heel-toe action onto the gas and you will have a very smooth, no roll back start.

Way to go with the 6spd!

*If you understand this simple point about a clutch, you should be able to answer all your own questions.... When the clutch is depressed, the power is disconnected, doesn't matter what gear you're in, once let out it slowly begins to make contact (friction) until it is fully engaged.

Other than the clutch, wouldn't it be really hard (read: do something really dumb) to mess up the trans?

Besides if you burn up the clutch in the first yr of ownership, wouldn't he be able to get that fixed up warranty?

Some solid advice here, gang. Definitely helps out a lot! Thanks, everyone!

arnoldk did you get your 370 yet? i remember you from the 350 forums

I'm putting the deposit down tomorrow. It should hopefully be mine next Saturday.

practice hills and declines allot before your in a traffic situation that demands it...

you gonna effing love this car, especially coming from a DE

op- thumbs up to you for taking the effort to learn how to drive MT. :tup:

make sure you also master heel and toe with auto-rev off. you dont want to be too dependant on technology if you want to really learn how to drive.

Thanks. I've done a revmatch here and there before, but never as a heel-toe. But you are right, it must be learned.

My 370Z 6MT is the first manual transmission car I have ever owned (I have driven many manual cars before for short periods of time) and it was one of the trickier cars I have driven. The clutch engagement point is pretty high which means you have the let the clutch pedal out further than most cars before the clutch starts to engage. This is hard for beginners but as with many things, you get used to it as I now have no problems whatsoever with it at this point. On hills, you will always need to give it more gas and revs to keep the car from stalling or rolling back. I hold the brake while gently letting the clutch start to grab and then I give it gas and release the brake.

Be careful about constantly keeping the clutch pedal depressed while waiting at lights and such in gear because it wears out the throwout bearing. Trust me, once you get the hang of it you won't feel the need to do that anymore.

By heel and toe you mean blipping the throttle right. With your toe on the brake and heel on the gas... Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it's tricky with the pivot style accelerator pedal.

This should be practiced somewhere safe by the way.

Just wanted to clarify because some people get the heel & toe technique confused with rev matching downshifts. No need to really heel toe unless your flying thru corners.

Holding the clutch down at lights is find while in gear is fine and you rarely see the throwout bearing go out before the clutch under normal conditions. I wouldn't hold it down long while your moving however. The basic principle is to let the clutch engage and disengage with the shortest amount of "pedal" movement time as possible while keeping the shifts smooth. Sometime this cant be helped like in stop and go freeway traffic, so you just have to practice a bit more.

Nope I think that the clutch is not under warranty. :shakes head:

yah, on these organ pedal cars i use the side of my right foot while pressing the brake pedal. on traditional pedals i use both technies...side of my foot for light braking and blip and my actual heel on the thottle for heavy braking and blip.

imho unless you can do these acrobatics you should just stick to AT. :tup: i use it not just for turns but using engine braking assist while braking straight. it's second nature once you get the hang of it.

actually i (and im sure many others) use heel and toe while going up a hill from a standstill as well.

anyway, gl with the new car. :tup:

Why do you need to use the brake if your engine braking in a straight line? Isn't the point of engine braking to brake with the engine instead of the brakes?

I thought heel & toe was used so you are in the correct gear coming out of a turn. In which case, you don't want engine braking because it will upset the balance of the car.

You can just blip the throttle for engine braking without using brake altogether. You don't need to heel toe to enjoy a manual. It's just one of those things that separates a skilled driver from a normal daily driver.

The main thing is just to rev match downshifts and both of you guys are right. Sometimes engine braking won't be enough so you need to brake while downshifting while other times the engine braking is sufficient so all you need to do is downshift while matching the revs.

The best advice I could offer would be to get the car out on some very infrequently traveled road, or an open parking lot, and practice the clutch from stop to start and between 1 and 2. These two will provide the greatest headaches for someone who is relatively inexperienced with MT's . Most of us will tell you that the 1 to 2 shifts in the Z are a PITA even for experienced MT drivers. Everyone is different. I usually bump the shifter into neutral and coast when coming up on the car ahead in stop and go traffic. I do not keep the clutch engaged the entire time. I am paranoid about this. You are going to get queasy every time you take off from a stop in traffic until you get used to the MT. You will likely even stall it out a time or too, when you get jumpy. Just practice, and try to relax. There is no set rule for everyone. This is really just a comfort level. Forget any heel/toe stuff. Most experienced MT drivers do not master this.

Another question:

In the even the clutch pedal drops to the floor what do I do? I ask because this was common on 07-08 Zs where it would just happen randomly (no hard driving) until a slave cylinder recall happened. When the clutch drops like that, is it fully disengaged allowing me to throw it into neutral and carefully coast off the road?

I've been told you'll have to get off the road, shut off the car, lift the clutch back up and let the car cool off?

Luckily, I have a nicely paved and empty alleyway behind my house where we park our cars. Even nicer is that one side of it has a pretty steep hill where I'll be practicing my hill starts! Hahaha.

very good advice. i came over from a 350 6mt. but when i test drove the 370 6mt the 1 to 2 shift was a pita and thats why i bought the 7AT....Sorry went to the dark side

Sorry noob question, I'll be getting my Z in the coming year, what's so bad about the 1st to 2nd shift that's such a pita? I've driven other MT vehicles, Scion, Civic, even a Korean Bongo, never really had problems shifting from 1st to 2nd, mine was always dead stop to 1st without stalling a couple times. (This has recently been learned and I don't stall out nearly as much as I used to, hardly at all now, but I haven't driven the Z yet.)

It's a little "notchy" shifting from 1st to 2nd in the Z and takes some practice to do it smoothly without snapping your head back. It's hard to describe and just something you have to experience first hand.

Oh ok, when I get back from Iraq next year I'll be able to see how it feels. Getting excited thinking about getting behind the wheel and feeling the increase in performance over my 2003 Hyundai Accent GT. >_< (hangs head and waits for pointing and laughing to commence.)

I got a question for the M/T vets, so I figured I'd bump this old thread, instead of starting a new one.

A few years back, a friend of mine taught me how the drive a M/T car (civic, don't know the year, but it was older). I never ventured out of the deserted parking lot, though. I've also been riding street bikes for almost a decade. Okay, enough background, here is the question.

On a bike, when you're in the friction zone, the bike will move forward (on level ground) without opening the throttle. Is the same true for a car? Does it put unnecessary strain on the car?

From the thread, I get that you can feel the engine slow down and you can feel it "grab", but will it go with no gas? When it's time to drive off the lot, I hope nobody is looking and I don't over think it, LOL. I might let the wife do the honors since she has more xp.

Lightly releasing the clutch will let you roll a bit, if its brand new then its likely you wont be able to do this. Also, a Z isn't like a civic so its line driving a new mt car again. You'll stall.

Lol, I can almost see all the guys at the dealership in the rear view, pointing and laughing. At least I have some kind of foundation and know the mechanics of it. I just have to retrain my muscles for the friction zone and throttle responsiveness.

The Z will hold the revs when you push the clutch in for about a second. If you shift quickly the car will jerk as the synchros try to force them down. Just give a bit for the revs to drop to the appropriate level (if you have rev match they'll never fall below the where they're supposed to be) and you'll be smooth as butter. Don't forget to give it a bit of gas as you ease out the clutch as well.

Let the wife drive it and practice at night.. best advice I can give.

totally true and right on target, i've seen alot of threads with people struggling with smooth shifts from 1st-2nd. I was struggling myself in the beginning, but now i learn to give her some time and then she'll treat u rite. i wished nissan had program the car to have the revs drop down faster just like a car without the synchro rev when depressing the clutch on first gear for a smooth shift without waiting. I still give props to nissan though for the world's first synchro rev. :tup:

Yeah, I'm no vet, (this was my first M/T) but you can get the car going by just really gently releasing the clutch. Keep in mind you gotta find where the friction point is, so going past it without gas might stall you once or twice. It really only works on level ground, and is useful for backing into spaces.

1) I drove one 370Z where the clutch grabbed more than half-way up (6K miles), and another 370Z where the clutch grabbed maybe about 1/4 up (40 miles). I have a feeling the 6K mile car was abused. But I'm still curious around where is the clutch supposed to grab when it's totally new?

2) When driving in traffic where I'll be averaging about 10MPH and frequently stopping and then immediately going again, is it okay to be in first gear as I'm about to stop with my clutch all the way down? I've been told as long as the clutch is fully depressed, it's not creating any wear. Is this correct?

2a) I know a lot of people throw the car into neutral immediately, but isn't that pointless since 3 seconds later it has to go back into gear? And instead of neutral you could've used the brakes with the clutch depressed, allowing you to get back on the throttle and ease off the clutch as soon as you need to start going again?

3) We don't have many hills here in NYC, but when I get to one, is it okay to have the clutch at the grabbing point as the light is about to turn green, that way I can get on the gas without rolling back? I know this does create a bit of extra wear, but I'm literally talking about a few seconds where I anticipate the turn of a light, lift my foot to the grabbing point to prepare the clutch, and then throttle as soon as I see green. Is this okay?[/QUOTE]


1. Some people on here have complained about a vague feeling in the clutch or it engaging to high, my car has 6100 on it and engages right before the halfway point.

2. You shouldnt be creating any excess wear in that driving scenario however it would behoo of you to find an alternate route to enjoy your Z :)

3. Shouldnt create excessive wear, so long as your not smoking the clutch(revving while riding the clutch) excessively.

so have you learned to drive yet? :stirthepot:

How pointless hahaha. Why did you dig this up?

It's funny reading these questions and thinking to myself "wow, I overcame all of that stuff super quick". Driving the car today is simply instinct at this point - second nature, if you will.

Just got my Z the other day and its my first stick. I have had driven sticks sparingly before but this is all relatively new to me. I am having a little difficulty with the stop light or sign and going part. Once Im ip and going its alot better and easier. It is very flustering when out there and people are right behind you. Today some guy at a 4 way stopped about 2 feet behind me and laid on his horn because i stalled out one time. Maybe a 10 second delay. I am going to just take it down the street to the school so I can try and master it before Im out and about more. Hopefully I will get it down soon !

Don't be afraid to give it gas, this car isn't very torquey in the very low-end so it requires quite a bit of throttle to go. And don't be afraid to slip the clutch, it's normal. You have to let it slip, otherwise you'll just buck or stall the car.