WOT is nothing that you need to concern yourself with at this time :tup:

Don't pay as much attention to your speed as your RPMs. In your scenario, are you downshifting to 3rd? If you are, you will need to give a little bit of gas in preparation for the shift - your RPMs in 4th should be about 2500 I think, so in the middle of your shift (while in neutral) give enough gas to raise the RPMs to around 3000 and then finish the shift. You shouldn't slow down 5 mph during a shift... and it definitely shouldn't take 5 secs...

:facepalm: I'm remembering when i first got my Z too...

Give it 6 months of decent-******* driving and you will get the hang of it.

Well, you might want to try it ONCE(if you never tried this before) and feel it for yourself. But, do it in a large empty parking lot! Rev your rpm to 3k while holding the clutch and shift into the 1st gear. Then just dump the clutch and floor the gas pedal. It will bring your pleasure to a new level I bet you will love it. It's bad for your clutch and transmission IF you do it again and again. But dump the clutch is better than feather the clutch. And again, do it once just for your experience. Never do it on a public road!

Sounds like you didn't shift into a proper gear according to the actual traveling speed or you didn't rev match correctly or you didn't rev match at all! Do you have SRM on? If you are at 40 mph in 4th or 5th gear and you clutch in too long, the RPM drops and you try to downshift without rev match? Then it will have some resistence to let you put into a lower gear coz that will damage your car.

Idk what "Rev Match" is. The scenario I gave was not accurate, the only accurate thing I said there was that I sometimes press the clutch, the stick is on neutral and I let the momentum take me for 5-10 seconds before I shift.

Also idk what SRM is, I probably should've done more research. I do want to add that I'm not a total screw up, I've been driving for the past 6 months, I've taken my car to the heart of San Francisco, to downtown, thru the bay bridge, the golden gate the feared hills, etc. I survive all of this so I can drive, but I'm always looking to improve.

Sorry...I have one more questions when shifting the gears the movement. When you are on First Gear and shift to Second, Is your movement from 1st gear to 2nd gear straight Down! Or do you move towards neutral and then second.

Wow...

Straight down.

I don't stop in neutral between gears ever.

Damn Sorry Im not a born ready Manual Driver.

Thanks!

Most people learn manual on a less expensive car. Please don't create a bunch more threads when other parts of your transmission start to die.

Thanks for the help :shakes head:

Please dont feel the need to post in threads that I create that you dont like.

Also FYI the issues I encouter were: Steering Lock Fuse and CSC Failure. The two most common failures with 370Z, yea my fault huh? :shakes head: Sad! I was looking for advice and that was all.

Also please no one else respond, I got my answers. Let the thread stop, please close if possible.

Just giving you warning to expect more transmission related issues due to the way you are treating the car.

Like this post.

No worries man. Just do some research and watch some youtube videos and do more practice you'd be fine. Maybe ask a friend who knows how to drive a stick sits next to you... A lot of people start their first manual transmission car with the Z too. In a sense it's easier for a beginer since it has the SRM. Just don't do anything crazy first. Research and practice! Good luck.:tiphat:

PS: SRM = SynchroRev Match.

There isn't a facepalm.gif big enough for what I am feeling right now.
Every post leaves me with a WTF face.

A bit of advice. Read up and try to get driving lessons from a friend or instructor who knows what they are doing. At this rate, I fear this car will end up wrapped around a pole and causing our insurance rates to go up even more.

To the OP: If you haven't figured out how to manipulate the gearshift and synchronize it with your gas pedal and clutch movements within about the first 50 gearshifts you make the first time that you have driven a manual transmission car and made those hand and foot movements, you are in trouble. It's very easy muscle memory tasks after a few dozen shifts and you shouldn't even be thinking about it. You probably have developed bad habits. Seek professional help.:tiphat:

your over thinking it man. Just focus on making butter smooth shifts and do it as slow as you need. You will get faster at it as it becomes muscle memory just takes time.

This. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. However, somewhere in here you mentioned taking 5-10 seconds to shift gear. Don't do it that slowly. Clutch in, shift, clutch out smoothly. That shouldn't take more than a second or two. It sounds like you're lugging the engine a little too. Try taking it up to 4k or 4500 rpm before you shift. It's easier, and it's not good to be too low in the rpm range. It's not a LS1. Also, be in the gear you want to be in before you enter the turn. Shift during braking before you turn the wheel. The best thing would be to get some instruction from a professional. There's tracks near you that have HPDEs and instructors. The couple hundred bucks spent is well worth it.

:shakes head: Let me say this again. I CAN DRIVE FINE!!! I was just trying to improve my technique. I have driven thru downtown San Francisco, the bay bridge, golden gate, the SF feared hills, etc (in more than one occasion) all in the weekends when traffic is among the worst in the country in my 370z manual car. I was just looking to improve. If I was a professional driver and I sat next to you "manual driver experts" I swear i would be able to point things out that you can improve on even though you have been driving for years.

I can drive, better than most people I bet. I was just looking to improve, I'm sure ALL of you can improve as well.

Rant over!

Dude, you started a thread looking for input and advice. That's what you're getting. There's a difference between successfully commuting in bad traffic and hills (you're absolutely right about how much of a bitch it is to drive in that area), and the proper technique for spirited driving. In numerous posts you've described starting off in second, trying to upshift at 2k rpm, shifting during the turn, setting off VDC while shifting, and coasting for five seconds while shifting. All of these are less than good, and are easily fixed by adjusting your technique. We're not throwing rocks at you, we're trying to help. Everybody has to learn at some point.

Could a professional driver find things to improve about my driving? Of course, that's why I want an instructor riding with me. That's why I'm building a dedicated track car so I can learn more without worrying about destroying my Z. Finding things to improve isn't a bad thing.

The only downside to real professional instruction besides cost is the critical hit to one's ego. I thought I was a really good driver. After a few laps with a real professional driver, I realized I'm a hack and need a lot of instruction.

Looking back at some of my most I could see how people misinterpreted what I wrote. Either way, I can drive fine. Sorry for the confusion, no need to keep giving me advice. OVER/Closed Thread!

these sounds like driving Z in deep snow. lol

Come on, man. The thread's apparently OVER/closed.

happens to me everytime i take off on the highway (after getting stuck behind an idiot in the passing lane traveling the same speed as the right lane) i get infuriated and fly past them once they get outta damn way!

:iagree::driving::eek:

ibtl

Given your posts, I somehow doubt our definitions of " driving fine" vastly differ. But hey, it's your transmission and clutch, not mine... Thank god.

Sorry to digress. This is one of the funniest and entertaining threads ever.

I've expierenced this today on my way to work also....4th to 5th.. its grinding and im shifting perfectly. First time it happened so how can i fix this?

Grinding? Possibly synchro's? Do you have the sport package w/SRM?

I haven't had any grinding. What I was talking about was TCS coming on going 4-5 (may have been still flashing from a previous shift :confused:).

I'm no expert though, I usually ask around here or amongst more knowledgeable friends in the car scene.

I think I've heard upgrading the tranny fluid may help this a little, unless something is really worn/damaged.

How many miles are on it?