Same with me. The car is so much smoother at low rpms and 1st to 2nd shift when I accelerate hard!

I know a couple of people running 12.8's with CAI, tune, and 4.10's and thats on street tires. I may go with 3.73's tho for a little bit of balance and maybe F.I. someday

All I have to say is "don't fear the gear." :D

I do hear 4.10s are excellent for drifting, I say give that a shot!

I know that is what everyone keeps telling me

That's true, engagement into 2nd gear is slower when driving at slow speeds. You shouldn't need to shift into the gear so quickly because of the clunk and jerk. Try pressing in the clutch pedal a bit quicker than usual and ease it when you let it out. I've managed to change my footwork and driving the Z has been much more smooth and rewarding.

I've found a fix to the jerkyness problem. While in 1st rev the engine to 4K + with the clutch in. Keep your foot on the throttle and dump the clutch while depressing the throttle. The rev limiter will kick in at 7500 RPM. That will be your signal to engage the clutch again and shift into second. Dump the clutch again while maintaining the throttle and you'll be off without any jerking..... If this is to agressive for you the alternative is to get the automatic. Problem solved!

Dont fear RPM's either, give it the gas !

I think m4a1mustang was poking a little fun as there's a famous song by Blue Oyster Cult - Don't fear the reaper (or I could be wrong)

I have noticed this since day 1. It's because of the lack of low end tq of the Vq37VHR VVEL .As Modshack said, be a little aggressive on the gas pedal. I have trained my right foot to press the gas pedal enough to not have any jerkiness.

Same here. I can't seem to take off smoothly. It is like it is a combination of the clutch engagement being to long and soft motor mounts making the engine rock side to side.

you just need to get use to the car and you gotta play with the clutch and the gas a little bit to really understand whats going on. what i do sometimes is hold the clutch and then take off slowly and as soon as the car starts rolling i let go of the gas and i push the clutch a little bit so i just keep on doing that until i get use to the sweet spot.

the jerkiness goes away if you rev it around 1300-1500 k before releasing the clutch.

You do know how much a clutch costs right? Why would you tell people to dump a clutch all the time when driving normally? Unless my understanding of clutch dumping is wrong, that will tear it up a lot faster. A ;) might have been nice at the end of this to stop people who don't know from following your "advice"

I'll agree with everyone saying to ease out at 1500rpm into first and go slow into second. It just takes some getting used to, although I still get caught sometimes and jerk around a bit. Sometimes I just wind out 1st gear up to 5k to make shifting to 2nd easier. Plus it sounds awesome :P

Again, from my experience, it's not about the RPMs. If you drive slow, you'll have to shift and engage slower. Make sure your clutch pedal is down or close to the floor before shifting. If you get in the habit of shifting while clutch pedal is being pressed, you'll more likely to hear the clunk and feel resistance. To help with the smoothness, press the clutch pedal down to the floor quickly before shifting and ease out of it once you get in 2nd. You shifts will be much more lighter and smooth regardless of RPM.

For daily driving, I find myself hovering under 3k RPM all the time. It gets herky jerky once in awhile. Just watch your footwork with the clutch pedal regardless of how much gas you give it. What I also found that improves smoothness with upshifts is to pivot my foot higher off the floor when pressing down the clutch pedal. When downshifting and starting in first gear, you can press clutch pedal anyway you like it (which I pivot my foot closer or on the floor).

Seriously if you don't realize that reving your car to red line and dumping the clutch isn't tounge in cheek as a solution for a jerky start then you shouldn't be driving a car! No smilie need on that one.... Can you imagine someone taking that advice seriously? Come on..... Every light doing a massive burn out?

No offense to any of the posters but its pretty basic driving here to get the car to pull away without jerking. Its not the car - its the driver not adjusting to a new vehicle. Once you spend a little time with the car you'll figure out how to use the clutch and shift properly.

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