seanrulz

I've owned Z for 2 years now and this was my first manual car. I still have some jerking going on when I don't shift carefully even at casual driving (shifting at 3k rpm) especially 1-2 shifting. I think it might be due to the ridiculously deep clutch of the Z (Long travel) or clutch just grabbing harder than other non-sports manual cars. I've driven Hondas, Toyotas with manual and their clutch travel was significantly less than Z. (Less than half) And clutch meeting point is located at way up top compare to other manual cars and as a result, taking off smoothly in the Z requires much more effort to me unless I feather the clutch a lot. And in other cars, I can fully depress the clutch with my heel planted on the ground, but in the Z, I can't. I have to use my whole left leg to fully depress the clutch due to the longer travel and this is getting really tired in stop-and go. (Maybe due to my small foot? 9 1/2)

So this is what I use when I take off. I just repeatedly blip the throttle 3-4 times while I let the clutch slowly, (like, broombroombroom..rolling) I just got used to it so much that I do it all the time.

If you shift into way higher gears at relatively low speed, (like 4th at 20) your engine rpm will be way too low with tall gear ratios, meaning that engine have to work harder to move the car foward, meaning more load to the engine. This is not good usually. It might help the gas mileage a little, but generally, it is better to shift around 3~3.5k rpm where engine generates enough torque to move the car foward.
When I drive casually, I just do:
1st-10mph
2nd-20mph
3rd-30mph
4th-40mph
5th-50mph
6th-60mph

You'll be in this speed range if you shift at 3k in every gear. If I slow down, it downshift accordingly so that engine always stays above 2k rpm.

Result? Relatively frequent shifting (it's more fun in manual! ) with horrible gas milege. Although I drive my car hard quite often (floor it whenever I see the empty road with my Valentine V1 remaining silent: no cops) I get like 15mpg according to the trip meter, which is just too low. (This car isn't a SUV damnit) Usually I fill up in every 220miles or so. (In city driving)

Just keep driving and try various methods. Then pick whichever fits you best.

Faluzure

Man, such great input on this thread! Thank you to everyone thus far. I drove a little bit after work around town and by using what you guys told me, I'm able to shift smoother. I even try to practice downshifting here and there (I'm getting better).

I notice uberfaybk said he shifts straight to 6th for crusing at a low RPM while driving in city. seanrulz said that doing so puts more work on the engine. I've been shifting around 3K-3.5K while cruising in town (like seanrulz). Like you all said, I have to try various methods to find which I like best. You also mention that you gain better gas mileage by doing that (shifting high gear for low RPM). How much better is it? I know i have a gauge, but with my random driving, I don't think it would report it accurately.

I guess what it boils down to is, will I see bad wear and tear on any part of my car within I guess, 2 years by doing these different methods? (Shifting from gear to gear at low RPM, shifting mid 3K, shifting high RPM, shifting high RPM then cruise at a low RPM/high gear). I want to preserve my Z as long as I can before getting the next great Z.

NzZ

The way I think of it is, every engine has a limited number of revolutions. If you don't need the power, there's no need to make the engine turn more often - shift at lower RPMs. I find that by shifting at 2k I consistently get 1-1.5mpg better. My driving is 99% city, so my mileage is always pretty bad either way.

Don't get me wrong, about 20-30% of the time I want to feel a little power and I'll let her spin up to 3k...but if fuel mileage and wear and tear are prime considerations lower shift points are better.

NzZ

Z BOY

iTrader: (41)

i like to drive fast all the time; usually shift btwn 4-5k; don't really care about gas mileage; love to hear my baby rev.

kewlii

sometime ago I came across posts that mentioned about lugging your car is one of the worst things you can do to your car. Driving at about 40mph in 6th gear is to me is lugging the car. I am always in 3rd gear at 40-45mph. Besides not only lugging your car, the Z feels so alive when it's driven at high RPM.

mr2fasterthanyo

yes, you don't want to lug your car too much.
i will skip shifts though if i am in town. (the black mr2 has no cats, no mufflers, big turbo, open intake) so it is quite ridiculously loud. helicopter at idle, and with the turbo screaming (especially around town) it echos off buildings, and sounds like a 747. if i putz around at 3000 rpms, you can here it spinning away, sounds sweet as hell. but then again, i skip shifts sometimes so i dont make too much racket.

sounds like the Z's clutch take up is rather low. is this true? most cars you can adjust the take up point. i adjusted mine. with the clutch i run, and the extreme pressure plate, if i had to push the clutch all the way down, my left leg would be about twice the size of my right one.

anyone knowif you can adjust the clutch takeup point on the Z? usually it is a series of bolts and nuts behind the clutch pedal

bixby

iTrader: (2)

For casual driving, shifting around 3, 3.5k rpm is a good rule. I wouldn't shift into 6th for in town crusing as you stand a good chance of "lugging" the car. Plus at low speeds it's better to keep the car above 2.5k rpm in the event you need to respond quickly.

Just continue to practice, practice. Driving a clutch is an art. Once you've perfected it you'll know (and so will any passengers) it should be a smooth transition from 1 gear to the next (no jerking) even when you're punching it unless you're intentionally trying to chirp your tires. The most important part to remember to maintain clutch life is don't ride it. Focus on making sure your foot is all the way off the pedal between gears and when maintaining speed.Enjoy!

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

To save time, it's easiest to merge a few of those #'s:

1) Engage the clutch.
4) Blip the gas to the correct RPM for the gear I'm going to WHILE putting it into the lower gear
5) Engage the clutch.
7) Press throttle.

There's no need to ever shift into neutral just to blip the gas. With the clutch in you're essentially in neutral already.

MikeF

Faluzure, I was in the same boat as you when I got my Z a couple months ago. I wasn't sure how high to rev and found it difficult to get smooths shift (esp. from 1st to 2nd). I posted this chart on a tread a little while ago and if I shift according to it I can get perfectly smooth shifts (although it still isn't easy).

For example, if I rev to 3000 rpm in 1st gear, I can get a smooth shift by letting the clutch straight out when the revs drop to 1800 rpm. It's a little tough to catch but with practice it can be done. The problem I find with this is I don't accelerate very fast when driving like this because it takes a while for the engine revs to drop. To speed things up a bit you can feather the clutch out a little to slow the engine down while giving it a little gas to keep the revs just about 1800. It all happens pretty fast but soon the timing becomes natural.

After a while you can just estimate how much the revs need to drop for the next gear you are shifting into. If you rev to 3000 rpm in every gear the revs have to drop less for each sucessive higher gear.

1st -
2nd - 1800 (1200 drop)
3rd - 2100 (900 drop)
4th - 2300 (700 drop)
5th - 2300 (700 drop)
6th - 2300 (700 drop)

In addition, the higher you rev the engine the more the revs have to drop for the next gear. This is why it is easier to have smooth shift when not reving high. For example, when shifting from 1st to 2nd, the following holds.

1st gear - 2nd gear
2000 rpm - 1200 rpm (800 drop)
3000 rpm - 1800 rpm (1200 drop)
4000 rpm - 2500 rpm (1500 drop)
5000 rpm - 3000 rpm (2000 drop)
6000 rpm - 3700 rpm (2300 drop)

Of course you can't memorize the chart, but it does give you a feel on how to shift smoothly.

Mike

MikeF

Also, here is a torque-speed curve for the Z.

dkny_boi

iTrader: (2)

I'm with ttsupra94 on how i shift when i'm driving around casually as well. Everyone can flame me bout it being a sports car, i should drive it like one, but i just don't feel like it all the time. Plus it bugs me too, seeing ppl gunning it right as the light turns green and driving aggressive... there's a time and place when i usually do that I think that cruising around at 50km/h with the engine revving at ~3000rpm or more is just a waste of gas.

I get good mileage like that too... in my old car with a 5-spd, the 1:1 ratio gear was 4th gear and i'd usually drive ~50km/h in 4th... but in the Z, i'm pretty sure that the same ratio is in 5th gear and that's where i am too at 50. Sometimes if i'm lazy i'll go from 3rd gear to 50km/h then skip to 5th just so i don't have to shift too often. The engine can handle it, and doesn't feel bogged down... if you think that's bad, imagine driving a camara/firebird slowly and having the car make you skip-shift from 1st to 4th unless you're really accelerating hard.

AZZGUY

Sounds like my driving! Gives very smooth shifting. Another thing I often do is shift from 1st to 3rd, then directly to 5th - goes very smoothly. I will use down shifting when when leaving the expressway - approaching the exit shift down to 5th - then at about 35 or 40 shift down to 4th - really keeps the tailgaters off you! They cant figure out what is going on and afraid of crashing you!!

StandAloneZ

iTrader: (1)

how can u get a smooth shift without feathering the clutch, i hate doin it but its the only way to get a smooth shift, especially between the 1-2 shift.

mr2fasterthanyo

you become smooth with practice........

try racing a few days at a track or autocross. you are shifting all the time, and that is what i found to really help. constant up and downshifting, and the name of the game on the track is trying to stay smooth as not to upset the car.

bixby

iTrader: (2)

Practice, practice, practice.