Sleeper01

iTrader: (6)

+1 its funny till u miss and grind lol

phenix

Push the clutch down, race car drivers have clutches that have less travel, or on a clutch with standard travel, they do shift without putting it to the floor, but they are driving RACE CARS not street cars. Just keep it reliable and push it to the floor

davidv

iTrader: (2)

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binieboi

hmm can anyone teach me the technique to shift without clutching? i have done it several times and was amazed that it was possible. But most of the time, it doesnt work. i was told you have to throw the shift *** pretty hard. Shifting in-gear to neutral without clutching works all the time. but engaging in a gear without clutching is a lot m ore difficult. Is there a certain rpm the engine can engage the tranny without clutching. can anyone help? and has anyone exp. this before?

CaliTouring

iTrader: (5)

+1

tomiegunzz

iTrader: (2)

+1 on what everybody said. The clutch has an engagement point. You only have to push it until it engages.

slambball88

+++++1111

what he and the rest of the people said is right

bailey bill

Just one minor, nitpicky correction. It really sould say..."You only have to push it until it disengages".

Releasing the clutch pedal engages the clutch (connects the engine to tranny), and stepping on the pedal disenages it ( seperates the engine from the tranny).

But yes, you only need to depress the pedal far enough to disengage the clutch. Past that point it will not make any difference.

bill

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

Pray tell me, who do YOU know the cluctch IS fully disengaged and not still slightly slipping ? Impossible to know by feel...

Shift speed is a factor of synchromesh cone angle, not "How fast you can disengage the clutch".

How far the clutch needs to be depressed is dependend on car design. Oddly enough, owner manual says this:

Being able to actually shift partly on the clutch doesn't mean it's right to do it. I can shift clutchless altogheter.

Comparing street cars to race cars is silly. Race clutch engagement is much faster, with limited amount of slipping. Yet, even then the clutch is fully disengaged while shifting.

In conclusion, it's your car. Drive it the way you want it. It not like the Z has a history of failed transmissions, right?

bailey bill

If you can smoothly move the shifter out of one gear, and into the next gear, then it is "fully disengaged". I've only been driving manual trannies...oh lets see...more than 50 years. I definitely can feel when its disengaged. But even iif yu've only been driving one for 15 days, if you can smoothly move out of and into the gears, then you too can "...know by feel" that it is fully disengaged. If it reists coming out of gear, or grinds or resistes going into the next gear, then it is NOT fully disengaged.

Once there is clearance between the drive side and the driven side, it doesn't matter whether the clearance is .01" or 1". As long as there is clearance, the engine is no longer spinning the tranny input shaft.

But like I posted much earlier, ya ain't gonna learn to drive a manual tranny on a message board.

furiousZ

My left foot is always on the third pedal toward the door, and keeping it to the floor to make sure my foot is disengaged from kicking things. I think they call it a foot rest, but I beg to differ. It's my form of clutch ... especially to a lazy person. 5AT for those who don't want to play soccer in their car (even if I'd probably swap it in a heart-beat now.)

jOeL350z

based from my experience, i really dont push the clutch all the way down! I pretty much just look for some engagement point on where the car moves when u kinda lift ur foot off the clutch then shift it...Its a little different when im punching the car, i tend to push it a little further where i normally feel the engagement but not all the way to the floor and kinda lift up a little bit to the engagement point then pop the gears in there so my rpm pretty much stays at a higher range...it would be about 300-500 difference where i switched gears...thats just my own style...im pretty sure somebody else in here has better idea and id love to hear that

DIGItonium

iTrader: (1)

See if you can lift your fit a little bit as you press the clutch down... GRIND even when the clutch pedal is down to the floor as if I'm trying to shift without pressing down the clutch. Typically I can switch gear by pressing the clutch halfway down, so it's quite odd.

I took me months to figure out why I grind or have trouble getting in gear at least once a day. This is with an '06 transmission installed a year ago.

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

I can get out of gear without touching the clutch pedal. Is it disengaged then ? Nope. I can do it because I can balance the torque from the engine and let the synchros slip out of gear. You probably can do it too. No clearance necessary by the way. The thing is lubricated well enough that the dogs will slide out.

Suggesting a kid who started driving standard 15 days ago not to depress the clutch fully is silly IMO. It's a recipe for busted/worn tranny.

Like I said, people can drive their own cars anyway they want (or can). I buy my cars new so it's never going to be a problem on my cars.

MulhollandDrive

For every day driving I would just put the dang clutch pedal to the floor. On some Zs the clutch disengages very high and it seems easier to shift from first to second without fully going to the floor. If you want to have fun and have LOTS OF MONEY for a new transmission you can power shift without lifting off the gas or fully depressing the clutch. But just because it can be done does not mean that it is the right thing to do or that it is not hard on the machinery. As for racing on a twisting road, it is definitely clutch pedal to the floor. There is enough to think about with proper gear selection on corner entry, speed matching with the throttle, when to brake and get off the brake, entry speed etc without worrying about the clutch.

moflow

Uhm. I wouldn't risk it with the Z. I learned on my old car, which had clutch issues making this technique mandatory on occasion.

Anyway if you really want to know here it is: When shifting into nuetral, give the car just a tiny bit of gas while lightly pulling the shifter. You should feel it slide out of gear easily. Let off the gas while in nuetral and wait till the revs have dropped to the point where the speed you are going matches the revs for the next gear. When you get close apply a little bit of pressure to the stick until you feel it start to slide into gear, as soon as you feel it start to go, push it in to gear quickly.

Downshifting is harder and i'm not even going to try to explain it.

OK thats all. Have fun breaking your transmission.

BallZdeepNYC

iTrader: (2)

This is the reason i love my ACT clutch in my 99 maxima. Its angagement point was about 2 inches from the floor so It was very easy to shift quickly when flooring the clutch. I HATE stock nissan clutches. I HATE all stock clutches

NGZ

iTrader: (1)

I think it's a good habit (with your car's interest in mind) to push the clutch all the way in.

Although, I find that when I shift fast, I unconsciously don't depress the clutch fully. It might be partly from muscle memory and experience with the car, and partly from the gears just slipping into place at the right RPM.

But from what it sounds to me, your coworker is just being nitpicky and is someone who tries to one-up people with little "didn't you knows". It's a small detail that gives very little advantage but opens risk of damage to your car. There are more important things to work on, in the quest for speed!