The clutch will take a lil time getting used too but its very easy once you get it, also I havent had a problam really with blind spots yet

 

clutches come and go. be worried about ruining your gears. if you're not that confident, i HIGHLY recommend buying an old junker to get used to stick in. IMO, sports cars drive easier than your sedans anyway. shorter throws make it more fluid and natural to shift. as stated above, you wont need to shift to 2nd at 15 mph anyway...

 

The clutch on the Z is pretty harsh for a newbie. If you are use to driving rear wheel drive cars, then it shouldn't be too bad. Most people don't understand is that you are shifting straight in the tranny in the Z. It won't be as smooth as FWD since they use linkages. It's hard to get smooth 1st-2nd gear in the z in my opinion. I've also noticed that higher Hp and tq cars are harder to drive then econo box cars.

 

No but when I was learning my clutch someone told me and it was helpful. I dont get much time to drive my car because i travel so its truly my toy for when I have fun on the weekends and I like it that way better cause I would be spilling coffee all over the place if not.

 

I've been driving a MT for about 10 years. It's different from car to car so I can't really tell you how "forgiving" it is, but there's a learning curve to it. It depends on how fast you learn and get used to it. Personally, I don't like how long it takes to get to the engagement point on the clutch. You can leave the clutch about 1.5 inches off the ground before it will start to "grab". I wish they would change this.

 

still on stock clutch. 350 rwhp on Dynodynamics. this my first 6speed also.

 

Using the clutch and a MT on a Z is very easily learned. The Z has lots of torque and the rpm's drop slowly.

--Spike

 

Once you get the feel of the clutch, then move to small inclines from a stop.

Learning to drive an MT is very easy for the most part. Learning to drive an MT good is another story.

 

It is quite forgiving but the pedal itself is HARD, as is the case with all sports cars I've driven. So for a newbie, it can be tough to learn the catch point and too easy to let the pedal snap back up too fast, resulting in the infamous "lurching-and-stalling" phenomenon at launch, A LOT more so than say, on a Corolla.

Tried to teach my wife on the Z some months ago, so trust me on this

 

I'm not getting this statement that the clutch is hard to push in etc...

It seems very light compared to the other sticks that I have driven over time.

This includes all the other Z's I've owned.

 

My wife has no problem with it. She's 63 years old, 5 ft tall, and weighs 98 lbs.

 

Clutch is tricky in the beginning but once you get a hang of it you wont have no problems

 

+1. I hadn't driven an M/T for 4 years, prior to getting the Z. but it came back, like riding a bicycle. Hard part was remembering that there was a 6th gear... lol.

 

Z was my first manual. I was in the same boat..I knew the basic principles and just needed to really practice and refine.

Z is an easy car to learn stick...

...but difficult to master

The clutch is very forgiving...just don't abuse it. My clutch still feels brand-new. I have 11k miles on it.

 

careful if you ever get an after market clutch, if you get the wrong one the clutch can quickly become a pain...

 

My only advice to learning the Z has pretty much been covered: learn the point at which the clutch engaged. The way I taught my girlfriend (in her Z) was to let the clutch out till u hear the revs strart to drop, then add a little gas and smoothly but more quickly release the clutch. Also, don't worry about pissing people behind you off, you're learning and thats OK everyone has to. As soon as you have the principle down, go out by yourself, but try and get someone who knows what they're doign to teach you. After you get good at it the idea is to have as little slip time on and off the clutch between gear changes (including starting out). Only way is to buy one and learn. Any monkey can drive a stick, don't let people tell you otherwise. Its not a difficult exercise unless you have have limited motor skills