Sure, there is about any go-fast mod you could want for the 350z and plenty of visual mods, but there is one market that I feel is left untouched.

This effects the 350z and g35 community wholey.

There have been no aftermarket improvements to the shifting of the 350z.
(Short shift kits are not an improvment.)

All of the aftermarket for shifting is either show or things the allow the transmission to handle more power.

I have not seen anything designed to enhance the shifting enjoyment of the 350z.

I feel as important as the handling of a car, the shifting is essential to the over all driving experience.

I have had a second transmission put in the car, and frankly it was not much better. I think nissan failed the job of making it better. I have been hoping the release of the next g35 coupe might give me an option of a better gearbox and shifting system to install in my car.

My other car, a 15 y/o toyota shift better than my 350z. However some things were done to improve the shifting of the car. Companies like Speed Souce made things like new bushings and extended slave cylinder shafts, among other things, to improve shifting of my car. They took the time to take these things apart and tried to improve on them.

Are there any companies out there working on improving the quality of the 350z driving experience? If not, I challenge them to. I don't expect the gearbox to be as smooth as say an s2000, but there is room for improvement.

 

maybe it's just you....its a very personal thing

I've owned every type of car out there, and the Z has among the nicest stock shifters out there. Almost as enjoyable as my S2000, and very similar feeling to the NSX as well (similar, though not exact)

Frankly, I have not even done a short shifter to my own car, as I see absolutely no need for it.

 

I have zero problems with the feel of shifting with my car. It's a little notchy when the transmission is cold. It is silky smooth when the car warms up.

Redline MT-90 fluid

 

Maybe its the curse of the '03. I feel the gearbox is notchy and slow to react. Plus, the gears feel as though the syncros are not doing their job.
When its cold, its conciderably worse.

I have read many complaints on the 350z gearbox, on this forum, as well as in publications. I can't be alone on this.

Maybe I need a new gearbox again, but of course when ever I take it in, nissan says its supposed to be like that.

 

New clutch.
New transmission.
New flywheel.

 

Trade your 03 in and get an 07, completely upgraded transmission, I hear the shifting is much smoother. You'll get a much stronger engine along with it.

 

cms,

I don't know what gearbox you ended up with, but the way they feel completely varies from car to car.

I have both the Z and a G35. And the G35 is on its second tranny.

The first G transmission was normal. Nothing note worthy up or down.
The Z transmission shifts absolutely awesome. Very smooth and easy.
The second G transmission absolutely sucks. It was a replacement when the first started howling. The replacement is difficult to shift. Chunky. Needs heavy muscle to put it into reverse.

 

I had a S2000 and my new Z doesn't even come close to touching the S...My opinion of coarse, but the S2000 has always been very highly rated as in the feel of the gearbox...I'm not complaining about the Z but it could be much better considering it's a sports car

 

Since I have had my Z paid off for a bit, I would rather find a solution rather than a whole new car.

I might go test drive some of the newer Zs and look into getting the latest gearbox.

I was hoping the next g35 to come out might have yet, another gearbox. So I was holding out for that release.

Maybe the issues went away as the gearboxes further evolved, or people's standards are not that high.

I will just have to see how the new ones are before I do anything drastic.

 

Well for those that have the money, I think GT Motorsports is going to start offering better and custom gear ratio transmissions oriented torwards handling FI better

 

Dont hold your breath.

 

its all in the driver, all about clutch to shifter timing. these are some of the smoothest factory trannies in the world to shift, if you dont drive them right for a while, they will not shift right...

 

Drive a mustang with a t5 tranny then drive a 350z. You will not gripe and complain anymore. The transmission is fine, and if you break it, they are pretty damn cheap out of salvage yards.

 

not to hijack your thread but...

does anyone else feel that the clutch pedal is WAY to stiff (hard to depress)
or maybe its just mine?

 

I love the Z tranny.

 

I love the shifter. However one thing that does need improvement is that f*#@ing oil dipstick. When is someone going to invent (without me buying the new HR engine) a better one of those?

 

How come I don't have problems shifting my other cars?
Not sure about the newer ones, but the older 350z gearboxes are not near the smoothest in the world. 1st to 2nd is very awkward to shift and very slow to shift. 3-5th Are decent. 3rd being the best of all the gears. 2nd feels like it want to catch the gears when it engages.

With a threads like this, you would hardly think the 350z has such a wonderful gearbox.

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....highlight=gear

There is another 30+ page thread floating around somewhere about having gearboxes replaced.

I think I am going to start looking for another dealer to look at my gearbox, to see about replacing it again.

 

I have an 03 with 75k, original tranny, gearbox is fine.

It's just notchy.

 

I have had 5 transmissions in my 350Z.

Some of them shifted much better than others.

 

it's the '03 transmission gripe. i obliterated my 3rd and 5th gear on it. replaced with a 009 revision and everything is smooth.