Welsh 350Z N

Perfect. I love the shift in my 350 - only got 450 miles on her yet though. Clutch also feels great and I have driven many manual transmissions. This is up there with the best.

professor

Hey, I read this forum and felt I had to put some ideas out there!

About me? , I have owned more than 125 cars, (driving 25 years) and 98 percent of those have been sticks. Drove the Autobahn and back roads of Germany for 7 years, and I am a engineering type who needs to know how everything works!......

Well....One thing that can cause difficult shifting is the clutch not releasing completly.
How?
1. seat too far back. Any shift AWAY from you (i.e. 2-3rd) your body is "crossed up" a little and adds to the problem.

2. clutch not adjusted correctly. release point too low will prevent total "declutching" and make for difficult shifting.

3. clutch disc and or pressure plate damaged, preventing full release. Those 5000 RPM clutch drops anyone?

On shifting ...... Do your self a favor and don't hold the shifter so tight!! If you hold it like a base ball bat (I know, you feel tough when you do it ) You loose all the feel that has been built into the shifter. I not talking about yoga, but if you guide it more with your fingers, you will "feel" the the gentle springs that help you know what gear you are moving to. Pratice is nessessary.

Hope this helps someone!

Scott

professor

Oh,
One more thing that may address the "high RPM" shifting difficulty....

Many cutch "pressure plates" ( not sure about the "Z") have centrifical clamping action.
In other words, as the RPM's increase, weighted levers add more clamping force to the disc. So, the more RPM, the more power to contain.... So more clamping force is needed.

bfleming

It's hard to believe we have the same cars and trannys from the posts on this thread. Read them all and its difficult to see any pattern.

I've got 3500 miles on mine and it shifts great, no vibrations. The clutch has broken in and is not as abrupt, but not much change in the shift action. The 1-2 shift is a little tougher and I assumed it was the result of the double synchro, I can actually feel the shifter slide sort of around a lump before it is back into 2nd. This does slow down the 1-2 shift. From 2nd to 6th all "very free and easy. " Like............. Wooden Ships.

bhobson333

I went to VIRginia International Raceway this past weekend for a high-speed driving course. Although I'm normally a careful shifter, last week in my commute I decided to try speed-shifting. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that even though the gates feel a little crotchety (a very little) when I carefully shift, it speed-shifts effortlessly.

I speed-shifted all weekend (not into first, of course) and never heard or felt a grind or complaint at all from the tranny unless I just flat missed the shift or clutch. It may be that this tranny was designed to give good tactile feel when you want to be careful but also to speed-shift easily and reliably when you want to.

Try it yourself!


BTW: My instructor drove my car on a lap and he observed that this car seems easier to drive the harder you drive it.

jleighZ

My clutch is loud and it is really hard to downshift and put in first. I am practically sitting on the pedals since I am so dang short, so I know I have the clutch completely in when I shift. Can they adjust it and bring it our further so I'm not so close to the steering wheel? If I am ever in a wreck I am royally screwed cause the airbag would go completely through me

newmexicoZ33

You know, after reading a lot of this thread, and from another thread I started asking about the 1st-to-2nd shift, I think I am seeing a pattern of who USUALLY agrees/disagrees with the smoothness of the shifting(not counting the people who truly have/had a bad tranny).
I've noticed that many of the people who say they have been driving M/T for many years, or in cars w/out synchros, or in truer track/race cars all say the shifter is very smooth. A quick generalization might be people who are used to "beefier", tougher, more performance oriented settups.
On the other hand, a lot of the people coming from cars like Integra GSRs, Type Rs, RSX-S (like me) which have very, very smooth shifters (I mean really smooth...if you haven't driven one, go to an Acura dealer just so you understand how much smoother it is compared to a 350Z) or maybe even come from not-so-high performance cars, seem to think that the shifter offers noticeable resistance. Quick gerneralization, people who are used to very smooth, everyday driver friendly settups.
The one response that does confuse me though is bhobson333s because my biggest problem IS when I speedshift (as he defines it) from 1st-to-2nd, which is what bugs me. I mean I always feel that little "lump" of resistance from 1st-to-2nd, but it is obviously much more noticeable the faster I try to pull the shifter down.
Any thoughts?

professor

Good observation.
What is different is the engine in the "Z" makes 274 foot pounds of torque, and a RSX 2.0 HO VTEC makes 142 foot pounds of torque.

The gears in the "Z" tranny have to be twice as strong, and this equals twice as heavy. If the wheel speed and the engine speed are not closely matched, the sycro's have to do a lot of work.

On the "Z", if you try shifting too fast at high RPM, the engine is spinning a bit too fast to match up the next higher gear ratio. (the stock flywheel mass does not let the RPM drop quick enough) A lighter flywheel could help as that would allow rpm to drop quicker, and sycros can manage better.

Scott