2003z

iTrader: (7)

Had the shop check mine out today, but not sure if its normal or not, neither are they, as its so new and a new tranny for nissan.

When I shift, especially at higher rpm's, it seems kind of tough to get into gear. It comes out really easily then hangs in the neutral position and takes (imo) excessive force to get into gear. The tech agreed with me, but is trying to check with Nissan if its designed that way. Its not too annoying or anything, but by the way all the mags say its one of the sweetest shifters out there, it just doesn't seem right, and if I were to say, run a 1/4 mile pass, or something, it seems like it would cost a lot of time.

I sat in 3 other cars at the dealership and rowed the gears with the engine off, one felt a little stiff, like mine, the other two felt pretty smooth.

As an aside, I don't have any of the vibration in the handle like others have. If you have the rattle, does it shift smooth, and conversely, if you aren't experiencing the rattle, does it take a lot of force to shift?

droideka

I chose easy to shift/high RPM rattle, BUT my second gear shift is rather tough. I have to slam it into second to get it into the gate. It doesn't really bother me now, so I'll let it go until if/when it gets worse.

TCL

Mine shifts perfectly but 6th gear takes a little more force to engage than the others.

Z33

2-3 shift seems to take more effort at higher RPMs.

djbit

iTrader: (1)

I would love to engage the gear with the clutch lower to the floor. I rember my old 300ZX 92 NA had a screw that you could adjust.....any ideas if the new Z can do this too?

mikersoft

I agree... I get into all gears pretty smoothly except sixth..

-Mike

BILL T

Mine shifts great in all gears - no rattle

mysteriumZ

its harder to shift into 2nd than all other gear, there are vibrations but no rattling. overall i 'm happy with it

MatthewZ

My Z Shifts_the Future.

zwindsor

iTrader: (6)

I haven't noticed any difficulty or stiffness in shifting as some have. I'm only half way through break-in period so I don't know about the vibration yet.

Syentifiq

I've had my Z for a little over a week now and I've put 700 miles on it. At first shifting was a little tough with 1-2 being the least smooth but now its perfect and I can honestly say that with good concentration I've never had a more smooth or precise shifter. But thats with major concentration I guess it'll get a little more natural after the next 700.

jackccity

My AT is working great---full automatic is error free. While the tiptronic action is smooth, although a bit slow on the up-shift.
Just turned 1200 miles, so I'll be trying what happens at high rpm near red line.
Traffic is murder in Chicago, so AT is the only way to keep my left leg from cramping up---there are some us Z owners who are getting a little older ---- need geritol and ATs--- hey, that's life !

DIGItonium

iTrader: (1)

As a weekend driver car... it's going to take forever to break it in.

I've had this car for a week now, and it's at 70 miles.

Shifter is, of course, stiff so I can't shift as fast.

DIGItonium

iTrader: (1)

don't jinx me now dood.. i've been getting bad vibes the last few days.

it's deja vu... and it's pretty vivid.

suw

I'd say not much vibration (but have been below 4000 RPMs), but have had trouble at times downshifting from 5th to fourth--it just cant seem to find the slot.

pete_350z

only 350 miles but a bit tough to get into all gears - sounds encouraging that it will get better.
part of this is just adjusting 2 a new shifter I guess and hopefully it will be as nice as others say.

integraowner

Ok. My most recent frame of reference is my Integra GSR shifter, which is known to be a great shifter.

1) I don't know what trannies the rest of you have been driving,but compared to my GSR the Z is stiffer and slower shifting.

2) that being said, the Z has smoothed up a LOT since I got it (now have about 2200 miles). I suspect it will continue to improve as it wears in (and I expect my own skills to improve)

3) The shift from 1-2 remains the most notchy.

4) The vibration from the shift lever is no worse than my GSR. I think people that complained about this were coming from transmission designs that were less directly connected or something (i.e., cable or linkage shifters). Honestly I haven't driven at >5000 RPM that many times, but I don't notice undue vibration. When I am shifting at >5000 I'm not just hanging out there, so I probably wouldn't notice vibration much anyway

5) I find that I can shift my Z faster when it is under hard acceleration and high revs. This is opposite to what a couple replies have said, so I dunno. Maybe I'm rev matching better on the upshifts at high rpm than I am at low rpm.

brackethead

My previous car was a GSR, too. I agree -- The Z is not as quick and smooth. But it IS a great gearbox. The thing is, it's more heavy-duty than the Integra, to deal with the much greater torque and hp I assume. It feels very similar to a Boxster S, but smoother IMO. It takes a certain amount of effort to move the gearshift from neutral into gear. I like it, it's solid. Someone on this board said it's "bolt action" -- I would agree.

I chose hard to shift, no vibration. 4000 miles. I don't really think it THAT hard to shift, though. But I just wouldn't call it "easy".

Enforcer

Perfectly.


Enforcer