Oh dude, don't do that, that's a lot harder on your clutch than shifting more often. The 2nd gear start has to do a lot of slippage to not stall the engine, and slippage is what wears clutches. Perfect rev-matched shifts barely wear it at all.

 

how about resting your foot on the sidewall? that why theres a rubber protector thingy in there. coz w/o any support you will jerk the car

 

Can you communicate this a little better? It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

don't start in 2nd, 1st is made for a reason... smoothness come with technique, technique comes with time.. keep practicing!

 

Get his done & smoooooooth shifting will ensue

 

you should really change gears sequentially too, don't skip shift (2nd to 4th w/o going through 3rd).

 

I think that's for 2nd Gen G's...He has an '07 Coupe meaning its a 1st Gen.

 

Whats so hard about starting with first gear?

OP you have to know how to love your clutch

 

I didn't think skipping gears was a problem when I first bought my car until I did some more research. DO NOT SKIP GEARS in the G35's close ratio transmission, it says it in the manual. I still do sometimes, but I pass it through the gear(s) that I am skipping.

I do find myself using 2nd a little more at near stops or split second stops than I should - at the expense of my clutch. I do this because I feel like getting into 1st when coming to a stop works the synchros too hard, maybe its just my car, but it is not smooth unless you are dead stopped.

I agree with the herky jerky nature of the G, and yes, I probably do need more practice. For the most part I can keep it smooth, but every once in a while I get that abrupt jerk. I used to always see passenger heads bobbing on 1-2 shifts. It has gotten smoother but still happens to a degree. I think its just the reality of having a manual with this gearing.

 

I'm not sure what is meant by 2nd gen. They changed the clutch with the revup in 2005. So I have that setup. I'm sure they changed it again with the redesign so technically that would be 3rd gen.

Thanks everyone for the input. I can drive the car smooth but it takes waaaay more patience than it should. I have a 96 240sx with 230,000 miles on the original clutch (and everything else for that matter) and it's as smooth as any manual trans car I've ever driven. It really makes a big difference in driving pleasure. So it's not that I don't know how to drive smooth it's just that it takes more effort than it should, in a 35g + sports coupe. It actually feels like my clutch takes up at different points sometimes. Sometimes very jerky lower in the travel, then other times it will slip really bad on a 1-2 shift at a high take up point. It feels inconsistent and not linear at all! Do I have a defective clutch or are they all like this? From the reviews I've read it seems like a common problem that only an aftermarket clutch would fix.

 

Wow, thanks for this! Was not aware of it and sounds like a great DIY to improve clutch operation.

James

 

lol at you MT drivers!!!! auto all the way baby

 

Can you explain the reason for why it is bad to skip gears (besides the owner manual saying that)? I have heard this before but never got a really good explanation. I have a fairly good understanding of how MT works, it's a purely mechanical system - in which case, skipping gears would not do any damage (as long as you're rev-matching properly). Anyone got the in-depth mechanical answer for this? (Or a good thread to read?) Thanks.

 

I agree, never heard any specific "rule" that you can't do that. As long as you're not overly slipping the clutch or not matching revs very well what's the problem, especially in slow city traffic? In fact if you read a C/D review I remember them saying they were skipping gears in either a Z or G all the time because of the available torque.