You made the right choice!!! I was you about 8 months ago. Never owned a manual, but I knew that I'd regret not getting this car in a manual. I stalled out coming out of the dealership and countless more times trying to make it up my steep driveway. After the first week, I rarely stalled out anymore. It took a good 2 months for it to become second nature .... keep in mind that I only drove her on weekends. If you drive it everyday, you should be good to go after several weeks. I love it now. Don't even think about shifting anymore. I've also noticed that I can tell if someone will be a good manual tranny driver. It's all about coordination, so (no offense to anyone) if I know that someone is not very athletic or good in sports, I pretty much know that they are not going to do very well in a manual. If you're athletic and have good coordination, then you should have no problems.

 

yup, i was in the same boat as well about 5 months ago. never touched a stick in my life till my G. some things that might help you out:
try to start without using the gas to get rolling and rather just taking your foot off the clutch really slowly. this will get you used to the engage point. id say the clutch adjustment would help as well...none of that using your entire leg crap which is so inprecise.

as for shifting, for my G, when you shift from 1st to 2nd, if you wait for your rpm to drop 1000 rpm and release the clutch that exactly 1000 rpm below where you shifted, there will be no jerk. for the rest of the gears, 3-6, a 500 rpm is perfect. weird how they set that up.

most importantly, dont panic and dont try to get all racer yet. you will probably accidentally downshift from a 3 to 2 or even worse a 5 to a 2. that would totally traumatize you and possibly screw up your car...i should know. had it happen. scariest thing ever.

G35S 6MT
Technosquare ECU
350Z Springs & Struts
6-wire ground kit

 

Eventually, you'll be able to rev match and shift without the clutch ;-) Don't tell anyone I told ya that though....lol

BASIC BLACK

 

That's cool when you get it right.. but ooo, the noise it makes when you screw it up... hehe.

2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter

 

I thought a racing clutch was hard to get used to or a truck or 73 super beetle. The G35coupes clutch is different then anything I've driven yet. So if you can get used to the G35coupes clutch I think you'll be able to handle anything. Once you get used to how the car shifts(engaging, disengaging, rpms, speed, all that stuff), it's smooth like butta and a very nice experience.

Theres a lot of posts on here and I didn't feel like reading every single one so I'm very sorry if it's repetative advice.

1) It's all in left foot controlling the clutch. No matter how much the clutch pushes, you need to control the position of the clutch.

2) Try driving bear footed. That bonding between you and your car really helps [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]. Seriously though, you'll be able to feel the response of the pedals better.

3) I know someones mentioned the "e-brake on a hill" strategy. Use it, the ebrake is a beginners friend.

ok bro good luck and enjoy your new G.

and don't let this happen to you
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showth...hreadid=108505

BS G35C 6spd navi/aero/prem

 

OHMYFREAKINWORD....what a tool.

BASIC BLACK

 

What a horror show, and very entertaining. Thanks for posting.
GSM

<font color=red>GSM</font color=red> <font color=black>Silverstone Coupe</font color=black>

 

This is a funny thread, I did the same thing with my current car... I went to the bank to sign the papers and take the car. I got into it and I was like crap, what do I do... My friends encouraged me to get the MT... so it took me like 5 times longer to get home, and I regretted it for the longest time. Now I would never ever go back to a auto...ever...

 

hey,
2 easy things.
1. if you jerk, you bog...youre letting out your clutch too fast.
2. if you rev youre letting out your clutch too slow.

haha, thats the basics! if you know the basics then its just you getting use to controlling your leg and hand. heh.

Dont worry, hang in there...your cousin was right. It might be bad now but when you get the hang of it you wont regret it.