So its been a few months since owning this vehicle. In the beginning the clutch was hard to get used to. I have driven a clutch before so that wasn't the issue. The issues for this car were mostly the high grab when releasing the pedal, the pissy attitude of the shifter when its a little cold, and the smooth transition in the bottom 3 gears. I was completely sold on the fact that I needed a new clutch. Turns out the problem was me all along. It was literally just a few days ago when it all finally clicked and now shifting is super smooth to the point where I use minimal effort to shift. Some tips to make things better are:

1) Letting this whip warm up before rolling on a cool morning

2) Not to be so heavy on the gas when initially releasing the clutch pedal. Push the accelerator pedal through as the clutch pedal is almost released. (I was gassing through to soon)

3)Putting a shorter shift **** on the car. I bought a killer aluminum **** on Ebay for 20 bucks...The quality is superb and was a perfect fitment. It also dropped the height of my shifter my a few inches. The link is below. Comes in different colors too...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NISSAN-INFIN...sories&vxp=mtr

4) Just listen to the darn motor. It talks to you basically saying "Hey ***** shift me now!!! or else I'll make you pay for it!"

Like I mentioned it finally clicked and now driving this car is really fun. I honestly hated it at first because of the clunkiness of this clutch but once you adapt to it versus making the car adapt to you its really a nice car to drive.

 

Here is a picture of my shift ****. I was in the market for ***** but ran accross too many that were just overpriced. Sure Nismo is a nice brand and some others that are out there but $100 minimum on those things was way too much for my budget. This **** is weighted, looks cool and definetely helped my shifting. Not to mention $20 bucks for a machined part? Can't beat it. It also comes with an adapter to hand twist onto your lever. This isn't a bolt on piece of crap. This is a screw on unit. Jsut remember to put blue lock tight just to snug it up (NOT RED!!!!)

I also sewed the boot so that it sits lower and to give it that custom Euro look. I think its cool....

PS: Not to look or sound like a complete tool but the glimmer on the **** was from the flash...not me adding it using Photoshop...LOL

 

You have taken words out of my mouth with your descriptions. I owned an MT BMW for the past 9 years and bought a 6MT G coupe a couple of weeks ago and man, what a difference in manual shifting! You can actually feel the weight of the car while shifting uphill. a 6MT is definitely a driver's car

thanks for the tips

 

Funny thread Jiggy, sounds like you're having fun and finally enjoying your 6 MT....Congratulations!
Gary

 

So initially what was happening when you were revving/gas to high/much for the gear?

 

In driving these cars, what will help especially as it gets colder here in Jersey is to gently drive 1st gear for 7-10 seconds if possible before making that first upshift in the morning. In driving smoothly, what will help is shifting up at the precise moment when the drivetrain is unloaded. That means the motor and trans are neither pulling (make the acceleration minimal for that moment) or engine braking (don't wait too long off throttle to shift). Another thing that helps during cold winter months is to replace your transmission fluid with the oem Nissan 75w-85 or Redline MT85 whichever is cheaper or available. Good luck and happy motoring.

 

Basically I felt I was burning my clutch up even though there was no smell to detect it. I found by gassing through as the clutch is almost fully released versus while fully depressed gave the car a whole new life. Almost as smooth as an automatic.

So in a nutshell I used to do this:

1)Clutch pedal press
2)Shift gear
3) Immediate gas pedal press and slow clutch release
4)Then more gas as the clutch pedal is released and push through (Felt like I was drowning the car)

Now I do this in about a second:

1) Clutch pedal press
2) Shift gear
3) Quicker clutch pedal release but delay the timing to hit the gas pedal so it grabs without jerking the car or causing the RPMs to drop.
4) Then gas through harder to avoid burning through the clutch

Bottom line is I let the clutch do its work without me forcing the car through shifts with the gas pedal. I also found out that by doing this I am quicker off the line from a dead stop and I am also quicker gettin up to higher speeds. For me it made the car much quicker. But then again this could have been the norm for the users on this forum.

 

Good for you...just wondering did you do any of the clutch pedal mods ie stoppers and spring removal?

 

No mods on the clutch. Stock as stock can be.

 

haha nice glad you got it now. I still sometimes find myself turning down the stereo volume when I'm at a hill or even an incline. I just need to listen to my baby to get out of first smoothly.
Nice find on your shirt ****. I have the R&D one and love it!

 

I've had my G coupe for a year now. Still not used to the clutch. Still not smooth around town unless I'm thinking about it. And I've been driving MTs for over 30 years now from econoboxes to boom trucks to jeeps. I've done a lot of thinking about this clutch and why it is so futzy. Here is what I think:

1) It obviously has a high release point but it also has a long throw. This seems to be for performance purposes. Not sure why. I can understand that a high release point helps with quick shifts, but the long throw is of no benefit whatsoever. The combination is troublesome.

2) The clutch pedal is heavy.

3) The clutch pedal does not give good feedback. It is very hard, if not impossible, to tell when the clutch is making contact with the flywheel. In most vehicles you can feel contact before you see or hear a change in rpm or feel it in your seat.

4) The flywheel is light. Not race car light but lighter than all trucks and most passenger cars. This means that when you push the clutch in, the RPMs drop faster than most of us are used to. This creates a gap between the rpms of the wheels and the engine very quickly and causes rough shifts.

This is what I have discovered: Most of this goes away when you are driving the car hard. It likes higher rpms and shifing is easier at higher rpms. Driving around town in traffic I have to think about smooth shifts and starting smoothly on hills. On the race track none of this is an issue.

So a lot of the idiosyncracies of this clutch are due to being designed for performance. However, it still isn't a good clutch. It needs a shorter throw (you can mess with this some, there is a DIY) and it needs better pedal feedback.

I am still clumsy starting off on hills. In all my other cars I never had to think about it, even on steep hills with someone on my bumper. I don't think I'll ever get used to this one to that extent. I have found that shifting well above 3000 rpms smooths things out in 2-4. Even giving the gas a little goose right before pushing in the clutch helps a little.

Anyway. Don't feel bad. It isn't just you. This IS a wonky clutch.

 

I definitely have to agree with you guys. Ive had my car for a year and still make myself look stupid sometimes when I have someone else in the car. I do find that giving it a little gas right when you are about to release the clutch does help though. So for those of you new to the G, try that it might help smooth things out a bit.

 

Exactly what I think after 4 months of ownership, now at least I found that I am not the only noob in MT or my clutch isn't fxxked up

 

You hear about clutch problems with this car. Mine had the clutch replaced at around 35K miles (I bought the car with 75k miles on it). I don't think there is a mechanical issue with the clutch I just think it is so hard to use people are burning the clutches up especially if they are dragging it (too much throttle while letting the clutch out).

Anyway, now that I've been bitten by the track bug I'm not nearly as down on the clutch as I used to be. I was not and never will be a wizard on the track but the clutch was never a problem I had to think about. Of course most shifts where from between 3rd and 4th. Occasionally down to 2nd. Never in 5th.

 

I have also noticed with this car that the clutch set up and the way you have to shift is different from any other MT I have drove. I have had mine now for almost two weeks. I luckily got the hang of it pretty quick though. Im not saying its perfect all the time as I still do shift funky from time to time. You just have to be easy on the gas and not want to gas it right away. The engagement point on mine is like 2 maybe 3 inchs before the clutch pedal is completely disengaged. All my other cars I have owned, as soon as you started to let out the clutch it was grabbing. Definitely takes some getting used too. I agree that at high rpm's its much easier. You can tell that the G was made for speed stock and that is one of many reasons I love this car.