I own a 05 G35 Coupe (well I owned a G until I got into nasty accident about 1.5 weeks ago, but a new 06 G is on its way ) and I am highly disappointed with the tranny. Since my wreck I have been driving my roommates Mazda RX-8, and I envy its tranny. While obviously our cars have more power and could kill an Rx-8 any day, I find the RX-8 tranny to be extremely smooth and very easy to shift. It has a very short shift and the gears are very close, which is good when you have gotten use to the car, but horrible at first, because you find it hard to differentiate between the gears. I do not know why Infiniti did not take the time to refine its tranny. On the G 1st - 2nd gear is extremely sucky, the gears are notchy, transition between gears are okay above 2nd gear, but nithing compared to the RX-8 tranny. Sooo I just wanted to share my disappointment with the G's tranny. The car would be perfect if it was not for this. I wonder if anyone else out there agrees with me.

 

Try the Miata and Honda S2000 trannies as well, both are much smoother and easier to drive than the G35C. So I guess the lesson is that the more TORQUE you get, the less smooth the tranny becomes.

 

What does torque have to do with a smooth shifting tranny? I think a more appropriate correlation to draw is that Honda and Mazda are great at designing great transmissions.

 

yea i agree...the G's tranny isn't all that great. it doesn't always go into gear smoothly when i shift quickly...and as a result you get that grinding sound. grrr!!

 

I've recently test-driven the S2000 and the Porsche Cayman S (yesterday), and both transmissions felt awesome and there's no way the G35's tranny even comes close. My BMW's tranny feels better than the G35's too.

In fact, I've probably test-driven 30~40 sports/sporty cars in the past 2 years (I actually keep a record of the cars I've test-driven, just don't have it in front of me now), the G35 probably has the worst shifting feel. :-(

 

i on the other hand love the way the G shifts... the only thing that i dont like is the stiff clutch!

 

What other trannies have you driven? I do not know how you can like the Gs tranny over others more refined transmissions. Don't get me wrong. I love my G but its tranny could use some work. I mean it does what a tranny is suppose to do, but just doesn't do it with class.

Also many people have been having mech issues with their trannies, such as rattling, clicking, and grinding noise coming from the tranny. I just hope that Infiniti learns how to build a better transmission for the new 08' G.

Also I am not sure about the idea of more torque equals a suckier tranny shift. Hmm I'll have to look into that one, but I doubt that is the case. My friend has an M3, I might need to test drive his to see how it feels.

 

My RSX type S tranny is butter smooooth.......But I've got NO torque That's why I have an 06 G35 coupe on order Should have it in 2 more weeks!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let's compare apples with apples. How many manual transmision-equipped cars of equal or greater power have you driven? It is a general rule that the more powerful the engine, the stouter (and consequently, the less buttery-feeling) the transmission is. Yes, Honda's have fabulously smooth-shifting transmissions, but they aren't exactly known for their monster motors, are they? I also was a little disappointed with my G's tranny when it was brand new, but now that the G and I have a few miles under our belt (approaching 15k) it has gotten noticeably smoother. It's certainly not Honda-esqe, but it could also be a lot worse -- I've driven plenty of other cars that were.

 

I've recently test-driven the S2000 and the Porsche Cayman S (yesterday), and both transmissions felt awesome and there's no way the G35's tranny even comes close. My BMW's tranny feels better than the G35's too.

The S2000 and Mazda Miata have the best shifting trannies without question. I'm surprised that the Gayman shifter impressed you. It's OK but nothing special. The G's shifter is in the middle of the pack. I prefer it over BMW and it's on a par with Porsche, but it's certainly inferior to the S2000 and Miata.

 

Go drive an E39 M5, then come back and edit this post accordingly.

Guess what happens when you depress the clutch? Engine power no longer connected to tranny. Yeah, your engines torque has NOTHING to do with your changing gears.

You may argue that you need a beefier tranny to handle the more powerful engine, but it's less about beef and more about lack of refinement. You could have both - strong tranny capable of handling power and smooth shifts. Some just choose to forego that route for whatever reason (e.g. save money, deal with tranny maker, etc.)

 

I agree with the notion that our G's do not have the smoothest MTs on the market. While it has nothing to do with torque or power specifically, there is a relationship, albeit not the only consideration in our case, to power delivery. An engine with lots of over-rev will come out of gear near redline much easier than an engine that falls flat on its face approaching redline. This is especially apparent if one botches a 1-2 shift in the G.

I'm also of the belief that the tranny is over-built (tranny I said, not clutch ). Are there any hi-mileage folks out there that haven't absolutely abused their cars, that can report the feel of the box after say 100K miles? I don't have the answer on this one, but I do wonder if it will be better than that found on some of the other cars. I did drive an '01 S2K with 100K miles (well, actually 160K kms ), and it was a sloppy mess. Vague can't aptly describe how gummy and arbitrary it felt. Could be a one-off, but having owned several Hondas, as has a friend of mine, we're both of the belief that they feel great from the dealership but do not stand the test of time as well as some other transmissions. Thoughts?

 

+1... the m5 tranny is one of the smoothest i have ever driven. very surprising with that much power. then again many 911's also have very slick tranny's. my co-worker has an 04 carrera 4s and the shifts feel very good. then again... i guess u get what u pay for.

 

i think the rx8 and the s2k gears are so close because you have to keep the revs so damn high to get any performance out of the engine. so you will bounce between 5th and 6th a lot.

 

i had an '03 acura cl-s with the 6 spd and had just over 90k km's on it before it got stolen. during that time the transmission was just as smooth as the day i bought it. that car had the best tranny/clutch in any car i have ever driven. considering the amount of random complaints found on this forum from people loosing their synchro's early on with the 03-04's i don't think our tranny's are built as 'bullet-proof' as u make them sound.