'04 Sedan, 6MT

My mother <em>hates</em> that my car is a standard transmission. "Why would you get a luxury car without an automatic?" I was wondering what the best shift points on the car are for a more imperceptible shift, know what I mean? Shifting for smoothness here, not acceleration.

 

except for 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, all my shifts are smooth.

1-2 and 2-3 you need to let off the gas before you depressthe clutch or the sudden loss of torque will be felt as a jerk

Better Life thru Chemistry
Black on Black 03.5 Sedan 6MT - Goodyear F1 GS-D3's 225/55/17, Custom Intake Tube, HyperGround Kit, Magnaflow resonator.

 

For me, my casual / easy going shift points on my 6MT sedan is right around the 2000 - 2500 rpm range. That works out to be pretty smooth for me...

 

I'm a Realtor, and often have people in my car who have never ridden in it before, or have never ridden in a "G" at all. My greatest compliment is when they've been riding with me for awhile, and someone in the back seat suddenly notices that it's a stick, or someone points it out, and the backseat rider then "notices".

My formula, as long as you don't need lots of power, is to start off in 2nd (that darned 1st gear is so low it's really hard to make a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd without letting the RPM's die down for a second), then go to 4th, then to 5th or even 6th - the engine never really lugs, and I don't rev it beyond about 2500-3000 max between shifts. This way, the intake stays quiet, too, and it really rides/sounds like the luxury car it is.

If I'm on a hill, have a full load of passengers and/or lots of weight to get moving, or I'm in a little heavier traffic and don't want to lag leaving the line (and also want to insure I don't "stall out"), I leave the stop in 1st, then go to 3rd, 5th, and then 6th.

The gear ratios are so tight and the torque is so strong, that you'll feel it on each shift unless you skip a gear, then it's just like 90% of the sticks out there, with an RPM dropoff between gears that prevents that "jerk" from gear to gear.

Best part is when we've been driving around a few hours, and then I need to merge into traffic or accelerate for some reason - the eyebrows shoot up when the intake starts howling and the snap is felt between gears - they know this car has a very serious side then, too!

Practice a bit, then try the 2nd/4th/6th sequence around town - Mom will be much more impressed with the smoothness of the ride. BTW, I make each shift at about the 2,000-2,200 RPM mark - she drops to about 1500 RPM's after the shift - smoooooth !

Sport Sedan Fan - 2004 6MT Sedan
Sport/Navigation/Premium/Aero
Obsidian Black/Graphite & "Titanium"
SHE'S SILVER & BLACK - GO RAIDERS!

 

I agree that you can usually skip lots of gears. If I start in 1st, I skip to 3rd and then 5th or 6th. A 2nd gear start goes to 4th and 6th. Just learn to lessen the acceleration as you begin to change gears = less of a jerk.

 

i guess i'm an old fashioned purist..... but i use all the gears all the time... except on downshift. you just have to practice until you can do it as good as an auto matic. it took me about 3 months. the 1-2 shift is still tough unless you are driving like a granny or else hauling ***. the "normal" acceleration seems to be the toughest for me. so i usually gun it through the first 3 gears and then ease up. but i gotta tell ya, this car shifts smooth as silk if you punch it and shift at about 6k each time with quick firm shifts.

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04 6MT sedan, black/willow

 

If you guys are going to skip gears, I suggest you at least row through the gearbox, but only disengage the clutch at the gear you want to use. That also makes it smoother.

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http://www.anythingbox.net

 

Why row through the gearbox? Does it hurt the tranny to skip gears?

 

I would not think that skipping gears hurts the transmission at all, and dbarnes has some good suggestions for smooth shifting. However, that smoothness does come at the cost of increased clutch wear. Starting from a full stop in 2nd gear is especially hard on the clutch.

<font color=red>2004 G35 Sedan 6MT Desert Platinum/Willow</font color=red>

 

I agree that skipping gears help to smooth out the shifts. I personally don't skip, but here's a good one for you. The first tranny that was replaced started to grind in 5th gear, the dealer actually told me that the grinding started due to me skipping from 2nd into 5th, like a missed shift. I fought back and they took it off my record and replaced the tranny under the normal warranty. Just a note for those that are skipping gears. Some dealers will try anything to get out of a warranty repair.

Base 6MT Silver sedan
Stillen Exhaust
Stillen CAI
Eibach Pro Kit
Eibach Sway Bars
Kaaz LSD

 

No way in hell.

these trannies are grinding for all sorts of people, good drivers, bad, hard drivers, easy.

My tranny went once and is a little iffy again. I don't let the clutch slip except on dragstrip launches and on hill starts. my clutch is still good as new.

Better Life thru Chemistry
Black on Black 03.5 Sedan 6MT - Goodyear F1 GS-D3's 225/55/17, Custom Intake Tube, HyperGround Kit, Magnaflow resonator.

 

Thorwolf: Thanks for the comments. No doubt that starting in 2nd gear is harder on trhe clutch, but in my case, it's "the price I pay" for having the car I want (MT), coupled with the job I have (Realtor), which requires smoothness of ride.

I do generally just slip the clutch and idle away gently, releasing the clutch ASAP vs. riding it, and I do use 1st gear whenever I'm on a slight incline, have a heavy load, traffic is heavy and driving quick, etc. in order to minimize clutch wear and"shudder".

But again, heed the warning - it IS harder on the clutch, and thanks for pointing that out.

Sport Sedan Fan - 2004 6MT Sedan
Sport/Navigation/Premium/Aero
Obsidian Black/Graphite & "Titanium"
SHE'S SILVER & BLACK - GO RAIDERS!

 

Rowing through the gearbox, even though the clutch is pressed, puts less strain on the syncros.

---------------------------------
http://www.anythingbox.net

 

Once the transmission is moved into "neutral" or "out of gear" , how would it know the previous gear before moving it into the next gear? If I shift out of 2nd, into the neutral position then into 5th, how would it know the previous engaged gear was 2nd and not 3rd or 4th? Same logic applies if in 6th and down shifting into 4th or 3rd when turning a corner. You are skipping gears! I would laugh at the dealer if told "skipping gears" caused tranmission damage. And what about the cars (like vettes a few years back) that were "programed" to skip gears inorder to improve gas mileage? I do this with my 34 year old 4 speed car all the time, which still has the ORIGINAL tranmission. With 510 lbs of torque, I shift from 1st to 4th at 25 MPH with no harmful effects.

2003.5 G35 6MT Black/Graphite Prem/Aero/Winter
1987 GN Intercooled SFI Turbo (22K original miles)
1970 GS 455 Stage 1 4-Speed (#'s matching)

 

Like I said the dealer was full of crap. They had actually told me that the rep at the Infiniti Tech line told them this. Then later the tech at the dealer who did the tranny swap told me that the whole reason that the dealer (Mission Viejo Infiniti) didn't wnat to do the tranny replacement was due to the fact that I didn't do my regular scheduled maintance at the dealer. Can you believe that he would say that to me!?! Not just that, but that his Service manager told him that! Needless to say I don't get my car serviced there anymore. They must think we are all a bunch of morons. I would say that the normal G35 owner is a bit more intellegent when it comes to knowing their cars.

Base 6MT Silver sedan
Stillen Exhaust
Stillen CAI
Eibach Pro Kit
Eibach Sway Bars
Kaaz LSD