I am going to test drive my second G35 sedan tomorrow. The first one was an 06 and I had trouble shifting smoothly by any measure. Did anyone else have this problem? Maybe it was just the car?

BTW, I don't have any trouble with shifting my current 5MT... so I'm pretty sure it's not just my crappy driving technique.

Nice to be on the site.

Florida

P.S. I read the sedan FAQ and didn't see anything about this there

 

Voted for Florida cannot drive. Not so much you, about 80% of the state can't.

 

It's just the way it is. Our clutch is notchy.

 

I disagree with that comment.
My car shifts effortlessly and is extremely smooth.
Make sure you have the clutch completely disengaged and there should be no notchyness.
If a car shifts rough, it may be because it was driven rough

 

Turn the the HVAC off and try again.

 

I've driven several MT cars, s2k, integra, sti, and the IS250...

The G35 has one of the worst engagement points and notchy shifts of all the cars I've driven.

 

I'd say the shifter is average (meaning lots of room for improvement), but the clutch engagement is horrible even when brand new. Besides being vague, there is also a lot of travel between the engagement point and the floorboard. I think owners get used to not pushing the pedal all the way down when shifting gears, or some owners adjust the engagement point.

Good idea to test another 6mt. That will be the best way to tell if the first one you tested had an extra bad clutch.

 

I just got a 6MT G35 this past weekend. I had been told this was a pretty difficult car to learn on and this is my first manual. It's been a pretty interesting learning experience, I was driving on the streets by the second day, but I still lurch starting from a stop and am pretty confounded about where the engagement point is. It's getting there though, I'll be fine in another couple days.

 

almost everyone i let drive my MT stalls or almost stalls.

it takes practice.

 

Oh noes!!! You stole my nickname!!!!

 

I'd have to agree. I've driven manual transmission cars for over 20 years and the G/Z 6MT is one of the notchiest I've driven and I've driven many sporty cars. The clutch take up is woefully inconsistent and quick too which apparently is a Nissan trait because my old 5MT Maxima was the same exact way. I like rifle-bolt shifters like anyone else, but the 6MT in the G is so notchy that it fights you on quick shifts. That's exactly what you don't want when trying to race through the gears, either upshifting or downshifting. You shouldn't have to think about it. If I were to ever get a 6MT G or Z, I'd actually modify the shifter to make the lever about 1.5" taller. The problem with the 6MT is it's short shift lever. It's too short and greatly reduces leverage.

 

While I am personally too much of a wuss to learn a manual on a G35, I think that if you did learn manual on a G35, you would develop good manual habits since it has less margin for error. I test drove a few manual G35's and decided to pass since I didn't feel right with the manual and the automatic was basically better for what I was looking for in a vehicle.

So I voted rough, but I didn't grind or stall.

 

Agree with many of you that the Nissan's manual is not the best. I've driven manuals for 17 years which include an old Ferrari Mondial (not my car), Z, S2K, M3, etc. I also stalled when I first test drive the G. Once the drivetrain warms up, the shift/clutch is smoother.
Btw, IMO, Honda makes the best sticks.

 

I only have trouble from 1st to 2nd... some shifts are better than others. The less I actually concentrate on trying to make a perfect shift the better I do. It's pretty much a given that if I DO happen to make a perfect shift from 1st to 2nd, my next shift from 1st to 2nd will be messed up because I'll be trying to replicate the exact movements/throttle/rpms/engine noise... etc...

 

05-06 manual transmission should have improvements towards 03-04, at least that's how I feel after test driving a couple of stock 06. Still could be better, though, but give it some time you should be able to get used to it.