Hey guys, I had my G for about 2 weeks now, and this is my first manual transmission. Well, given the information that I'm probably not that good of a driver yet, I have tried to get on it a couple times (hey it was built for this right?). The problem I'm seeing is that when I rev up 1st gear to near redline (7K), I step on the clutch to shift into 2nd, but then I feel like a wall is blocking me from getting into 2nd. If I wait a little, it will let me put it into 2nd eventually (RPMs drop to about 5K). Anyone experienced this with their car? How would I bring this to the attention of the dealer without looking like I'm beating up on the car.

 

2nd gear is not spinning at the same rpm as your engine. The rpms are supposed to drop each time you go to the next gear. IF you are power shifting as in keeping it at 7k rpm then that is extremely harsh on the transmission.
Is this a brand new car? IF it is then I would not redline it a lot during break in. I'm not saying dont get spirited but I'd give it a few thousand miles before hitting the rev limiter. That's my opinion

 

If you are not that good of a driver, why on earth are you revving the engine to 7k in first gear? WTF. Take my advice, learn to drive the car first and then once you know how, then play around with the car.

 

It's a used 2008 14K miles. Power shifting as I understand it is shifting with your foot still on the gas. I wouldn't even consider doing that to my "new to me" baby. I take my foot off the gas but shifting quickly. I understand that the ratio from 1st to 2nd is a very big change, but I wouldn't expect it to lock me out of 2nd gear for a while. I don't want to force it in 2nd either, but is this normal behavior for the 6MT?

 

Don't get my wrong, I am not a great driver, but I'm not bad either. I just wan't to know why it's locking me out of 2nd and if anyone else knows or experienced this before.

 

I'm just repeating what you wrote. My advice is to learn how to drive a stick first and then learn how to power shift. Otherwise if you take it to a dealer they are going to look at you like you are beating up a car...

 

All I'm saying is that I understand my transmission, and know how to correctly operate it. When I say that I'm probably not that great of a driver, I don't have a lot of experience. That is why I'm asking if this is normal behavior, I don't see how me practicing more will explain this. I'm practicing to get my shifts smoother and to know what gear to choose in certain situations. It looks like you probably work at a dealership, and I'm not trying to break my car and get it fixed. I want to know if my transmission has a problem and if I need to take it in to get looked at.

I can understand the point where the input shaft is probably spinning too fast coming out of 1st to go into 2nd right away, and it makes sense to me. I just want to know how do you shift for 0-60 times and such, if that is just how it is.

 

Even when I get up on the car, I'm starting for second gear by or before 6k RPM. I don't know why you'd redline it. Judging by your post, the tranny doesnt want you to shift into second at 6k rpm (assuming it falls to there from 7k). When I get up on it and push in the clutch, it ends up falling to around 5k just like you said. I think the transmission is totally normal and you were just taking too high in first.

As someone that learned how to drive stick on the G, I'd recommend to take it easy on the car before you get up on it. It's not a very easy car to learn on and it has a bit of a learning curve due to the way the clutch works and the notchy-at-times transmission.

You need to get used to how the transmission works and feels, and to know the best times to shift for smooth driving. Once you're comfortable with that, you'll be less likely to f the car up when driving aggressively. I think I took it slow for about 3 months before I even tried any aggressive acceleration.

 

Thanks, I just wanted to know if my transmission was fine. I've only tried it 3 times, and I was worried my transmission could be the problem. I didn't know I'm not supposed to rev 1st that high.

I understand all the concerns from everyone but I love my car too much to rag on it all day, I never forced it into gear or anything like that. I just like winding out a gear every once in a while.

 

The Trans in this car isn't forgiving in the lower gears, it gives you more slack in 3rd and above, it's a smoother newer version of the trans from the 350z. You can take the car to redline and shift it quickly, you might have already been hitting the rev limited when you were trying to shift as well, it's a lot softer in this car then the jolting break your teeth style 350z limiter.

The 1 - 2 shift in this almost requires your foot to be pushing the clutch to the floor, in every other gear you can almost slip through gears but not the 1-2 when you are on it like you are drag racing the clutch pedal needs to be depressed hard and far while you are snapping the shifter from first to second, from then on you can be lazy for the most part.

 

Focus on shifting smooth. Speed will come with time and experience naturally.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am not hitting the rev limiter, I stop at or slightly below 7K. (Isn't rev limiter somewhere near 8K? redline is 7.6K and I have never hit it yet) Foot off the gas, and clutch pedal is down to the floor (half of it is dead travel anyway). I refuse to mash it into 2nd, no way I'm risking grinding my gears lol. I never keep my foot on the gas while the clutch pedal is in, unless I'm blipping to rev match a downshift.

 

The manual transmissions have no safety lockout depending on RPM like the automatics do, there is no wall to hit, you are only hitting mechanical resistance, which shouldn't be that hard if the pedal is all the way to the floor.

I've taken the car drag racing a few times, though nowhere close to as many times as my 350. The transmissions work about the same, it's just slightly smoother on the G. Redline shifting puts you higher in the peak powerband of the next gear which is why shifting at or near redline extracts the most "go" per gear, not necessarily what you are doing or what you are planning on doing but usually "best" for drag racing with a stock car.

My 1-2 shift goes like this; pedal to the floor, as you hit roughly 7.2k to 7.3k kick the clutch pedal down hard to the floor at the same time pulling the gear shifter from first to second (usually my foot is hitting the bottom of the clutch pedal travel in mid throw of the shifter), when the clutch is already pushed in inertia should make the gear change fairly smooth and fast as you should not be fighting syncros. Gas modulating right down as the foot comes up from the clutch, slight chirp and rip through the next gear.

My guess is the only reason you should be running into mechanical resistance from 1 to 2 is if the clutch is already completely down, is A. Someone adjusted your clutch pedal incorrectly leaving it somewhat engaged at all times and it messed up your syncros. B. Whoever drove your car for 14k miles seriously did not know how to drive manual and forced the 1-2 shift over and over and jacked up your syncros. C. The foot isn't down long enough in the quick mid shift and the clutch is trying to re-engage. If you are hearing a "whirring" noise when you are hitting the aforementioned wall, your syncros are screaming.

As well, your rev limiter is right at 7.5k RPM, the G's Rev limiter is soft, and if you run it all the way up to the rev limiter it will look like it bounces past that 7.5k redline but it isn't, it is extremely soft in the G so that you barely feel it, in the 350z it felt like the damn thing pulled spark or cut fuel at 6.8k RPM and the car would shake and judder as if you engaged the clutch too soon.

 

For what it's worth I hit a similar "wall" if I'm downshifting from 2nd to first and I haven't slowed down enough. This was back when I wasn't too familar with how the gears behaved.

ricbel, have you tried getting up on it and attempting to shift gears a tad before, like at 6k rpm?

 

Yeah if that's the same wall that ricbel is feeling that is syncros, rule of thumb is to never drop from 2nd to 1st unless your speed is less than 10 mph. Best rule of them is to not shift down into 1st at all as it is usually just a gear to get the car moving from a stop.

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Bad example as I was trying to steer and hold the camera at the same time and had it too close in front of the gauge cluster to see my rpm's clearly so I slightly hit rev limiter at 7.5k, looks as though the engine quickly drops to 5.5k rpm under hard acceleration. You can here the quick click from me shifting, notice there's no hesitation or even a sound of resistance. If you are shifting correctly foot is all the way to the floor and all that jazz already covered, your syncros may be junk, though I would assume you would notice it even earlier in the RPM band as well.