Hello all,

I have a 2013 Sport Coupe and I wanted to get a consensus on the shift feel on the 1-2 shift. It is very inconsistent to me. The only way it feels right is if I shift to second and keep the clutch depressed for about a second or more before letting it out. If I let it out immediately after shifting into second, which is how I shift in every other gear, it will feel as if there is a lag in response a lot of times. Almost as if the clutch is worn or has no bite. Strangely, it really doesn't do that in any other gear. It almost has a different feel in 1-2 as well as going into 5th. Going into 5th it's almost like the engagement point varies in a random order. I have seen people doing clutch mods with the spring and also the RJM clutch pedal. Is that what I should look into or does this sound like something I should take to the dealer? Car only has 8k on the clock. I am stock btw.

 

Try bleeding clutch fluid

 

Thanks. Are you saying go ahead and have it replaced? Any recommendations on the fluid itself? I saw where someone was saying Motul was really good.

 

Unless you are fully flushing it, you'll want to use the same DOT fluid of what's in there now, never mix them. If you fully flush it, you can use any type of brake/clutch fluid you want. If your car has a stock clutch and not pushing a ton of power, any typical Dot 4-5 will be fine. Motul is awesome, just overkill on the price since you don't need it.

 

Welcome to the board. You should have posted your question in the Engine, Drivetrain & Forced-Induction forum.

 

Keep in mind 1-2 shift has a very large ratio difference. Unless timed perfectly, there will be some rpm mismatch. Air in the line may be causing the engagement point to be inconsistent. If you're able to reproduce this easily, let the dealer figure it out. Otherwise I'd start with a thorough bleeding of the line. It won't take much fluid. A small 12 oz container of brake fluid should be plenty.

As for improved clutch feel, some find the weaker spring is sufficient to improve shifting. For others, the fully adjustable rjm pedal assembly is the solution.

 

One other thing to consider is you may not be used to the car yet. It took me a little bit to smoothly shift in this car too. My last car, I knew how to shift it no problem...but I was used to that car. Once I got this one I thought, it should be better....its a newer car. It was a nightmare at first. But now I know the stall points, the engine sound when I know it will shift perfectly and so on. I'd say give it a few months before spending any extra money you may not need to spend fixing things that aren't out of sorts.

 

yup i hold it for a sec too keeps the shift smooth like you it only really needs to be from 1-2 gear. no worries its normal imo my g35 was the same way. if you really wanna be a smooth driver just do it for all the gears

 

Yup I hold for a second when going from first to second gear. 2-6 is fine and I can just let off quickly and it matches up fine. Like Jsolo said it's due to the gear ratio differences.

 

try blipping the gas to rev match when shifting. I swapped out to the jsolo clutch spring within a week of buying the car so i dont remember what it had been like stock, but i find getting some revs on the engine when going from 1st to 2nd makes for a much much smoother shift. If im lazy and dont rev match i get jerkiness as the engine and tranny match up speeds.

 

Don't throttle blip when upshifting unless you hold the clutch in for so long that the revs drop below that which the next higher gear would be running upon clutch engagement.

 

best way to shift smoothly is to let the RPM drop to the right point according to your speed. RJM pedal will help a lot but you can also get use to the stock. I only press the clutch halfway(besides 1st) and it works better. I've only used GTR brake fluid on mine and it seemed to help.

 

heres another tip. to avoid the gear crunch when shifting esp in the low gears and esp i the morning or when first starting up is to shift the lever slower than normal.

 

Engine rpm drops so fast that unless your redlining on everyshift most likely the engine has slowed below the rpms of the tranmission even for a higher gear change. Well unless you like 1k rpm upshifts. Sweet spot for me is around 3k so if im not there on upshift i put it there. As far as this concerns the OP i dont think rev matching is his actual issue as much as shifting so fast that the clutch is already re-engaging as hes still mid shift.

A little bit of extra engine rpm momentum can help smooth out the shift as long as he isnt just dumping the clutch.

 

He could always do the 'ol double clutchin thing, that would slow his shifts down by forcing him to take extra time to press the clutch pedal twice.