How does the 02/03 6 sp tranny compare to other manual transmissions that you've guys tried? I'm talking more specifically about the sensitivity of the clutch, and relative ease of being able to take off and shift smoothly.

I've put on 1600 miles on my 03 (about 3.5 months of ownership, haven't been driving it that much cause of the weather, so use a beater car), but still can't get a smooth takeoff 100% of the time. Takeoff here meaning a regular start during the commute to work, i.e. not trying to race anyone. Granted my "beater" car is an automatic, and this is my first manual, but still, I drive my friends 02 Mitsu Lancer OZ 5sp once in a while, and it's SO much easier to take off smoothly in that car compared to the Max.

Seems like our clutch is much more sensitive to movement of the clutch pedal than other cars, and the long pedal travel coupled with a pretty long IMO engagement period (i.e. time between just hitting friction and fully engaged is rather long) leads to a somewhat more difficult time to taking off smoother.

Anyone want to chime in on this?

I noticed the same thing when I went from my '01 5 sp. to my '03 6 sp.

I now have roughly 7000 mi. on it, in the whole tranny is a lot smoother...that or I just got used to it...tough to say. Probably a mixture of both. I'd say give it a few more thousand miles and see how you feel.

I agree with you completely. The 02+ 6 spd does seem to be a difficult beast to master. The long travel certainly doesn't help. This is my first manual a well so I always thought it was me, but I drove one of friend's Miata and that clutch was a hell of a lot smoother and easier to use. You'll get used to it, but I've had mine for about a year and it still feels awkward at times.

I took me a month to get smooth with mine. I figured it was me being out of practice. Then I drove my wifes 944 which up till now was the hardest stick I'd ever used. Well it ain't me that's the problem. But I'm much better now. I call the Max's point of engagement the dead zone. The clutch just feels numb ay the point of engagement.

Take a road trip down to Hotlanta and I'll give you a 101 & 102.

I might need that kind of help.

NP. All training done in you car though

Well, in all honestly, I feel like I am driving a Nissan Truck, and not a car, in relation to shifting it.
[quote][b] I'm talking more specifically about the sensitivity of the clutch, and relative ease of being able to take off and shift smoothly.[quote][b]This car is pretty forgiving in that regard. Although the shifting is notchy, its a fairly easy clutch to use.I am at about 6k miles on my 3 month old Max now, but I never really had a problem with the takeoff, (save when I first picked it up at the dealer). I still have a 00' Mitsu' Eclipse GT, and I can tell you, that is a wonderful OEM clutch, the throws are very short, OEM. The pedal engagement is short and precise. In comparision, well, like I said, I feel like I am driving a Nissan truck If there is a way to reduce the travel of the pedal, ie making the friction point physically closer to the firewall, I would prefer it, couple that with the long throws of the shifter, and I swear sometimes it takes the fun out of this car, but still, all in all, I s'pose its not too bad.

Just when I thought I had the clutch on this car figured out, I had Nissan do the clutch TSB and replace the clutch disc. Now I have to get used to the car all over again.

Ok, good, so it doesn't seem that it's only me that finds it somewhat awkward. I'm sure with more time I'll be silky smooth with it, and considering this is my first manual, I think I have it down pretty good now.

Regarding Mitsu clutches, this was my first Mitsu that I tried, but it's exactly like you said--very linear clutch engagement, nice and smooth, shorter pedal travel compared to the Max, and a much smoother shifter. I love my Max very much, don't get me wrong, but it's just interesting to compare different cars and see how varying manufacturers create their clutches/shifters.

I'll tell you guys one thing though. With our drive-by-wire system, the RPMs don't fall right away as you depress the clutch, so I've just adjusted my shifting with a mental "timer", and able to shift smoothly 85% of the time. However, on the Lancer, there's no drive-by-wire, so when you stomp the clutch, the RPMs drop immediately. Perhaps it also has a lighter flywheel, but not sure. The point here is that I was shifting the Lancer the same was as the Max, and as a result, ended up having the RPMs drop below (this is on upshifts) where they're supposed to be, and would get jerks because of that. On the Lancer, you have to shift very quick compared to the Max, unless you want to add a little bit of gas during the shifts to keep them from falling (which I prefer to NOT do).

Anyhow, keep posting experiences--interested in hearing others' opinions.

The 95+ clutches are notorious for poor modulation and tricky engagement. My 96 has a very quick take-up. It sucks for around the town driving, but is great at the track. Another problem I get is clutch chatter every once in a while.

The drive-by-wire "throttle hang" is intentional. It's an emissions thing and is one of the main reasons for drive-by-wire. Letting the throttle stay open for a short amount of time after the throttle is released somehow reduces emissions better than just having the throttle slam shut.


Dave

yeah the long clutch engagement range definitely makes driving smoothly a challenge. I've been driving stick for more than 12 yrs and I still have problems driving my SE 6 spd smoothly. some people actually prefer the long engagement range.
if you have the dough you can switch to a racing clutch that has like 0.25" engagement range. it takes some practice to get used to those but once you do you'll never go back to the stock clutch.

The 02 6 speed is the best of my Nissan experience. I just gave my 97 Maxima to my son and he still has trouble from a stop. My 99 Pathfinder is like the 97 Maxima but the linkage is better. My 00 Vette has a 02 ZO6 clutch which is great but the linkage is very high effort due to the fact that the linkage is to the rear end where the trans is. The best in all respects was the 300ZXTT which had it all because the shifter was mounted in/on the trans with no cables or rods.
The 02 Max is pretty good for a cable shifter but will never be great .

On my 2K3 I am still not 100% smooth and I switched to stick over 15 years ago. In the Nissan family I've had a '98 SE which had a super smooth clutch and a '91 300ZXTT which had a super quick engaging clutch (like sports cars are supposed to have) - - but the 2K3 is really not that bad. I actually have more trouble remembering to shift it into 6th gear (brain is still programmed for 5).

I dont know if the "throttle hang" on the drive by wire (DBW) is for emissions but it defintely helps when it comes to engaging the next gear by keeping the revs up. So with all the bad press on the DBW at least that is one nice feature of it.

So, how about this--is anyone able to drive it smoothly ALL the time? If so, was there something you had to adjust in your technique, or was it simply a matter of time.

I've been driving the Max solely for the last few days, and even from that little span of time, I'm getting smooth at 90% of the time. Ever since I bought it (4 months ago), I've been mostly driving the beater because of the bad weather, and some other circumstances, so I never had the time to get used to it.

The drive-by-wire system may be causing the rough starts. I am finding that it is hard to accurately vary the amount of gas and clutch because you are used to two cables moving at the same time, but the gas pedal has a delay now. I am finally gettitng the hang of this after 4 months.

-Justin

Yeh, I noticed the same thing about the amount of gas. Seems like feeding a consistent amount of throttle takes a little getting used to. I swear, sometimes I depress the gas pedal the same amount, yet a different amount of throttle is added by the car. Anyways, keep the responses coming--I like to hear your opinions guys.

I learned to drive a manual transmission right after I got my driver license so it's been roughly 12 years. I must say that my '02 6-spd has the easiest clutch to modulate smoothly because of the long, long friction zone. I find it hardest to take off hard from a dead stop.

Here's a short list of MT's I can remember driving off the top of my head for any appreciable length of time.

'02 Maxima SE 6-spd
'94 Civic DX
'91 Civic Hatchback
'96 Civic Hatchback
'84 Tercel 4-door hatchback
'80 Sentra (Datsun?)
'92 Sentra SE-R (this one was tough)
'91 Civic CRX Si
'91 Toyota Pickup
'91 Miata
'02 Miata LS 6-spd
'97 Maxima SE

I know it's quite an eclectic list. The '02 Miata (coincidentally it's my brother's) is the most fun. The throws are super short, kind of like flicking your wrist and the clutch engages quickly, but I find my Max to be easier to start smoothly from a stand still. I just worry about the clutch life since the friction zone is so long, I feel like I'm dragging the clutch a lot longer than I should be.

Right. When I said it's harder to get going smoothly from a standstill as compared to the Mitsu I tried, I meant harder to get going while minimizing the clutch wear. I can definitely rev it up more and then just pull the clutch out, and it would be smooth, but trying to do it smoothly, quickly, and minimizing clutch wear is what I'm trying to perfect.

But damn, that's a lot of cars you've driven.

I have seen this 6spd stuff over and over and I really don't know where you guys are coming from. I've driven a long list of cars and trucks also, every car has a different feel and needs a slight change of your motions. With this car yes 1st can be a little stiff and the gate is tight but with Redline MT-90 in there it gets much smother. And yes the pedal has a long throw but the contact area of the clutch is not that large it's just at the end of the (last .75-1" or so) travel (which BTW is the same as earlier 5th and 4th gens) I have no problem shifting through all gears 1-6 by 45-50mph with no jerking or drive in 2nd in heavy traffic with out riding a bull. To me this car is easier to shifts than my 99'. No one is ever going to shift prefect every time we're human, your mind drifts, something catches your eye, you miss a gear $hit happens.

So unless something is defective or you tore it up already you shouldn't have any problems. Give it some time and adapt to the car.