I recently got a 2008 LNF and have been loving it. It's also my first stick, so I've been taking it easy on it. I have one question though. Is it me, or is it difficult to make a smooth 1st to 2nd gear change? I can get every other gear to go smoothly with no jerkiness, but 1st to 2nd just seems impossible to get it smooth. Even my dad seems to have issues with it. I feel like an idiot honestly! hahaha

Oh and if you guys have any other tips, throw them at me! I don't wanna break my car!

Thanks!

 

I've heard of more complaints of a rough 1-2 on the LSJ more than the LNF.
Some say its the fly by wire, and you just gotta learn how to shift the car.

 

Watch the catch point of second gear. You need to hold the clutch in a bit longer than in other gears. Rev matching isn't just on downshifts.

 

Yep, 1st to 2nd for me is always a little rough. It's worse when the transmission hasn't warmed up yet, like right away in the morning. I've found that if you shift at like 2,500-3,000 rpm the shift is much smoother, and if you take your time and let the rpms fall a bit, that also helps too.

 

Been driving an LNF for 4 years and I still get it to buck and jump now and again. Either give it more gas or drag the clutch a little.

Oh and wait to do it when your gf is putting on eye makeup.

 

The clutch is touchy, just some practice/driving it around will help.

Or taking a drink (just make sure its water and not sugary ****)

 

I have an LNF. 1st to 2nd is HORRIBLE. It takes legitimate force to get from 1st to 2nd. Stealership drove it and called it normal so... lol. Ride the clutch a little and it smooths out.

 

I bet I have gotten yelled at 10 times for it. Makes me smile.

 

yep lol. 1st to 2nd you just gotta hold in the clutch a little longer. imagine it with a stage 4 lol. talk about jerky sometimes. always a thing i never liked about this car, is the shift from 1st to 2nd is slower than the rest due to matching it.

 

Ha, when I had my GMS1 put in a long time ago, I told the dealer to check the shifter position/alignment when they test drove it, because it was hard to go into certain gears. They came back and told me that was normal for these cars, so I paid no mind to it. Like I said, it seems to me that once the transmission gets warm and the fluid gets flowing, 1-2 works just as fine as the rest.

 

My gf started using straws, she figured out quickly yelling at me only makes me to it more

 

Mine is just fine.. Just need seat time and watch the RPMS and when to catch them

 

lmao. you got a smart one. just means u gotta get it to jerk more then lol.

 

hahah then you haven't driven a LSJ :-p

 

As others have said, just take your time shifting from 1st to 2nd unless you're in a hurry to get somewhere. The rpm drop is very significant, and the engine takes its time spinning down. 99% of the time the reason for the jerkiness is because people are shifting too fast and not letting the engine speed match the road speed before engaging 2nd.

 

Smooth engagement on the stock clutch is easy assuming you’re accelerating normally. Go grab a ZFR turbo and a clutch with 500 pound torque capacity. Now try to shift smoothly lol.

 

Baby steps.

 

This ^^

I shift 1st to 2nd at 3k ussually and its 2-3 seconds till it spins down to 2k then shift.

 

Miles on the car? Change trans fluid? Check shift cables by taking out the cupholder assy.

 

I actually tried taking my time and it made a huge difference! So ya, rushing the change was my fault. No big surprise there Haha I just never realized how big of a drop it was I guess. Thanks guys!

 

Honestly, its many factors here. Your a novice and it's your first manual car. The shifts will get easier over time. Shifting now for me (almost a year since I bought the car) is easy as hell for me. ****, I can even get it rolling off 2nd.

 

this is not my first manual. and i have driven probably 20 other manuals... and my 2nd gear is hard to get into as well...

for some reason, i HAVE to put second 100% in, and make sure it's in nice and snug, otherwise, once i let the clutch out it will pop out of second gear...

idk why, every other gear, i just flick it in half way, and it stays in gear. my second gear is a bitch sometimes.


i have probably missed 2nd maybe 20 times in the last 2 years i owned it lol (one being Wednesday, and another friday)

 

I had a bitch of a time, until I figured out a few things - these were good at least on my 09 SS/TC, so maybe others had different observations:

Don't to shift right at the point where you're going to whuff all your boost out, then immediately get back on boost the moment you let it in unless you want to whip your head back - it all depends on how much gas you're giving it and the rpms. Probably most guys here have subconsciously corrected for this, either shifting higher at speed, or lower without that much gas, so the turbo spooling doesn't add to the neck pain. If I'm going out slow and steady, I shift 1-2 low, since there's no boost. 2.5k, and everything is just like an N/A car. If I'm whipping on the 'balt, I go high rpm-closer to 5k, and I hit the clutch like it owes me money. 1-2 always seemed smooth enough for me .

I also noticed that the GMS1 tune lets me shift better than the stock tune. Maybe there's dudes who will disagree with me, but it definitely took away part of the bobblehead effect on the 1-2 shift. I have a Trifecta tune as well, and it seems pretty good as well.

I'm now 300 miles in on a new KY stage 3 clutch, and the difference has me shifting like a total noob as well - going from a stop makes people nauseous, and I still haven't corrected the stutter effect going from 1-2...