I've been driving MTs for daily drivers since 1991. I also have a 1970 Corvette 4-speed I take out for a drive on weekends to keep it "exercised".

On quick upshifts to 2nd after revving up my 2010 TL to 5000 rpm or so, it seems I can't get away from a quick grind - the kind that makes me feel sick to hear it. The car goes into gear, however, but not without that sickening crunch. This doesn't happen when I'm slow and deliberate, only for quick shifting; and it doesn't happen for any other gear change. I'm almost positive my timing has the clutch to the floor before the shifter is pulled into 2nd, but admit it's a quick enough operation when I need to accelerate quickly that I can't help wonder if my timing might be a hair off. However, I didn't have any such issue going from a '91 Accord 5MT to '95 Prelude VTEC 5MT, nor going from that to an '01 Maxima 5MT, nor going from that to an '07 335i 6MT, and I don't grind 'em on the '70 Corvette despite its 40 year-old clutch/shifter technology.

So, experienced MT drivers, is it me, or is it the car? Any of you have similar experiences, particularly when switching from one brand of MT to another? I plan to bring this issue up with the dealer by the first oil change (along with the low pitch hum from the rear that peaks at ~65mph). For now, I'm waiting for really big holes before I pull out into traffic that don't require rapid acceleration. After experiencing this about a half dozen times now, I'm no longer going to chance ruining my transmission. The last remaining doubt that makes me think it could be me is the fact that this TL may have the shortest throws compared to all the other MT vehicles I've driven - so, if I use the same sense of timing as all those other cars, I could theoretically be trying to jam the car into gear milliseconds before I have the clutch to the floor (ie, the longer throws of the other cars take milliseconds longer to pull into second gear assuming I'm pulling the lever at the same rate of speed). It's sure hard for me to believe I've gotten so "good" on those other cars that I'm to the point I'm throwing the lever into gear at precisely the moment the clutch is sufficiently disengaged, though...

BTW, I didn't have any problems on any of my '10 TL test drives in the same scenario.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

There was a problem like this on the AP2 S2000's. The culprit was the way the passage between the Master and Slave cylinder was designed, it wasn't able to transfer the pressure back into the slave fast enough because of a control valve (to prevent sudden pressure spikes I suspect) placed between the two. It was easily removed with a drift punch, to the satisfaction of many AP2 owners.

I'm vaguely recalling this was on sudden downshifts though - not on the upswing....

 

The throw is designed to be very short, so it could just be that you're timing is off by a small amount. Clutch pedal in, throw to 2nd, and ease out... I've noticed the clutch pickup is also very short. (which may be part of it).

You should definitely not HEAR grinding, that would make me think the clutch is not fully disengaged when you shift (therefore your timing would be a little off). You should probably FEEL the synchro on that high rev shift. I do feel that it's a tad harder (I FEEL the synchos) when doing a high rev shift from 1-2 (over 5k RPMS).

But grinding SOUND? That would not be good.

**I am no means an "experienced MT driver", this is my first MT car, so it's possible that it could be the change from your other MT cars to this one.**

 

Hopefully you can get this worked out at the dealership, and it's not the same problem that's prevalent on the 3G side, as well as for Civics and RSX's.

 

Agree, you should definitely not be feeling "grinding" that makes you wince. Until you get it solved, I'd stop immediately. Grinding from transmission = not a good, long-term thing.

I've driven nothing but MTs for a long time. A quick, high-rev, 1-2 shift is challenging to pull off smoothly on most cars. I'd try backing off just a little bit on your timing - it sounds like the clutch is not fully dis-engaged when you're doing the shift.

 

take it to the dealer and have it documented just incase something were to go wrong. Also you are fully unders warranty go get it checked out and see what they can do.