My 2006 Porsche 911 S, and the Tremec I put in my 2019 Bulitt Mustang to replace the POS Chinese Getrag.

The 4 speed + overdrive in my '67 Healey 3000 was pretty good too.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:

1972 DeTomaso Pantera
I don't miss the 4000# Hayes 3 finger clutch in the Pantera, It was tough when I was young, don't even want to think of dealing with that now that I'm old.

When they first hit the Mercury showrooms, a car-guy friend and I went to look at them. The salesman knew my friend, handed me the keys for a test drive, but I didn't even start the damned thing. The clutch was so heavy I just said "No, thanks!" and got out.

My favorite trans was, believe it or not, the early non-syncro-first in MG's through about 1967. Most precise shifter on the face of the planet, but they all had weak syncro's on second gear as well, wearing out pretty much as you drove out of the dealership. I loved mine despite this, learned how to drive it without crunching the gears simply by sensing when to complete the shift.

BMW 325is with a Dinan chip, Remus exhaust, free flow intake and a short throw shifter, snick snick snick. Loved that car

Over my lifetime I've driven a number of manuals, some on the tree most were on the floor. I liked them all actually. I guess my favorite would be the one I own now. It's in my 79 square body hooked up to a 454. This one is the NV 4500 5 speed. They were only made for a few years in the 1990's by GM and Chrysler. Sort of a joint operation. Lots of people scour mags like Hemmings, trying to find a used one but they are super scarce and getting expensive. Here is a pic of mine coming out of my truck. That is a friend of mine helping, I'm behind the camera.

The “whine” of a three speed transmission in first and second gears in a 50’s Buick brings back memories of riding in my mother’s 51 Special.

And there’s nothing like the whine of a Muncie four speed in a 60’s GM car. That ”fix” I can no going out to the garage and taking the 67 2+2 Pontiac out for a drive.

Tremec T5/T45 with an MGW Shifter.
I never really could tell a difference between the T5 and T45.

My favorite: the 5 speed stick in my 1980’s era VW Scirocco. Lickety split shifting that made a fun car even more fun to drive.

Worst: my two band clutch less transmission in my 1968 VW Kharmann Ghia.

I have also had several manual transmission cars over the years. Currently have two.

My all time favorite was a 1998 BMW M3 Coupe.

A close second as far as the car goes was a 1977 Camaro LT but the transmission was like driving a garbage truck. No snick snick, more like clunk clunk. As I recall, reverse required putting your hand palm up under the shift knob to lift a collar and the whole gear shift up, and then to the right and down towards you. Took a bit of upper body strength.

97 Carrera S 6 speed. Gearbox smoothed out at 3,000 miles, then Redline MTL replaced the factory lube. The MTL made it feel broken-in a second time.

2007 white Porsche GT3 - should have never sold it.

MDS

All of those that have Reverse “UP AND TO THE LEFT”.

quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:
All of those that have Reverse “UP AND TO THE LEFT”.

I just googled it, you are correct.

I did mention I was going off memory from 1977….

I had a 2009 WRX with the 5 speed and a short throw shifter kit from some aftermarket company. That was a fantastic transmission to drive. The transmission was mediocre in performance, but damn it was nice to drive.

Early 2000’s Kenworth. The transmission shifted so smooth. Now the clutch… It was like doing leg presses at the gym. (I only drove it in the parking lot to move trailers).

Like many here I’ve driven a bunch of manual transmissions but my favorite is my current Porsche Spyder with the factory SSK (Short Shift Kit). It also has the ability to rev match on downshifts but I usually do that for myself.
Some say that the gears are too long (the redline in second gear is at 81 MPH) but then you realize that the car tops out North of 180 MPH and you can use any of about 3 different gears at any reasonable speed because the power band is soooo wide.

1991 Honda CRX Si
1994 Mazda Miata R
1994 Mazda RX7 R
1996 Nissan 300ZXTT
2001 Saab Viggen
2007 Volvo V70R
2012 VW Golf R

Owned or driven. God Bless !!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: VBVAGUY,

I'm not enough of a gearhead to be able to tell one from another. But I do know that every manual I've ever driven was more fun to drive than any automatic. Unfortunately, now my left leg is messed up to the point that I can't drive a stick anymore, at least as a daily driver.

Loved the cars, but the Muncie 4-speeds in my Chevelles was not crisp, or precise in any way—mostly because the linkage was crap. The 6-spd manual in our C4S, on the other hand…beautiful

My first Ferrari was a 1988 328GTS and it had the smoothest clutch and shift of any car I’ve ever driven.

I have been toying with the idea of converting my 355F1 from the paddle shift back to the manual shift but who knows.

Definitely not a muscle car, but the 4 speed in my first new car, a 1982 Ford Escort, was the smoothest and most forgiving clutch / gearbox I've driven.

The worst - a rental Jeep CJ in Colorado. Despite my best efforts it kept hitting third instead of first climbing up the trails around Silverton. Darn thing though - the Jeep ALMOST could climb straight up in third.

My 1972 Citroën DS21 had a four-speed manual transmission with an unusual shift pattern and an automatically actuated clutch.

If I left the car with a valet or parking attendant, they usually wound up pushing the car into a parking space because they couldn't figure out how to drive it.