Nearly any floor shift. The Borg Warner. T-10 was quite tight in my tri-power GTO. Hurst shifter in Mopars was good too.

1997 Honda Prelude

2001 BMW e46 330ci

having had,

77 ford F100 3 on the tree, converted to a floor shifter,
79 Celica
82 Hi Lux pickup, 4x4, (longest throw ever)
93 Saturn

all were good (less the hilux) but not great,

best was actually an auto, 6 spd, paddle shifted Mini Cooper,

I liked it over the 6 spd manual,


blasphemy, I know

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Small world? Unless there was more than one Citroën dealer in that area, that would be where I bought mine. It was a 1972 model, I bought it either 1972 or 1973. Trade-in was a 1968 Mustang.[/QUOTE]

Dealership was on Washington Blvd, IIRC, maybe near Central or Cicero. My father was his attorney for tax matters.

More small world, my new optometrist flies a 1963 V-Tail Beechcraft.

Miata Is Always The Answer.

I miss mine everyday.

Current car: 2003 Acura RSX base five-speed.

I can't say I've ever had a manual transmission that was admirably snicky. I have a 2000 V6 Mustany with a T5, and its just OK, Maybe an aftermarket shifter would improve it.

Probably the best I've ever had was we had two Honda Accords 1999 and 2001. I saw a list of the ratio variations of those transmissions and it was impressive how they selected gears for applications. Seemingly small changes of things got different sets of gears to compensate. The transmissions were also bulletproof and I've never heard of one failing. My experience with American cars is they don't do a good job of tailoring ratios to applications but just slap something in.

After my brother got drafted and served in Germany about 1972-74, he bought an Opel Kadett GT when he returned. Used car, so likely it was an early 70's model. It had about an 1100 CC engine with very low power, but he raved how much fun it was to drive, partially because the gear ratios were perfect.

A factor in shifting quality is the engine layout. Front engine rear drive allows shifters without linkage like my Mustang T5. Rear engine and front wheel drive cars need some type of linkage and it just seems to get less snicky. Clutch is a big factor, maybe hydraulic actuation having an edge over mechanical for better driving experience.

I drove a friend's 2017 Holden/Chevrolet SS, one of the last made. It has a 6.2 liter LS with 415 HP and a six speed. It shifted quite well during a short drive being compelled by the owner to romp on it.

I currently own my late brother's 2000 Honda Accord which is a 5-speed. It practically shifts itself when driving; just slips right into the correct gear when I move the lever forward or backward!

Many years ago I had a 1983 Toyota Corolla SR5 that would do the same thing...

Oddly enough, the AX15 in my 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Long throws, but oh so precise. Chk, Chk, Chk all the way up and back down. Truly a pleasure to drive.

Dad had an 87 Nissan hardbody that was the runner up. Probably the lightest clutch I've ever used. The shifter itself was vague, but shove it in the right general direction and it always found the spot, even if you didn't really get feedback saying you were there.

Had an '86 Cherokee with the AX5, and that one was a different story- or it could have been that the rest of the vehicle (Chevy 2.8 V6- probably the worst engine ever made) was so bad I just hated driving it.

My '06 GTO with a T56 was also pretty sloppy. It was ok, but every time I drove it I wished it was as good as the Jeep.

My first new car, a 1990 Honda CRX SI. I loved that car, so did the girls around Monterey Bay

I also had a 1985 Mazda 323 in Germany about 1992, I paid $500 for it. I drove that thing all over GE with a top speed of about 150kmh on the Autobahn, and that's how I drove it. That thing wouldn't die, I sold it for $500 three years later

E36 BMW M3 is my favorite MT, and one of my all time favorite cars.

My ND2 Miata is good, not great. '02 WRX bugeye had crazy clutch chatter, good car, but not refined.
I thought the T56 in my 17 Camaro SS was dog shit. Loose, jiggly, and required what felt like abuse when moving at speed. The gearing royally sucked too.

Hondas were always good.

The transmissions in the S2000, Accord, and Miata I had were pretty nice. I'm actually enjoying the WR 6-speed in the Corolla HB I've been driving over the last 3-4 years. Not a short throw but it shifts so easily and to top it off Toyota incorporated IMT in it which when selected automatically rev matches the engine rpm for smooth downshifts every time, no need to heel and toe. I like the wide ratios with 5th and 6th both being overdrive. I didn't care for the close ratio gearing and short final drive Honda put in the 2020 Civic which I was considering at the time.

86 Toyota Supra 5 Speed
03 Porsche Boxster S
Various Harley Davidsons 6 speed

I like every manual trans I have ever owned, truck to car to motorcycle. So I might be a bit biased.

Current truck - ‘95 Dodge Ram 2500 with a Cummins diesel. Works great.

Subaru always had a smooth manual transmission, so they were nice.

But the smoothest ever - the one in My ‘88 BMW 635 csi. A silky smooth inline 6 connected to a transmission that just slides into every gear. Makes me wonder why they aren’t all that smooth.

The toughest was a 1935 Dodge fire truck. No synchronizers at all. A bit of a challenge, but not impossible.

My dad had a VW microbus. The throw was very long and the shift lever was something close to two feet long. Of course, the engine was underpowered, and this was a later microbus, which might have had 110 horsepower - still underpowered. But it was still a fun car.

I've always been partial to Honda manual transmissions. 84 Civic, 89 Prelude and my daily driver of 2002 Civic Si.

I recently acquired a 2001 911 (996). I love the torque etc, but the stock shifter is a known sore point with owners. First gear takes effort to go into its slot. Upgrading to the 997 stock set up is an improvement, otherwise there's a pricey aftermarket and cable set up that supposedly the bee's knees.

My 59 Impala 3 on the tree is pretty simple, but sloppy.

I had to look up the transmission model - "Getrag" 420G. A short throw 6 speed, it was coupled to the M62 in my BMW 540i M-Sport.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ag_420G_transmission

The only car I could probably relate to was a much older (1985.5) Porsche 944, which unsurprising for being 14 years newer in technology, the BMW driving experience was significantly better.

I had a same year (1999) Honda accord manual, and though it was tolerable and easy...it was not a performance experience at all.

2010 Porsche 911 with 6-speed manual. Crisp, precise, highly predictable. Have had a many manual transmissions over the years but the Porsche was by far the best in my opinion.

Not a car I guess. 15 speed double over behind a 555 Cummins. Linkage was tight, as was the entire driveline, I felt like a magician driving that thing.

Best transmission I've experienced was the S2000.