BEST & WORST stickshift you've ever had to use?

[sportyaccordy]

Worst one I ever had to use was on a 240D. 4 speeds, and while engagement was positive there was a ton of slack in the linkages.

Best was a tie between the fully built Gearspeed box in my 2nd Accord and the box in an S2000. Great clutch action, super precise shift action and good positive engagement. Seems to me like Honda's design (one actuator to move left to right, one actuator to engage/disengage gears) works best and is simple. I bet BMW uses the same setup

[CALL_911]

I haven't driven many stickshift cars, but the best I've used was my friend's dad's NSX. It was tightly-spaced, you could hear the click-click, and the throws were very short. It had a somewhat heavy clutch, but I didn't mind it.

The Tiburon V6 my sister's boyfriend owns has a rubbery shifter, kinda vague, but he put an aftermarket clutch in it. It works well. It's probably the worst.

The one I use most often is my best friend's (the son of the NSX owner) Saab 9-3. There's a problem with 5th gear (I think the gate collapsed or something? The linkage maybe?), but it's a very easy car to drive. I learned on it.

[Tave]

The absolute worst I've ever driven was a 1940s-50s farm truck without syncros, but that's to be expected.

Among newer cars, I found early 90s Rangers and Explorers to be pretty dreadful, and the problem is compounded by Ford's chronic pedal-placement-malaise in its trucks.

Best? I dunno. Probably a late-90s Accord or early 2000s Integra.

[Payman]

Worst? There's so many... dad's 1976 Econoline van, several airport line trucks... but the worst cars I've ever experienced were my 1973 Karmann Ghia (sloppy but still a fun car), and my son's '95 Mustang. Best I've experienced are my brother's 911 Carrera4, his Viper GTS, a '99 Miata (friend's), and a 2008 Solstice (test drive... I think it had the best shifter I ever experienced).

[cawimmer430]

Worst:

Any Mercedes manual transmission, including the current 6-speed available on the SLK, C-Class etc. Awful. Just awful.

BMW 118i demo car - I thought BMW manuals were supposed to be good? This one felt rubbery and imprecise.

1993 Nissan Sentra 1.3 FE - 1st gear didn't work, manual felt rubbery and the clutch felt even worse...



Best:

1992 Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 GTI DOHC 16V 5-speed - smooth, precise and fun.

AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT - The 5-speed M/T's from the current Mercedes A/B-Class. You wouldn't believe it but they're pretty good. Smooth, precise...very un-Mercedes manual like.

[SVT666]

worst: 1981 Ford D-250

Best: 2003 Ford SVT Focus

[Northlands]

Worst:

Hands down there are two on equal level.

1. 1988 4cyl Mustang (2.3).  Getting this into gear was like trying to shove a giraffe in a drive through windows at McDonalds.
2. Some early 80's GMC U Haul truck. Probably because it was U-Haul, but I think sneezing on the clutch was enough to open it up to shift. The gear however was like pushing it through a maze.

Best.
My current 2002 Civic. Anyone not able to learn how to drive stick in this car, will never ever learn how to drive period. Shorter throws, easy , forgiving clutch and intuitive gear selection.

Also my absolute favorite was a 1994 Ford Probe GT. Easy on all counts. Very precise.

[Raza]

Best:

Oddly enough, I haven't had that much experience with the heavy hitters like Honda or BMW, aside from the two Civic Sis I've driven.  They were pretty good though.  I'll say 2007 Porsche Boxster S though.  Loved it. 


Worst:

This has to be a three way tie between the first gen Scion xB, the Toyota Paseo, and Toyota Camry.  Actually, let's knock the xB off that list, since it was definitely better than the other two. 

[hotrodalex]

Worst: my El Camino
Best: first gen Mini

[Submariner]

Worst:

My friends 78' Silverado 1/2 ton - I wasn't expecting much, especially after he told me how much it sucked.  The clutch was a joke - it stalled on me three times even when I thought I was letting out at the right time - we both thought the carbs might be clogged, but he offloaded it before we could find out.  Shifting felt like rowing through rubber cement - my god was it vague.

95' Camry with a 5-speed - it was about as engaging as the car itself.

Best:

97' M3 - same friend who had the 1/2 ton Silverado.  Crisp, smooth shifts and a easy to modulate clutch.  The same goes for a 98' 540i I drove.

My dads 911

[68_427]

Best : 1968 Corvette

Worst : 1968 Corvette


Yeah I've driven too many manual transmission cars to count.

[Byteme]

Best:   07 Mazda 6

Worst:  63 Chevy, three speed  on the column

[68_427]

Worst:  63 Chevy, three speed  on the column

Perfect for racing.

[mzziaz]

Not the worst, but the stick shift I was most disappointed in was when I drove a ?99 Alpina B10 for the first time. The car is marvellous, but the stick shift is nothing special and the steering wheel is too big.

Actually, the stick shift on my Laguna is one of the best I?ve used.

[SVT_Power]

Best: IS300/S2000 (damn those japs know how to do shifters)

Worst: Possibly Nick's old 'st33m.

[Cookie Monster]

Worst:

Mid '70's Ford F series dump truck. It was still a fun truck though. The Indian cars I've driven (Maruti Versa, Alto, etc) were also pretty terrible and extremely vague.

Best:

'00 Accord EX. Great, great shifter, very easy to use. The FB RX-7 I drove was also great. The 4th gen Maxima didn't have a great shifter but it had a fantastic and easy to use clutch.

[Onslaught]

Best - Any generation MX-5, FD-RX-7 and both the original and facelift RX-8. I do think the Mazda one actually shifts better than the original. This is actually why I'm a Mazda fan more than any other reason. It's because they make the shifts short and the shifter is small and in just the right place. And they're smooth but not too smooth. I want it to have a little bit of a mechanical "feel" to one. I love how Mazda makes them.

The S2000 was great too. But it's almost like pushing a hot knife through warm butter. I know many people would like that more but it's almost too smooth for me.

Bad? Like others I've had to drive some old shit too. But with modern day cars I'd say the 80's and 90's Mustang and Camaros. Hard to shift and uncomfortable as hell. I can't stand a big, tall shifter.
I know I've been in some other ones that sucked ass but just can't think of them now. Little econobox POS cars.

[ifcar]

Best: unless I think of something else, the Hyundai Elantra Touring, of all things.
Worst: 2001 Ford Escape.

[BimmerM3]

Best was probably the S2000. Short, precise, etc.

Worst was probably an old 3 speed Jeep Renegade, but I can't really judge it because it was the first stick I ever drove and I didn't know what I was doing at the time. Other than that, the worst was a 1997 Altima. Absolutely no feel whatsoever in the shifter. I just had to guess at when I was actually in gear because there was absolutely zero "pop" when you shifted into a gear.

[Onslaught]

Worst: 2001 Ford Escape.

Yes, those do suck ass.

[VTEC_Inside]

Best: Probably my RSX-S, post gear-set update. The throws are short, light action, and very precise. My Accord gets special mention because its rod actuated providing a bit more mechanical feed back...

Worst: Some old farm tractor with a non-synchronized 5spd that some previous driver had fucked up the shift gate on. It was so bad that there was a wrench on the key chain so that you could unbolt the shifter assembly from the transmission to line the forks back up by hand when it slipped out. You'd have 3rd and reverse, but no neutral in the mean time.

[Tave]

Oh I forgot about the RSX-S I drove. I'd line that up with the Integra and Accord, though to be honest I liked them a bit more.

[Laconian]

I think my BF's Accord has a fantastic shift. Slinky, but with firm positive mechanical feedback once you're in gear. Not "snik snik" - the throws are too long -- more like "schlunk! schlunk!".

[MX793]

Best:  RX-8, followed very closely by the new 6 speed in the Mustang
Worst:  I've driven some non-synchromesh tractor-trailers that were pretty clunky.  I think an old agricultural forklift I had to drive on a few occasions was probably the worst (shifter was located under the seat and came up between your legs, the pattern was backwards, and the throws were long).

[the Teuton]

Best? ...Z4...either M or normal variants. It's notchy, shorty, and downright evil to use. It's not like most BMW shifters, but it's simply easy as hell to rip quickly without any sort of hassle.

Worst? There was an E30 325ix at work back in the day. I know the shifter bushings were all worn out after 200k miles, but I couldn't find reverse in that car.

If I have to pick a car that came from the factory as wickedly terrible, I'd have to go with the mid-1990s Crapalier/Shitfire. It makes my shifter feel telepathic by comparison.

[Mustangfan2003]

Worst had to be a Fox body Mustang my cousin had with a racing clutch in it, really gives you a work out trying to drive it.  Second worse had to be a 96 S10 we used to have, 2nd and 4th gear and 3rd and 5th seemed way too close together to me.  As for the best it had to be a new Mustang GT I test drove in 06. 

[Rupert]

Worst was either the late '80s Escort-- like rowing a boat through metal shavings and cutting oil (oh, wait)-- or an early '00s Ram 1500-- clutch does what now?

Best was the Miatas, period.

[CJ]

Best:  Hmm...probably a...well, I don't know.


Worst:  My brother's Integra.  It's a piece.

[r0tor]

Best - my car with the short shifter kit on

Worst - early 90s isuzu trooper

[omicron]

Not the worst, but the stick shift I was most disappointed in was when I drove a ?99 Alpina B10 for the first time. The car is marvellous, but the stick shift is nothing special and the steering wheel is too big.

Actually, the stick shift on my Laguna is one of the best I?ve used.

I've heard that early English translations of Renault owners' manuals called it a 'gearbag', which apparently wasn't all that far from the truth. Good to hear things are on the improve!

As to the original question, I think my uncle's old three-speed column shift in his 1970 HG Holden was a lottery. With that said, though, the gearing and torque were such that you'd only ever use first and second momentarily on the way into top gear, where you'd forget about gear-changing entirely and waft along much like an automatic.