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

[Soup DeVille]

New kid came around, he sold it.  Person who bought it wrecked it.  As I recall. 

Yep.

Within 2 weeks, it was totalled.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Most bike gearboxes can be shifted clutchlessly with little effort (particularly upshifts).

I've often thought it would be cool to have a bike style ratcheting sequential shifter, with driver operated clutch, in a car.  Super precise, never miss a gear engagement while retaining mechanical shifter feel and full driver control over the clutch.

IIRC BMW offered a sequential shifter a few years back.

[MX793]

IIRC BMW offered a sequential shifter a few years back.

Are you sure it wasn't just their SMG box that was similar to Ferrari's F1 box (automated clutch, sequential shifter)?

[Rupert]

Same/same. Notchy, with a heavy clutch. Women need not apply.

The clutch isn't too bad, actually. Engagement is too high, but feel is OK.

[Raza]

Are you sure it wasn't just their SMG box that was similar to Ferrari's F1 box (automated clutch, sequential shifter)?

I think they did something with a clutch and a sequential shifter in the E30 or E36 M3 in Europe or in some sort of prototype a while back, but I'm not sure.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

I think they did something with a clutch and a sequential shifter in the E30 or E36 M3 in Europe or in some sort of prototype a while back, but I'm not sure.

It was available here also.

Are you sure it wasn't just their SMG box that was similar to Ferrari's F1 box (automated clutch, sequential shifter)?

I'm not sure of the details but here's a write up Motor Trend did on it.
http://www.motortrend.com/features/112_0208_trans03/

[MX793]

It was available here also.I'm not sure of the details but here's a write up Motor Trend did on it.
http://www.motortrend.com/features/112_0208_trans03/

That's just BMW's version of the automated SMG box that Ferrari had been offering since the late 90s.  There's no clutch pedal and the transmission is electro-hydraulically controlled (meaning the driver has no mechanical link to the gearbox).  Note it has a fully automatic mode.

[hounddog]

After thinking about it, I think the most fun I ever had driving a stick is the 1941 Dodge stock truck we have on my fathers farm.  Three on the tree, and none were easy to locate. 

[Byteme]

After thinking about it, I think the most fun I ever had driving a stick is the 1941 Dodge stock truck we have on my fathers farm.  Three on the tree, and none were easy to locate. 

If it was like the one on m6 63 Chevy, every so often it would jam and you'd have to get out, open the hood and realign the reverse and 1st rod with the 2nd and third rod in orderto shift gears again.  Basically move the shift lever and the two rods to neutral.

[Madman]

Best:  I've driven lots of good ones, so it's impossible to say.

Worst:  That's easy.  It was my Dad's old beater 1971 Ford pickup with a "four-on-the-floor" that was so agricultural you'd swear it came straight out of a tractor.  Shifting often required the use of both hands and a leg just to get the damn thing to go into gear.  The gearstick was about three feet long and felt like you were stirring a box of rocks.  Despite this, I became pretty adept at manhandling this beast since it was easy to hotwire and "borrow" whenever my dad wasn't around!

[2o6]

Bit of a gravedig, but


My best is still the 1st gen Mini Cooper. NB Miata is a close 2nd, and the GM 6MT used in the Cruze and Sonic is also really, really nice.





The worst I have had to use is no longer the Yaris, but it's going to be any GM ECOTEC mated to any five-speed manual. The Vue, ION, Cobalt are all terrible with a horrible clutch/throttle relationship (especially ION).

The Saturn Sky takes the cake, mostly because it IMO ruins the car. (coupled with the bad sightlines). The Miata is so much better executed it isn't funny.

[Rich]

Bit of a gravedig, but


My best is still the 1st gen Mini Cooper. NB Miata is a close 2nd,

[MX793]

The worst I have had to use is no longer the Yaris, but it's going to be any GM ECOTEC mated to any five-speed manual. The Vue, ION, Cobalt are all terrible with a horrible clutch/throttle relationship (especially ION).

The Saturn Sky takes the cake, mostly because it IMO ruins the car. (coupled with the bad sightlines). The Miata is so much better executed it isn't funny.

The Skystice uses a truck gearbox (lifted directly from the Colorado/Canyon), so it's actually not surprising that the gearbox is less than great.  IIRC, the ratios aren't well-matched to the vehicle's engine characteristics either.

[MrH]

The Skystice uses a truck gearbox (lifted directly from the Colorado/Canyon), so it's actually not surprising that the gearbox is less than great.  IIRC, the ratios aren't well-matched to the vehicle's engine characteristics either.

Lol, is it really?!  GM dumps all the money into those crazy hydro formed rails, then just yank a gearbox out of a colardo with the same ratios...?  That's so GM like.

[MX793]

Lol, is it really?!  GM dumps all the money into those crazy hydro formed rails, then just yank a gearbox out of a colardo with the same ratios...?  That's so GM like.

It was really a parts-bin car.  Outside of the frame (which was heavily based on the Corvette's) and body panels, a lot of parts of those cars were directly lifted from other GM models.  The differential and axle were apparently lifted from the CTS.  The 5AT was also a Cadillac unit.  There were a lot of Cobalt/G5 parts thrown in (steering wheel and a lot of switchgear).

[AutobahnSHO]

holy old thread, batman!

Worst: 1983 Civic, the clutch and tranny had been rebuilt by an amateur mechanic. You really couldn't tell which gear you were in, the shifter wiggled more side to side once it was in gear than when it was in neutral..

Best: either my SHO (which had the improved "rod" shifter instead of original cable linkage, introduced late in the '91 model) or a ~2002 Renault Laguna I rented in Germany..

Miata stomps the SHO and anything else I've ever driven. I've never missed a shift. I can go 3-5 or 2-4 or 5-3 or 5-4-5-4-5 without issues.

[Payman]

I took a Solstice out for a test drive last month. Disappointment doesn't adequately describe the horrible shifting. Scratched it off my list.

[SVT666]

When are you gonna buy a damn sports car?

[hotrodalex]

Soon.

[Raza]

Lol, is it really?!  GM dumps all the money into those crazy hydro formed rails, then just yank a gearbox out of a colardo with the same ratios...?  That's so GM like.

On nice days, Skystices are the only sports cars I see with the tops up.  I can only surmise that the horrific top action is to blame.  Lots of reasons not to own that car. 

[TurboDan]

Worst was a Chevy S-10 pickup. Ugh. Best was probably this chick's //M3 I drove in college. Insanely rich (her dad was CEO of some health insurance company), brought some "fuck you" money to college that made my Saab look like a joke lol.

[dazzleman]

Worst stickshift was on my family's 1978 Mercury Zephyr.  The gear spacing was terrible.  It was a 3-speed, and about 30 mph was too fast for second and too slow for third.

[280Z Turbo]

Worst stickshift was on my family's 1978 Mercury Zephyr.  The gear spacing was terrible.  It was a 3-speed, and about 30 mph was too fast for second and too slow for third.

Wikipedia says the base trans was a four speed manual. Maybe they forget to put a 4th gear in.

[Payman]

On nice days, Skystices are the only sports cars I see with the tops up.  I can only surmise that the horrific top action is to blame.  Lots of reasons not to own that car. 

The procedure demo'd to me was thus:

1. Pop the trunk with the key fob
2. This releases the buttresses
3. Push up buttresses to the rear glass
4. Open trunk
5. Releases windshield latches. This is done from inside the car
6. Fold back top, tucking in as you go
7. Push top into trunk carefully, being mindful of the monolithic gas tank protruding within 3" of the trunk lid
8. Carefully push trunk lid down until it catches
9. Listen for shattering glass of rear window
10. Enjoy whatever remaining sunshine left

[sportyaccordy]

Lol, is it really?!  GM dumps all the money into those crazy hydro formed rails, then just yank a gearbox out of a colardo with the same ratios...?  That's so GM like.

These guys are never gonna get it together. The Corvette is a real miracle/anomaly

Maxima gearbox was absolutely terrible. God damn shame, such a great engine surrounded by such a mediocre platform

[Raza]

The procedure demo'd to me was thus:

1. Pop the trunk with the key fob
2. This releases the buttresses
3. Push up buttresses to the rear glass
4. Open trunk
5. Releases windshield latches. This is done from inside the car
6. Fold back top, tucking in as you go
7. Push top into trunk carefully, being mindful of the monolithic gas tank protruding within 3" of the trunk lid
8. Carefully push trunk lid down until it catches
9. Listen for shattering glass of rear window
10. Enjoy whatever remaining sunshine left

Yeah.  It's a hideous process and more than a bit of a faff.  Utterly ridiculous.  You have a clean sheet design in a world where you have power tops that drop in 8.5 seconds (albeit on a more expensive car) and manual tops that can be operated from the driver's seat easily (the NC and MR-2 both, the NC was easier though) and that's what they come up with?  And that engine? 

[280Z Turbo]

Thanks to Bob Putz for thinking he could get GM to build a world class roadster.

[Rich]

Good lord.

The top was a function of design.  That top is the only way you're going to get those sexy decklid humps without resorting to supercar expensive tops.  

I'd like a top that's harder to put up than the giant black abyss on most roadsters

And I'd rather GM have parts binned what it did, rather than the chassis.  The other proposal was to use a re-engineered Delta architecture, which would have sucked hard.  


I've driven one, and the shifter is much better than many FWD cars, especially the Citroen rental I recently had.  

[Madman]

The procedure demo'd to me was thus:

1. Pop the trunk with the key fob
2. This releases the buttresses
3. Push up buttresses to the rear glass
4. Open trunk
5. Releases windshield latches. This is done from inside the car
6. Fold back top, tucking in as you go
7. Push top into trunk carefully, being mindful of the monolithic gas tank protruding within 3" of the trunk lid
8. Carefully push trunk lid down until it catches
9. Listen for shattering glass of rear window
10. Enjoy whatever remaining sunshine left

I've always liked the looks of the Saturn Sky but if the stuff I'm reading here is accurate then I'm crossing it off my "Might buy someday" list!

[Raza]

Good lord.

The top was a function of design.  That top is the only way you're going to get those sexy decklid humps without resorting to supercar expensive tops.  

I'd like a top that's harder to put up than the giant black abyss on most roadsters

And I'd rather GM have parts binned what it did, rather than the chassis.  The other proposal was to use a re-engineered Delta architecture, which would have sucked hard.  


I've driven one, and the shifter is much better than many FWD cars, especially the Citroen rental I recently had.  

That's not a function of design, that's a function of styling.  At some point, you have to think about what's worth and what's a detriment to function.  That is a pure example of form over function, and a terrible one at that.