Manual Transmissions: Described, Ranked

"feather-throttle-not-hair" (feather-throttle-not-hair)
01/07/2014 at 18:29 • Filed to: Long Live the Manual

Greetings, true believers! As we well know, the manual transmission is simultaneously disappearing and vastly more interesting than any alternative. We know this because while automatic and flappy paddle systems can generally be described in one word ("Quick" or "smooth" or something of the like,) entire sentences can be written to describe a manual transmission. There is simply so much more interaction, from the feel of the shift, to the length of the clutch engagement point, to the amount of vibration felt through the gear lever. When driving a manual, every gearchange is a cacophony of sensation.

Of course, it's up to the automaker to choose weather that sensation is pleasant or not, but good or bad, manual transmissions are at least describable and so describe a few of them, I will.

Feel free to add others in the comments, I'm only going to describe transmissions I've had a fair amount of experience with and part of the goal of this post is to learn stuff about cars I've never driven.

1. BMW E36 328i 5-speed

Description: I've driven a couple of E36 BMW's in both 325i and 328i trim. Their transmissions might be the all time standard for me. Medium length throws combine with a perfectly silky smooth action and a buttery clutch. Every single time i've ever stepped out of an E36 with a manual transmission I think "Yup. That's just about right" The beautiful thing about this transmission is that it feels sporty when you want it to feel sporty and feels relaxed when you just want to get where you're going. It somehow manages the trick of being incredibly rewarding to get right while at the same time being not particularly punishing when you get it wrong. It's like a chair that is perfectly contoured to your body and thus only needs a minimum of padding.

Rank: A+

2. Mid 90's Honda Civic and Acura Integra 5-speed

Note: I put these together because they both feel similar and both are incredible.

Description: In a lot of ways I look at mid 90's Honda products as the last normal cars to feel small and light. Sports cars from Lotus, Scion and Mazda can still capture this feeling in the modern day and age, but non-sports cars have all but given up on feeling light and tossable. The Honda Civic and the Acura Integra managed this feat in large part because of their perfectly matched manual transmissions. The clutch and the throw were both extremely light, yet neither lacked in feel. Every single shift is accompanied by the nagging thought "I could probably do that faster while still being just as smooth." When combined with a proper 8K redline, and an engine that could be kept in the sweet part of the powerband if shifted just so, its easy to see why so many people became addicted to these cars.

Rank: A

3. Nissan 350Z 6-speed

Description: Full disclosure, we've left the realm of "transmissions I love" and entered the realm of "transmissions I have a lot of experience with." I've owned a 350Z for seven years, during which time it's been my only car.

That said, the Nissan 350Z has a pretty nice shifter. It's nice and stubby, so throws are short, but there's also a ton of feel and a fair amount of resistance between gears, unless transmission, wheel and engine speed are all matched up perfectly. A lot of this is owed to it's direct linkage rather than cable actuation, offering tons of feel and plenty of vibrations thrown back through the gear lever. However there is one very serious downside, the car's way too heavy flywheel. This means the engine is slow to put on and shed revs. While this is fine for fuel economy and for saving me from stalls on Seattles steep hills (If i kick the clutch immediately after stalling, the flywheel is so heavy the engine will just restart its self) its a huge bummer when it comes to shifting quickly. Unfortunately due to that oh so feelsome direct linkage, drivers quickly become aware of that heavy flywheel. I mean it's like right there , no vagueness in communication to drown it out. Which is a bummer, because otherwise the transmission is great. Nice easy to modulate clutch, and just a very sporty feeling shifter and shift action. Except for that flywheel.

Rank: B-

4. 1988 Toyota Celica All-trac 5-speed

Description: The 1988 Celica All-trac I owned had a remarkably nice interior. It also had a remarkably tall shift lever. Not just tall, but like...comically tall and totally unbefitting of a sports car. Shifting the All-trac required moving your entire arm from the shoulder down, first and second were in different area codes. Adding to the woes was a slightly vague feel, though to be fair, with each gear in a different area code, it was hard to get them confused for one another. But the transmission wasn't so bad that you couldn't grow to love it. It wasn't so aloof that it didn't appreciate a good shift either. Properly rev match on the downshifts and it would provide almost no resistance between gears, letting you know you really got it right, since most of the time getting it into gear required a fair amount of effort. But truth be told, it generally felt like a truck transmission. Ultimately that was fine, because the car was more "hilarious" than "sublime" anyway. Plus it gets bonus points for being notoriously indestructible, even when given lots of power and AWD.

Rank: C

Alright that's all i've got for today. You guys add your own in the comments!

DISCUSSION (31)

HammerheadFistpunch > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 18:35

I had a 96 rav4 with the same basic transmission as in your alltrac, long throws and tall lever is right.

feather-throttle-not-hair > HammerheadFistpunch
01/07/2014 at 18:40

Really the Alltrac probably wasn't that different from a rav4 with lots of extra "80's turbocharger" added in for good measure.

Like I said, more "hilarious" than "sublime"

HammerheadFistpunch > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 18:42

Yup, pretty similar mechanically. People have done full alltrac conversions, though the chassis needs a lot of reinforcment.

Tom McParland > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 18:45

Any Honda/Acura 6-speed mated to either a K20, K24 or whatever motor was in the S2000 but those gearboxes were sweeeeet!

Tom McParland > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 18:56

I also rather enjoyed the manuals in the RX-8, the E90 328, the 996, and my 04 Cooper S.

Decay buys too many beaters > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 18:59

2013 FR-S

The gear lever feels great albeit a little bit rubbery, and had some issues going into second while cold. The clutch engagement point was rather high and hard to "feel". Overall though a very pleasant driving experience, shifts are precise and mechanical feeling.

Grade B

2013 Scion FR-S w/ clutch height adjustment, kartboy short shifter, mtec springs, transmission mount insert, and upgraded shift bushings

This tightened up the whole assembly to the point where it nearly feels like a gated shifter. Incredibly precise and mechanical feeling, as they say "like a bolt action rifle"

Grade A+

1997 VW Jetta Jazz

Transmission is quite comfortable, vague, but that makes it feel "smooth". Clutch is linear and, since it is a proper cable unit, gives adequate feedback to the driver. Transmission accuracy improved noticeably after rebuilding the linkage using parts from my local junkyard (if that tells you anything about the state the car was in when I purchased it).

Rating B-

1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Strikes a middle ground between the FR-S and Jetta. Since it, like the jetta, is also connected to the transmission via a long linkage, the shift lever does not feel nearly as direct or accurate as the Scion does. It to me defined what a sporty FWD car with a manual should feel like. Throws were relatively short, clutch was responsive and easy to modulate.

Grade B

1982 Yamaha Virago XV750

ITS A SEQUENTIAL MANUAL FTW A+++

feather-throttle-not-hair > Tom McParland
01/07/2014 at 19:00

Ohhh, i've always been intrigued by the RX8's shifter. It looks like it would have really short throws. Also, i'd be curious to know if there were fewer vibrations due to the rotary.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Decay buys too many beaters
01/07/2014 at 19:02

Yeah!! THATS WHAT I"M TALKING ABOUT!

heh. thanks for responding.

I take it you own the FR-S? or is it a friends car?

Decay buys too many beaters > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:03

All are/were mine at some point

Currently own the FR-S and Jetta

feather-throttle-not-hair > Decay buys too many beaters
01/07/2014 at 19:05

sweet. I like that you did "feel" upgrades for the FR-S.

You sir, get it.

Decay buys too many beaters > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:06

I believe the RX8, S2000, and Miata all used the same Aisin transmission.

Tom McParland > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:06

It's good but not as good as the S2000 IMO

feather-throttle-not-hair > Tom McParland
01/07/2014 at 19:10

I've only driven an S2K for a minute once, but it had a great transmission. Really accurate. Kinda felt like my 350Z but more delicate and light and obviously without the heavy flywheel problems.

Decay buys too many beaters > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:11

Yep that has pretty much been my goal so far, now I'm trying to find someone with a hydraulic press so I can try my hand at suspension bushing upgrades :)

Tom McParland > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:12

I haven'd driven the 350Z but my dad leased 3 Infiniti G-coupes 1 35 and two 37s. I didn't really care for the shifter, it felt heavy and clunky

camaroboy68ss > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:14

Both of my camaros are manuals. My 68 has the factory Muncie M20 in it. It has original Hurst linkage and for being 46 years old and still has the 68 gear oil in it it still shifts like butter with no noises or anything. A great transmission. My 98 has the factory t56 6 speed and I love the smoothness of shifts but lacks the mechanical clunk sound like my 68 when changing gears. Having a 3 pedal car is the only way to enjoy a muscle car.

McChiken116 - Patrick H. > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:16

Any S2000 shifter is amazing #notbiased

feather-throttle-not-hair > Tom McParland
01/07/2014 at 19:18

I'll bet the G35 has the same transmission as the 350Z, but there are probably minor differences. Still i bet a lot of the problem was the heavy ass flywheel, which i'm sure both cars share.

I guess my comparison to the S2K was more about how there is ZERO play when you're in a gear with both cars, when you shift to second its a direct and very short straight line to the next gear. But generally speaking the Z was much heavier to my recollection.

feather-throttle-not-hair > McChiken116 - Patrick H.
01/07/2014 at 19:22

Hah. I've only driven one once, which is why it didn't get a full description. But yeah. that once confirmed that it had a great transmission.

feather-throttle-not-hair > camaroboy68ss
01/07/2014 at 19:27

One of my best friends has a 2006 GTO, which i think has a T56. It's fast and smooth, but I'd like shorter throws and more feel.

Totally agree with you about a manual transmission in a muscle car. You're in gear, and the moment you touch that gas pedal, you know you've got the whole world under your foot.

It's funny, every time I get out of my Z and get into my buddies Pontiac, I'm like "this is nice..yeah...feels quick...HOLY CRAP THIRD GEAR IS LIKE MY SECOND GEAR, ONLY IT GOES ON FOREVERRRRRRR!!!"

camaroboy68ss > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:32

Yeah the only thing that sucked stock on t56 in gm cars was the skip shift feature which us very easy to override so that you are back in control and not forced to skip gears.

nermal > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:34

You forgot the IS300. Not only was it the first Lexus that people younger than 50 that aren't drug dealers wanted, but the shifter on the manual was sweet. If you could find one.

feather-throttle-not-hair > nermal
01/07/2014 at 19:39

Well, I've never driven a m/t one, though I am a big is300 fan. Leave a description if you're up to it, I'd love to hear.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 19:39

1992 Alfa Romeo 164-S

The standard by which all front-drive manuals will be judged:

Shifter is relatively close to your hand, it seems very high at first, but then you realize you have to move your hand a shorter distance to go form wheel to shifter an back again. The lever is actually fairly tall, and the throw front-to-back is fairly long, the left to right travel is EXTREMELY narrow and the feel is akin to throwing the bolt on a really, really, really well tuned riffle.

1-2 *SNICK* 2-3 (don't push to the right! just let it flow!) *SNACK* 3-4 **shooook** 4-5 (just a little pressure to the right) *click*. Shifter feels like its connected to a perfectly counterbalanced mass riding on the smoothest rails known to man. 5-3 *Slunk!* 4-3-2 *Snickity-*grrrrr-burble-CRACK!*snackity*

There is a discernible WEIGHT to the action; the lever feels rubbery when IN position at a gear, but the movements between gears are SUBLIME. The 3.0L V6 and trans are coupled VERY tightly with the shifter and things can stir around under your hand while you go on and off the throttle, but barely any vibration passes through the stick (it is a very smooth engine). Reverse is so smooth and accurate to access that it feels like it should be synchromeshed... speaking of synchros, bang that fucker as fast and hard as you can and it WILL. NOT. GRIND.

Clutch is light enough not to be a hassle in traffic, but heavy enough that you have to press it with authority. Engagement is nearly exactly in the middle of the long pedal travel and has a fairly long engagement point, HOWEVER, the return action is VERY FAST and despite the long travel you can whack off shifts quite rapidly. (though admittedly a shorter travel and/or engagement area would speed things up) Feel though the clutch pedal is excellent, like the sole of your shoe is riding right on the flywheel.

Damn I miss that car.

crashonice > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 20:04

Here are some you don't already have. . .in no particular order:

1. 1984 Chevy Chevette 4-speed

Description: Surprisingly good. Throws are truck-long, but accurate and light, with just enough feel. Clutch is long travel, and pretty heavy, but considering it has probably not been bled since the mid-80s, it is very decent.

Rank: C+

2. 1992 Volvo 240 5-speed

M47 trans with true 5-speed, cabled clutch, and severely worn (read: dissolved) shift cage bushings. Extremely long throws - literally from almost touching the steering wheel to almost touching the passenger seat. After replacing the shifter bushings it got better, but still massive and wide. Gears were so vague it felt roughly like picking gears by throwing a paper plane down a hallway into various doors. Sometimes you got it, sometimes you didn't. Cabled clutch was long throw, with very small window of engagement. Overall, not a great transmission paired with years of poor upkeep, and a toasted throw-out bearing.

Rank: F

3. 2006 Chevy 2500 4x4

4WD 2500 pickup with a 350. Throws were just as long as you'd expect, but accurate and with good feel. Clutch was heavy with a lot of travel, but you knew when it was hooking up, and was easy to use. Very predictable, just tiring to drive in traffic on a regular basis.

Rank: C+

feather-throttle-not-hair > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
01/07/2014 at 20:09

lol. Dont ask me how i found this. 7:17 if it doesn't start there on its own.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 20:21

damn you. Hate the color, but it looks very clean and that V6 sounds sooooooooooooo gooooood...

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 20:38

of the cars I've owned I'd say the 97 Integra GSR had the best shifter. Worst I've driven was a 91 Jetta GLI.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 21:35

2014 Ford Fiesta ST: really damn good.

Stubby little knob sticking out of the center console belies the actual length of the lever. the amount of movement both front to rear and side to side is quite long, but the movements are light and positive. Despite the wide spacing the shifter seems telepathic and migrates left to right and back for up and down shifts with hardly any guiding force from the hand. feels almost like a gated shifter as it only moves left and right right in the middle of the front-rear travel. Feels a little odd at first... pull back from 3rd to 2nd and it sort of jinks to the left right at the mid point and slots the rest of the way into 2nd with only a straight rear-ward movement for the rest of the travel. This bit me in the ass on my initial test drive as I over estimated the amount of guiding force required to change gears and grabbed 2nd instead of 4th during a hard acceleration run... oops. speaking of; the synchros are quite robust and take high RPM manipulation of ratios in stride. The lever wubbles a litte bit under throttle manipulation, but remains positively engaged at all times. 5th to 6th seems especially long as the lever is so far to right at that point that it's a non-trivial reach. I have taken to grabbing the top of the boot with index and middle fingers and just tossing it backward into 6th like chucking a wad of paper into the trash, as the reach to the knob seems overly long (I'm kinda short and kinda lazy...) The knob itself is a lovely shape and the leather covering is just squishy enough that if feels like cow-hide, but not spongy: I like it. The gate on the euro-style reverse lockout is short, light and positive; reverse requires less travel to engage than 1st.

Clutch is very light, lighter than I like actually, but it works with the overall feel of the car. Pedal travel is relatively short with creep-engagement coming just off the floor. The friction builds almost exponentially with a long period of partial engagement and full friction coming near the top of the pedal travel. This makes is very easy to crack off snappy shifts without jerking, even if you aren't the world's greatest clutch master. despite the light pressure, there's a surprising amount of information in the pedal. Very easy to handle in traffic too.

A solid A-, if not fully A/A+ material. Shorter throws and more clutch weighting would go a long way to making this one of the best shifters I've ever used.

2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring: This is a $15K car???

Clutch is the weakest link, weighting is good (not too light, not too heavy), and there's lots of friction travel, engagement starts low and is fully on friction by 3/4 to the top. HOWEVER, there is virtually zero feel through the pedal. you have to use the engine's response to know whats going on as the pedal might as well be attached to a brick on the end of a string. :/

Now on to the good part: The shift linkage in the ET was co-designed with B&M, the fancy "B&M" package adds metal bushings and short throw linkage, but even the stock plastic-bushing "long throw" shifter is simply amazing. The lever wafts between gears like it's floating on a cloud and then notches positively into gear at the very end of travel like the click of one of those newton's cradle steel-ball desk-toy-thingies. Click! The movement is so smooth and so light and requires so little effort that I took to shifting with fingers and wrist only (did I mention the throws are short too? I can't imagine how the throws could be meaningfully shorter and still actually move gears around functionally. This extreme ease of action leads to over confidence as it starts to feel like you can literally *throw* the shifter and not keep your hand on it through the full travel, this ACTUALLY WORKS if you fling it with enough force, but trying to be cool and flick it around with just your fingers (like it feels you could) leads to the embarrassing missing of shifts just after feeling like the hottest shit on earth. As good as the shift linkage is, the synchros aren't as heavily tuned and it is entirely possible to overpower a shift and catch a little crunch when flinging the lever around in, say, autocross... If the rest of the package were as good as the shift linkage it would be legitimately world class. As is its still the best thing I've ever driven with an under 20K MSRP.

C for clutch, A+ for linkage, I give the total a B+. I can't rate it higher than the Fiesta ST, but it's damn good.

feather-throttle-not-hair > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
01/07/2014 at 21:56

Awesome. I just finished watching Matt Farah's latest video with the Fiesta ST and the M3. This comment fit in perfectly.

wabbastang > feather-throttle-not-hair
01/07/2014 at 22:35

This may seem a little odd but...

Kinja'd!!!

The ZF 6 speed in my diesel super duty is fantastic... Even with a 24" tall shifter, it's precise, short throw, never miss a shift. It's been great. People comment from the passenger seat about how short the throw is, and from the driver's seat about how nice it shifts. That is, after they realize they get over the whole "weird, this is a manual???" thing.