What is the Best Manual Transmission Car you have ever driven or owned???

'95 S14, Aftermarket clutch, damper deleted, + a B&M shifter.

 

The best I've experienced is my MG. The gearbox has such a precise and direct feel to it. Since you really have to row it to get the best out of the limited horsepower, it's just plain fun to make it go quickly. I find a lot of the fwd cars feel a little rubbery and disconnected. When I started in the fire service, all our trucks were manuals (try that nowadays). Banging a 30,000lb vehicle through the gears with lights and sirens through traffic was always a rush. Our association has an antique pumper with a flathead and crashbox transmission. That's a ton of work. Only about 5 of us know how to drive it.

Cheers.

 

I was looking at a '95 about 10-15 years ago I think (I don't know, everything before 2020 is "pre-COVID"). I really enjoyed the transmission. I don't remember why I didn't buy, price maybe? It was very fun to drive, but I was just going to swap a JZ into it. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't get it, OR I wish I had gotten it and just left the KA24 in it.

God yes! The W58 is so perfect! I had a buddy with an NA and driving that made me want to trade mine for it. I'm definitely going to say that was the most enjoyable.

Honorable mention goes to a buddy's Imprezza, "Nigel." I don't remember all of the details, just that he picked it up from this sketch guy named Nigel in MD, it was a RHD with a custom built gear box. It felt very composed. Whoever you are, Nigel, you did a great job putting that vehicle together.

Dishonorable mention goes to my '95 Nissan 200sx. The shifter was average, but the clutch used a cable instead of hydraulics. Somewhere along the lines, the cable stretched and was a pain to replace. I had to replace it twice before I finally traded it in (for a '98 MT T4R!). What an awful design.

 

My summer car.... 2016 GTI with APR stage 1 and short shifter.
Fun enough to get me in some trouble when they catch me

 

I've owned a 93 Mazda MX6, 03 Saturn Ion and 06 Tacoma sport in manual. The Saturn was probably the best, but only because the Mazda had a bunch of worn out bushings and the stick wiggled in gear like it was in neutral.

I used to work at a used car dealer and got to drive a lot of stuff. My dad had an 04 1 ton Ram with the 6 speed that was fun but also a chore to drive.

Far and away, my first place goes to a 2006 911 Carrera S cabriolet that my wife got me for 24 hours off Turo. She became a car person that day. Imagine a 12 year old convertible without a single creak. Just an incredible car all around.

 

Silver ‘80 Mazda GLC sport 5 speed w KYB shocks and one of the first sets of 13” BFG Comp T/A’s (I wanna say 235/60/13)

 

My wife had a 2004 VW Beetle Turbo Sport that was a lot of fun to drive.

So what if the interior components fell apart as if the car had leprosy. It zoom zoomed.

 

Had a Jeep Cherokee Sport, straight 6, 5 speed that was my favorite, was the most like drive the big boys in the service, and was first vehicle that was ok to take off road, unlike my dads Taurus.

We have had many VWs, gulf, fox, Jetta wagon and beetle, the gulf was probably he best of those. But the yota Corolla (roller skate) treated us well. My 09 4 cylinder 5 speed yota was better than my 17 v6 6 speed. Oh and our son is now driving our 6 speed outback that’s been good.

 

I've been lucky enough to drive a ton of manuals in my life, both cars I've owned and borrowed from friends, etc. I prefer a lighter clutch and transmission so most of my favorites are 4cyls. My vote for the best manual is any Toyota MR2. I owned a 1st gen, 2 2nd gens, and I've driven the 3rd gens a bunch. They all had great feeling transmissions to me. The best manual car I've owned was an Acura Integra Type R. I'll try to post some pictures when I get home.

 

These two right here are right at the top. The first is my SS 1LE, the other is my 1990 "NA" Miata. In terms of shift/transmission feel, the Miata honestly takes the cake. The bolt action feel of that shifter
makes rowing through the gears an honor and a pleasure. It's quite a lovely bit of theater, so enthralling you think you're breaking the law and being a hooligan only to realize you've yet to hit the speed
limit ROFL. I've driven every other gen of Miata, and they are all equally amazing manuals. The ND is outright spectacular and will definitely be added to my collection one day. The SS 1LE is just perfect
at pretty much everything with my only complaint being that it feels heavy. In all fairness, that's because I'm used to things like Miatas and the car does a shocking job of defying the laws of physics. It
turns like the front end is velcroed to the ground and rowing through the gears feels amazing. It does have the opposite problem from the Miata, rowing these gears will get you well into triple digits and
in a lot of trouble on the street. I reserve pushing this thing to autocross and track days. Beside these, I enjoyed the manuals in both the BRZ and the F80 M3. Need to try the new bucktooth M3/M4 and see
how it feels.

 

1967 Datsun 2000 - top-down, wind in the hair but front end lift over 100 mph. Oops.

1983 BMW 318. Autobahn Days.

1986 VW Golf GTI - Autobahn & Snow car.

My 1999 Nissan Maxima w/ 5 speed was a blast. The engine had a light flywheel (pain in traffic), but the second gear was good for 5 to 60 mph (fine for traffic as long as you could keep the gap and keep rolling.

Easiest to get rolling: FJ40 Landcruiser. Low rpm motor, heavy flywheel. Just release it.

Stiffest clutch: Competition NISMO pressure plate Datsun 2000. Leg day!

I started with three on the tree, Chevy C10.

Nissan had some reverse in "1st gear spot" those took a while to get used to.

RHD Toyota. I kept smashing my right hand into the window crank every time I went to downshift.

Favorite memory. La Jornada Trabajosa Rally with a blown clutch master cylinder. "The Difficult Journey" Rally lived up to its name.

Oh, I forget my Mazda RX2. Rolled it over and Mazda, nothing like hanging upside down, releasing a harness to fall on the roof of the car, and thinking, "what is running down my leg". Transmission fluid coming back out the shifter! Damn it. Sweep helped up strap turtle back over. We finished last, but it was not a DNF! Buddy in a Toyota Corolla beat me on that event! (His mother rolled his Toyota going around a corner too fast!).

 

1st My 91 GTI

Although I have a feeling my soon to be manual 03 700+ hp/tq RS6 will take the cake

 

Maybe not the "best", bit certainly the most fun was this Mr. Gasket V-Gate inline shifter in a high school friend's '66 GTO.
We knew it as a slapstick. Absolute blast to just smash this thing straight back and forth!

 

'85 Audi 4000cs Quattro... Project I had for awhile, so much fun.. Still have a S4/S6 (AAN) inline 5 cylinder turbo motor all palleted up with nice bolt ons, rods, etc.. One day I'll get another so I can swap this.
5.0L swapped Miata, shop owners fun project
'95.5 Audi S6 modded to ~330awhp.. This was my daily for 7 years.

 

Always wanted to toss around those old 5 cyl Audis

 

My favorite motors still to date

 

My friend has a ZL1 non 1LE on order but no delivery date yet. I cant wait to drive it!

I have to drive a miata... I have a feeling after my first real track day in the STI I will be all about one...

I might be the only person that actually likes the look of the new beavertooth M4. I think the car photographs incredibly bad but in person it is pretty sharp! P cars are kind of the same way. They never seem to photograph well.

 

Keep us posted on that build! GTI looks awesome

 

Unfortunately she’s long gone, but here’s a couple pics when I sold her