dude I feel ya. I work at a car dealership and an IS 250 MT came in on trade. I was like, yay! because I been wanting to test drive a IS MT to see how it shifts because i WAS looking to maybe purchase one. I hated it, and that was very hard to type by the way. The shifts are unrefined, I shifted it into second gear, and i think it was still in first and then decided to shift in second like after 2 or 3 seconds & the shifts are TOO long. Plus I couldnt get the sunroof to close and its pretty well marked out in detail how to close it too pissed me off. Plus it was silver & only was in the car for like 5 minutes too.

Done get me wrong, I like the IS series but I will never purchase a manual IS.

The shifter in the Infiniti G does shift like a truck like someone said. they made it better in the redesign G sedan and coupe, but still shifts way too abrutly.

Havent really driven an S2000 to put my 2cents in, so I dont want to post an opinion about them, but the Manual tranny in the BMW 330i (last generation) and this generation V8 5-series (540? 545? before it came to be 550) does shift very smooth I think. I just tingled when i was driving it. haha!

 

Another vote for Honda S2000, it is pretty much manual shifting perfection, so precise and satisfying to use.

close seconds
Acura NSX
Acura Integra
Honda Preludes
Acura TSX
Acura TL type S

last Supra Turbo 6 speed was good but not as good as Hondas
last Mazda RX-7 was very good also from what I remember.
E46 M3 was pretty good
911 are pretty good.

 

I like the shift feel of the 335i...don't know why, I've driven both cars and to me s2k < 335i...o well, I suck at shifting

 

wost shifting car i've ever driven was my old fd rx7 tuff to get into 5th, put a short shifter on that made it a pia to find gears when you thought about it (bad design i guess), and a 4 puck clutch didn't make it easy to drive

best 93 supra tt with short shifter, like butter, i miss that car

 

My 06 Audi A4 2.0t was the best manual I've driven to date, however I've never driven a Honda S2k so maybe that's why.

 

Out of current cars I have to go with RX8 and Evo X

 

S2000 FTW!!! That was one of the things I really loved about mine and even though I traded it for the ISF I miss it and will own another soon!

 

Honda is #1 when it comes to stick but you gotta to love the stick in the C6 Vette.. 1st to 4th skip shift

 

YEA my 240sx shifted like a Nissan Frontier I'm in the same boat as you at 6'3 230 I felt claustrophobic

 

So the TSX has a good manual. What about the regular TL.

 

Without question, Honda does the best and slickest-shifting FWD manuals....especially on the Civic line.

As far as RWD manuals go, it's a little harder to say, though the Honda S2000, Mazda Miata, and several BMW models have to rank way up there.

 

It seems like the vast majority of these cars have engines with (relatively) little torque. I know there's something about powerful/torquey engines that requires them to be mated to a difficult clutch/shifter, but I'm not entirely sure why. Can somebody elaborate?

 

you guys should really try out some porsches. ive done back to back driving in caymans and s2000s and the cayman was just that little bit extra better. but otherwise i agree, porsche + honda. i actually like the nissan 6MT. not as refined but clutch gives back a lot of feedback. feels more mechanical, more manly. bmw i liked the least with its long throws and clutch behavior.

 

Of the cars I've been in, the Miata was by far the smoothest & easist to shift. I haven't driven a Honda made in the last 15 years, but the ones I have driven, I hated the clutch in. I felt like I had 2 feet of pedal movement with it engaging instantly somewhere randomly halfway down. I wouldn't be suprised if the S2000 is better though. I can tell you that at 150k miles, my Trans Am has one of the most difficult shifters out there. It's got a decent feel, but is rarely willing to accept a gear without a little work. I do love it for some reason though. I'd have a tough time trading it for anything else in the price range.

 

Part of it is that a lot of torque, in general, requires a large, durable clutch, pressure plate and large springs. Those large springs, of course, require some effort when pushing the pedal in and out, unless you use a power-boost mechanism, which is not found in most street cars. However, the newer Corvettes have done a good of using adequate, durable clutches for theor 400 ft-lbs-plus of torque without an unduly high effort. The last Corvette manual I drove, I noticed a significantly lower clutch effort than with previous 'Vettes.