I've heard mixed things about how smooth or not so smooth the 5 speed manual transmission is in the '05-09 GT's. I've never driven one so I'm looking for opinions. Is it that difficult to shift into various gears? The only stick shifts I've actually driven are early-mid 90's Ford Rangers and they've all had decently heavy clutches, but were super easy to shift. How would the GT's compare to something like that?

 

In stock form the clutch is super easy and the shifter is pretty smooth but a bit sloppy. I got a MGW shifter and now shifting is greatly improved, much faster, never miss third, feels really solid. Stock shifter is fine for DD though if your not constantly banging through the gears.

 

They shift easily and are smooth. The clutch depresses easily, however you have to fully press the clutch in before you shift. The clutch is hydraulic so requires very little muscle to disengage it.

 

Cool, thanks for the responses guys. And yeah, I will just be using it as a daily driver, not doing any crazy stuff with it. Should have mentioned that in my first post.

 

Don't you have to fully press in the clutch before you shift on every stick shift car?

 

I drove an '09 that was leftover on the lot and a '10 back to back. Same transmission, but supposedly refinements made to the clutch on the '10. Me being a novice manual driver, the '10 drove much smoother. Clutch was easier to modulate, shifter felt more precise and smooth. Everything just felt more refined. The '09 felt like I was driving a bucking bronco. Not horrible, and I'm sure I could get it down better, but it was just weird how the '10, with pretty much the same drivetrain, felt so much better.

 

The 2 to 3 shift can sometimes baulk..........but I have a Hurst shifter that makes the shift a lot more positive.

Depending on your commute, if you get stuck in traffic you may want to reconsider a manual.

That being said, they are great fun when you want to play.

 

I've driven I think six different 05-09 GT's now including my own and honestly had pretty mixed experiences with them. Some of them, especially 07-09 seem to have a lot heavier clutches than my car, although they were all used cars so I have no way to know If they might have had an aftermarket clutch or not..

As far as the shifter is concerned my car has the stock shifter with an aftermarket ball style shift **** on it, which I really prefer to the stock interface. If what you're used to is a ford ranger you'll find the shifts are short and precise, but might require a little more effort than the ranger, especially on the 4-5 shift.

The only tricky part of driving a manual trans s197 as far as I'm concerned is starting from a stop. There's a really fine line in these cars between lurching the car and slipping the clutch too much, but like anything else, practice makes perfect. I do find that ever since I tuned my car it occasionally bucks really bad in first gear for know apparent reason, but only when the engine is cold.

Sorry for writing a book, hope that helps.

 

Haha, no worries man. That's exactly what I've heard though, very mixed opinions. Wonder why it varies so much from car to car?

 

Even though I live in San Diego, I never get stuck in traffic going back and forth to work. I work an odd shift, so it's always a straight shot back and forth on the highway. Anytime I know there's going to be heavy traffic somewhere or nowhere to park, I take my beater car (Saturn SL1).