Is it just me or are our 5 spd shifters garbage
Senior Member
Joined: 06-07-2011
Posts: 2,180
From: SE Mich
Other than the wife not able to drive a stick and this being a daily driver in traffic one of the other reasons I went with thw auto is the shifters all go to hell in GM FWD cars.
Cable shifters today are better but with age and wear they really get bad. Some companies have mastered them but this has been one area GM has fallen short in.
I drove a new Cruze and it shifted very well. It will be interesting to see if GM has solved this issue post Chapter 11.
You want to feel a bad shifter....drive an old Fiero with a lot of miles. Bad shifter and often poor clutch pedal.
Cable shifters today are better but with age and wear they really get bad. Some companies have mastered them but this has been one area GM has fallen short in.
I drove a new Cruze and it shifted very well. It will be interesting to see if GM has solved this issue post Chapter 11.
You want to feel a bad shifter....drive an old Fiero with a lot of miles. Bad shifter and often poor clutch pedal.
We just got the wife a Traverse last week. Awesome vehicle, but my mod money just became her leather seats, or something like that...
Member
Joined: 12-13-2009
Posts: 77
From: Ontario,Canada
Out of my last few manual cars, this is the worst shifter by far. It feel's cheap all round. My SRT-4 with the mopar short shifter and bushings was by far the best performance oriented shifter I have had and as far as a stock shifter, My Mazdaspeed 3's stock set up was fantastic.
The SS's set up just feels to cheap, is a pain in the ass to get it in first gear or reverse to pull out of the driveway after having sat over night. The shift knob sucks ergonomically and feels to small. I am starting to get some slop in the shifter itself which I would assume is the cables and not the shifter it self. The shifter is the second biggest gripe I have with this car with the main issue being the massive expanse of hard plastic in this thing that GM calls an interior. This is for sure the first and last GM product I ever buy out side of a Caddy.
I can not wait till the day I trade this thing in. Hoping to get rid of it with in a year.
The SS's set up just feels to cheap, is a pain in the ass to get it in first gear or reverse to pull out of the driveway after having sat over night. The shift knob sucks ergonomically and feels to small. I am starting to get some slop in the shifter itself which I would assume is the cables and not the shifter it self. The shifter is the second biggest gripe I have with this car with the main issue being the massive expanse of hard plastic in this thing that GM calls an interior. This is for sure the first and last GM product I ever buy out side of a Caddy.
I can not wait till the day I trade this thing in. Hoping to get rid of it with in a year.
Senior Member
Joined: 07-05-2008
Posts: 5,464
From: Akron Ohio
The things that really keep me from a FWD manual is the shifters normally go to hell as they age [many are poor to start with]. Many also have slave cylinder issues as they get older and if you have to change a clutch I can not do it in the garage anymore like I did on my RWD cars.
For me I tend to keep my cars a long time so these factors would be in play. Now if you trade odd 3-4 years it is not so much an issue.
For me I tend to keep my cars a long time so these factors would be in play. Now if you trade odd 3-4 years it is not so much an issue.
Senior Member
Joined: 08-03-2009
Posts: 837
From: D.C., Md., Va. area
