TBH i'd agree with this......i am orig owner
i find second isnt easy to FIND...not grinding...sometimes it just doesnt go into gear.....let out clutch...depres clutch find gear prob solved but +1on "notchy"....whatever that really means lol

I have a '15 manual and it is a thrill to drive. Nice short shift knob feels "sporty". The bad: You are spinning 3,000 RPM at just 60 MPH, so not a highway cruiser. The unsettling: Poor synchros. The shifting is not buttery smooth, with second gear easy to grind and the other gears are notchy. Note, in hot temps it greatly improves shift quality.

 

Only downside I've had thus far is the 30k mile fluid changeout requirements for the transmission. Reasonable since the stuff is just like 0w-20. I will say this, I bought mine around 82k; between then and 146k, I was every drive lugging around at least 600+lbs of tools in the back, banging gears doing 90+ pretty consistently. This weight lugging was daily, the higher speeds were 90% of the time. No issues so far but I can feel the engine getting looser so to speak. Ever so slightly. Probably going to rebuild at around 200k. Trans held up well though. Will likely check bearing clearance during motor rebuild as well. At 150k now and still drive the living h*ll out of it a lot and she holds up great.

 

Nothing wrong with the GK manual tranny. Mine has towed a trailer from BayArea CA to Arkansas then back with a 420lb motorcycle, also to just shy of Canada border and back with a 300+lb moto, same trailer with a small boat with fishing gear about 300lbs trunk full of gear and three adults about a dozen+ times 200miles, and the heaviest was a Uhaul motorcycle trailer 100miles and back with a 430lb moto. That Uhaul trailer was heavy, 800lbs empty, and I really felt the weight back there (1200+lbs total) with the motorcycle. Don't think I'll ever try towing over 1000lbs again. With my trailer max gross weight is 800lbs, so the trailer being 200lbs I can carry 600lbs. Anyways did all these trips and the transmission, clutch and engine didn't skip a beat. Got the car new last weekend of 2014, now with 87k miles, tranny oil change about 30k miles and engine oil change when the oil change light goes on. Car still runs smooth and quite, shifts smooth and easy. Also have taught two teen girls how to drive stick on it too with some grinding on their part, but still shift smooth...made sure I change the tranny oil after teaching them for the summer, kinda coincided with tranny oil change interval.

 

Engine getting looser? Have done the 100k mile maintenance yet? It gets skipped all the time but it’s new ignition plugs, ignition coils and a valve adjustment. Really made a big difference in part-throttle, low end power when I did it on mine.

 

whoa !!!!!!!!!!!!! 30k trans fluid change???....im 61k and never changed .....did i lie to the maintenance minder? manual..manual not auto !!!l...

 

The maintenance minder has what ever number that comes up to tell you to do what ever. But you have to understand modern oil change numbers and politics involved in deciding what those numbers should be. Not too long ago when you look at a honda owners manual they would have two maintenance intervals, one for "normal" and one for "severe" conditions. Severe includes towing, stop and go, short distances, rural area driving, snow/ice, city driving, roof rack, etc. There was also a section for Canada which also falls under severe. The service interval for severe was half of normal. Modern longer service interval has to do with environmental push for greener cars using less not just fuel and emission but also oil. There is a cost to this in that modern cars don't last as long, but that is not counted which they should cause it cost a lot more resources to make a new car than keep an older one going for longer. The ultimate "recycling" is to keep and use/reuse instead of use and discard. So the long winded answer is yes 30k mile tranny fluid change. By the way on older manual transmission the normal service interval was 60k 1st oil change then every 30k after that, for severe it was half the miles.

 

yea i guess i gotta get on that,,,, i was expecting 60k i guess....old dude ...slap head

 

Well, I like to take really good care of mine so I do it yearly, in the fall before winter. I find that the cold weather really stiffens up the box and fresh fluid helps keep the shifting effort down. Also, I use AMSOIL Synchromesh, it’s expensive but seems to stay slicker for longer than the factory fluid.

 

Dang that is overkill but it's your money. I wonder if some of that is changing for entertainment?? There is a thing known as changing oil for entertainment. These are guys that do it cause they got nothing better to do or prefer to do over an oil change....ie. watching TV

 

Ah, it’s just yearly and part of my winter maintenance, typically with my oil change that ends up being every 6 months. Only $40 in fluid… but the box does feel very consistent lol

 

i must admit...the box "feels" like it got 200 weight oil in it sometimes...........could you elaborate on this ? AMSOIL Synchromesh,