What determines manual shifter feel?
 

Shifting the Corolla sometimes can feel like an awfully close approximation of slogging through mud. I've noticed that Hondas and Acuras have much crisper, lighter shifters, so I was looking at them in the junkyard this morning... they look to be close enough to the Corolla's to morealess bolt in with some minor redrilling... my question is: how big a role do you think the shifter plays in the shifter feel? My gut says that it would make a difference, but my most persuasive reason for thinking so is that I assume that the two trannies would be similar enough that they themselves would not contribute to a dramatically different feel.

Also, it was in the low teens when I went to the yard this morning, and after I started the Corolla I tried to move it into neutral only to discover it wouldn't come out of first... I then gave it a hard jerk, and it grunted out... I then grunted it through the rest of the gears and realized that the transmission fluid must be really thick (75W-90)! When I let out the clutch in neutral, the car dropped a good 600 RPM (from 2000 to 1400). Wow! Never experienced that before...

change the gear oil to synthetic

It is synthetic. These cars are just known for harboring uninspiring shifters... long, imprecise throws when compared to the Honda.

making a shifter from one manufacturer, and a transmission from another work as a cohesive unit will be a nightmare if its even possible. They may have entirely different actions to move between gears.

Find out of this is a rod type shifter arrangement, or a cable shifter arrangement, ect. You could have worn linkage bushings, or a rusty cable sheathing slowing down the action depending on the design.

if its super cold, its going to be tough anyway if its got regular gear oil in there. This model transmission doesn't use ATF or synchromesh fluid?

No, I don't think it's a problem in the shifting mechanism. I've shifted new Toyotas and seen other owners write that the Toyota manuals are just kind of uninspiring. After driving a Honda Accord manual, I've wondered if I could at least partially get the much lighter, sharper feel of the Honda into this car... both cars are cable-shifted FWD 5-speeds in the familiar 1-3-5, 2-4-R pattern. I'll go back to the yard next weekend and pull the shifter to see what it looks like underneath compared to the Corolla shifter... it's a large yard, so there are many generations of Hondas and with 5-speeds to choose from. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether the shifter will actually make a big difference. I'm thinking it'll have a big enough influence that I'll at least notice something, but we'll see... if they let me out of the yard with it for $20, I'll definitely get it.

I changed the fluid 15,000 miles ago to Mobil1 Synthetic 75W-90, so that should not be affecting shifter feel much... although in retrospect I wish I'd used Redline. I want to find some 75W-90 to stick outside in really cold weather to see how much it thickens :).

I would bet there is a ricer replacement that would greatly improve it.however the sticking is cold gear oil

Oh, totally. I just mentioned the sticking as an aside -- should have made that clearer. It was something cool to boast about -- "Oh yeah? Well, it was SO cold at my place that the car was stuck in gear!" :D

Oh, and no ricer mods on this car -- right now, it is totally stock, with this, a center-rear headrest, and fog lights currently being the only contemplated mods. It's very tasteful :).

Sure... I saw your car down at the Starbucks...
http://www.stancenation.com/wp-conte...013/03/317.jpg
:eek::eek::D

Damn kids these days

Darn it, cmb, you said you'd never show that picture to anyone! :D

(kmaysbob -- just saw your short-throw shifter link -- interesting. But $166? Yikes! I'll see if I can't find something in the yard... maybe someday I could get the real McCoy.)

$166 will likely seem cheap once you start factoring in the cost of an unknown junkyard tranny + your time, effort and general richarding around with it trying to make it work. ;) Some new, hi-performance poly bushings might tights things up a bit

The front drive cars have cable actuated shifters remotely mounted from the tranny. The mercedes have remote shifters operated by cables. The Miata and other sports cars have shifters that are built into the tranny like a truck tranny more or less. The cable is the least positive solution and the built in shifter is the most positive.

Porsches have rear mounted trannies but the shifting is i believe by a rod instead of multiple rods so it has a pretty good feel to it.

Oh no no, I'd just be swapping in the shifter assembly. This bit:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/01/a7e3uzu3.jpg

They can keep the tranny :D.

Good synchronizers and clutch.