I went from an '01 Miata six-speed to the Crossfire, and the tranny is not as smooth, direct, or snick snick as the Miata. But after not driving the Miata for a while, you get used to it. I knew the MB six-speed wasn't one of the best when i bought the car (i don't think its in the top 20 manual gearboxes), but there's no way i was going to get an auto, even though MB is highly regarded as far as automatics go (i think they're top 3).