The extra power wouldn't make a difference with a manual unless you ditched that stupid clutch valve they put in the slave line.

The 5 speed is great, except on the higway. It pushes 3000rpm at 65mph..that is just awful. 6th gear would be great, but I am sure they regeared every gear so it has more gears in the lower range and is still awful up top. For reference, a v8 LS1 car (like a corvette) makes about 1200 RPM at 65 in 6th. Even my v6 firebird does much less than 3000 on the highway. Lower revs means better milage. I bet this thing could make 28 or so highway instead of 23 if it weren't for that stupid 5th gear.