I recently bought a 2002 gt with 43000 miles, its a 5 speed and occationally fights me when i downshift, nothing major but i am just curious because i know this car has a heavy duty tranny. The clutch feels good with very little play and the car is in mint condition. Also, is it impossible to shift to first when going above 15 mph even if the clutch is down? Also, I live in Buffalo so it is extremely cold, which probably effects how easily it shifts.

Your car has a 3650 trans which is a dual rail shift design so its not as smooth as you might expect. As far as downshifting to second, you can blip the throttle and that should help, but downshifting to 1st above 15mph isn't a good idea, you can double clutch and get the synchros going, but it won't like it, and likely will just break the tires loose anyway.

we've had some cold ass days here lately in Chicago,
my shifter is hard as a rock for the first five minutes or so.

You really shouldn't be shifting to 1st over 15mph.... the gear WILL fight you on it. (found that out on my s197, believe it's the same for your 2002)

There is no need to downshift to 1st over 15mph...if your coming to a red light i usually preload rpms and downshift to 4th then throw in the clutch and take it out of gear and coast to a stop

I noticed a similar issue on my 2010 (1400 miles - I didn't think it could be a clutch issue yet). I'd be coasting into a stop w/the clutch pedal in & the tranny out of gear. I'd try to go into first as I neared a stop (probably around the 15 mph mark), but still w/the pedal in. Sometimes it won't go at all, sometimes there's a little grind as things mesh up. I assume the synchros are the same, and that's what's causing this? If this is the way it's supposed to work, I'll adjust my driving habits like hockeygoalie37 says & not worry about it anymore.

By the way, Welcome to the forum

Yeah my 02 wont let me in 1st above 15 either. My T-5 in my 5.0 did but not this.

You drive an american muscle car you should be slamming that s*** into gear

This was helpful, i just wanted to make sure everything was ok with the tranny.