Mushy Shifter

I just drove my friends 99 Cav with the eco and 5spd. I searched this forum but didnt find what I was looking for. Most people had problems with extremely stiff shifting but when I drove his car it felt like I was moving the stick through mashed potatoes... Is there any fix for this besides buying an aftermarket short shifter? Would replacing the shifter bushing and linkage bushings with aluminum or poly ones instead of the stock rubber ones help?
One other question, anyone know of a good quality low price exhaust (catback) for the 99Cav with the ecotec? Thanks for any responses.

i cant help with your problem but since you mentioned this twice, i figured i'd let you know there were no ecotec's in 99

Sorry dont know much about j-bodies. Just figured it was an eco, is it just the standard 2.2 then? Any suggestions on the shifting ....
thanks!