I have the worst luck trying to level cakes. I have the large wilton leveler and my cakes still come out uneven. Makes me not want to tort my cakes! I can't even get the top of my cakes leveled properly. Perhaps its user error. 
What's the best method to get a nice and even cake? Level while warm or frozen? Use a leveler or long bread knife? Is there a better leveler out there?
I used to use extender in cake mix so cake would rise above pan and I would just use the pan to guide the knife and level cake, it was still a pain to tort. Then saved my money and bought an AGBAY leveler. I love it my cake layers are even and no more measuring ect. I got the deluxe so I can level and tort at the same time.
http://www.agbayproducts.com/
The customer service is outstanding.
I don't level my cakes. As soon as they come out of the oven I use a hot pad to gently press down on any dome that may have formed and to flatten my cake evenly.
As far as torting, I saw a trick where you put a little smear of icing on the side of the cake so that when you put it back together you line up the smear. does that make sense? If you want to see it, watch this tutorial:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/extra-icing/sets/72157594575839118
Ditto, I to use the pan as a guide and cut along with a knife.
MANY have complained about the large wilton leveler including myself. This is because the blade bends as you put it through the cake. I found that if you push out on the arms as you are cutting through, the blade does not bend as much and you will have better results. The small leveler they make works great! The large one is quite unreliable and I try not to use it. I have had better results baking cakes over the pan and then cutting with a very large serrated knife using the pan as guide. I plan to invest in a new large leveler.
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