Never Stop Driving #41: The stickshift revival - Hagerty Media (2024)
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but the manual transmission is making a comeback. The data are admittedly thin, but according to J.D. Power, 1.7 percent of car buyers this year opted for a manual transmission, compared to 0.9 percent in 2021 and 1.2 percent in 2022. Furthermore, Tyson Jominy, the VP of J.D. Power’s information network, said that the manual buyers are no longer doing so to save money or gas with small subcompact cars; instead, they’re choosing to shift themselves with enthusiast cars like Toyota Supra and Jeep Wrangler. The Wall Street Journaland several other outlets pounced on the data and surmised that the stick shift is appealing in an analog way, like vinyl records.
Several brands have added manual transmissions to their lineups. The new Integra is the first Acura in half a decade to offer a manual gearbox. Mini added manual gearboxes to four models. The new Ford Bronco has a stick. BMW, Porsche, and Cadillac still offer manual transmission models. Two new boutique supercars, the Gordon Murray T.50 and Glickenhaus SCG 004, can be had with manuals.
Here at Hagerty we welcome this news with open arms. Since 2011, our manual transmission classes, which are free, have taught 4500 people how to operate a manual transmission. Anecdotally, I’m also noticing more interest in manuals. We’ve lived in the same Ann Arbor home for 23 years and there’s usually some half-apart project car within easy view of the neighbors, so I’m well known as the car nut. In the past two years several new drivers have asked me to teach them how to drive a manual transmission, in stark contrast to our first two decades when not a single neighborhood kid asked. Of course, I obliged the requests and hope you do the same.
My personal relationship with manual shifting has, ahem, recently shifted since I bought my first daily driver with an automatic, a 2018 VW GTI. I did not miss the manual as I thought I might. Am I getting old? Also, while I initially loathed the lack of manual transmissions in high-dollar sports cars like the Ferrari 458, McLaren Artura, and Corvette Z06, I’ve come to recognize that those cars are now so powerful that—on public roads—one rarely finds an opportunity to wind the engine out between gears. I’d love to own a 458 even with the automatic transmission and am less dismissive of the feature than I used to be.
My personal transmission flexibility is generally not shared by the classic-car market. We reported, for example, that manual-equipped cars generally command high premiums over the same model with an automatic. I think this trend speaks to both a greater appreciation of analog pursuits but also perhaps a growing realization that we will lose something valuable if we relinquish driving duties to robots.
Those robotic efforts continue to advance, albeit at a slower pace than the autonomous hype machine once predicted. In February, Waymo reported that its vehicles had covered over one million miles without a human watcher behind the wheel. Cruise, the autonomous taxi company backed by GM, announced it had reached the same milestone on February 22. Both companies increased the size of the AV operational area. Waymo driverless taxis now run between downtown Phoenix and the airport. And Amazon-backed Zoox deployed its robot taxi, which doesn’t even have a steering wheel, on public roads.
However, according to a report by CarMax, there has been an uptick in sales for cars with a stick shift in the last few years. In the report, sales for stick shift cars at CarMax had fallen to 2.4% in 2020. Then in 2021, those sales had seen a slight increase to 2.8%, and then rose again to 2.9% in 2022.
CarMax data shows a rise in manual transmission sales in 2021 and 2022. CarMax data highlights from January 2020 through December 2022: After falling to 2.4% of sales in 2020, manual transmission sales at CarMax increased to 2.8% in 2021 and 2.9% in 2022.
Are manual cars going away? In short, yes. There's no set ban on manual transmission itself, but there is a ban coming into place in 2035 on all petrol and diesel cars. That, by default, rules out manual cars, as all electric cars are automatic.
Moreover, manual transmission vehicles tend to have lower maintenance costs and a longer lifespan, with some manual cars outlasting their automatic counterparts by up to 100,000 miles.
Most auto seats have terrible lumbar support. Adding lower back support can help absorb the jostling of a car ride, not to mention hold you up from slouching. A stick shift car might sound sporty, but it strains the lower back to press the clutch repeatedly. If you're in pain, an automatic vehicle is a much better fit.
Regarding consumers' knowledge of how to drive a manual, nearly half of all Gen Z (49%) and 42% of all women indicated they did not know how to drive a car with a manual transmission.
Their popularity has diminished due to a lack of demand, as well as the fact that many commuters prefer automatic autos to manually shifting gears when caught in traffic. However, there is still a tiny market for a stick shift. Learning to drive a stick shift car is enjoyable, but it takes patience and time.
It's here that the scarcity of this feature cuts both ways, making a manual car unappealing to the majority of buyers, even though it might be prized among a small subset of shoppers. This tends to lower the residual value of most manual-equipped models.
If you do a lot city driving, an automatic may be easier to maneuver through stop and go traffic than a standard transmission. However, if performance and the driving experience matters to you, you might want to consider a manual. Another factor to keep in mind is if there'll be other people driving the vehicle.
Manual transmissions are running about 1.7 percent of new car sales so far this year, up from 0.9 percent in 2021, the Journal reports. That's not exactly a world-beating number. Still, stick shift enthusiasts tend to be really enthusiastic so car companies still want to appeal to them.
Although there are only a select few new cars that still offer a manual transmission, the ones that do still come with a stick-shift are among the most enticing sports cars, sports sedans, and hot hatchbacks on the market today. Here, we've ranked the best new cars that still offer a manual transmission in 2024.
Only around 18% of American drivers can handle a manual transmission, according to U.S. News and World Report. You know: the clutch pedal and the stick shift—three on the tree, four on the floor or, I don't know, five to drive maybe. Different gears, manually engaged.
Here's what BHPian GhostGrid had to say on the matter: With various types of Automatics, EVs, and ADAS on the market, manual shifting will undoubtedly decrease, but many automobile enthusiasts still like or will favor manual shifting, so it may continue to exist in niche markets.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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