
The 20 Best Cars That Still Offer a Manual Transmission in the US - t23
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g2161/20-best-cars-with-manual-transmission/
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justin66
_Because the newest computer-controlled automatics can shift more quickly than
any human can, engineers see the manual transmission as outdated. We disagree.
Shifting a manual transmission is not only more engaging and fun than flicking
some dainty little paddles, it also requires more skill and makes the driver a
better one._

"It's an unimportant skill but as you practice it you will get better at it."
Well, yeah.

My fun weekend car has a stick, and that's not such a bad thing, but there's
no denying stick shift on passenger cars exists solely for entertainment value
or vanity at this point.

~~~
mistermann
Ever tried to get an automatic transmission car out of being stuck in the
snow? ;)

~~~
justin66
I've driven 4wd manual, as well as front- and rear-wheel drive manuals and
automatics in ice and snow. I have no idea why anyone would find an automatic
more difficult to deal with in the snow?

~~~
falcolas
Rocking an automatic is a lot harder than rocking a manual, since you have
less control over the application of power to the wheels.

Rocking is a fantastic way to get unstuck, since it puts your wheels on fresh
snow.

~~~
justin66
> Rocking an automatic is a lot harder than rocking a manual

You're not the first person I've heard say this, and maybe there's something
to it, but I just don't know what's hard about doing it with an automatic, or
what control people feel like they're being robbed of in this context. I've
been doing it all my life with both types of transmissions. I'm visualizing it
(on this sunny spring day) and it seems like one of the many things that's
just a little bit easier with an automatic. (I'd defer to anyone who lives
further North than I do in a conversation like this about snow driving
technique, but the only guy I know who lives in Alaska drives a Chevy Cruze,
of all things, with an automatic)

Recently I've seen people have a lot of trouble when they don't know how to
turn off their traction control, but that's not really an automatic
transmission thing.

~~~
mistermann
Very strange....I haven't driven in snow for years, but when I did it was
_undoubtedly_ easier to rock a standard car than an automatic, like no
comparison whatsoever. I appreciate imagining how it wouldn't be different,
but in practice, totally. Hmm.

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inanutshellus
It's just SO MUCH MORE FUN to drive a stick-shift. Even if all you're doing is
getting on the interstate you can make it feel like you're really kickin' ass
and zooming along simply by how you shift.

Forcing your car to rev up a little more than need be may be inefficient
compared to what a computer can do, but where's the fun in that?

Getting perfect 0-60 times is for drag racing (which no one does). Having fun
on your daily commute? Yeah, that!

~~~
otoburb
>>Having fun on your daily commute?

Prolonged periods of bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along during daily
commutes will take the fun out of stick pretty quickly. Hopefully this doesn't
happen to many people, but for those that have a choice, automatic is the
preferred option.

~~~
inanutshellus
That's the common refrain, but I don't even mind it in bumper-to-bumper
traffic. I think it's pretty magical to just barely lift my foot off the
clutch and control the car's acceleration. Is it tedious? Needless effort?
Nope, it's racing in ultra-slow-mo!

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zzalpha
There's far more than just these 20. Honda, for example, has plenty of manual
models available (we happen to own a manual Fit). They may be dying but
they're far from endangered.

~~~
dawnerd
To be fair, the article says "20 best cars" not necessarily those are the only
20 cars.

~~~
Infernal
I just assumed the Fit would be on this list without even clicking. Truly a
diamond in the rough.

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gtvwill
You not get manual Land Cruisers in the states? I haven't bought an auto car
ever, will only buy manual. Have always driven manual and find it quite
humerous that people consider them difficult or more effort. I prefer manual
as i find auto's suck for going up/coming down steep hills and are also a pain
in the arse in bumper to bumper traffic as they always creep forward unless
you have a foot on the brake.Not to mention they cost an arm and a leg to fix.
Gimme manual any day, from a 5 speed synchro to an 18 speed crash gearbox.
Love driving manuals,my fuel efficiency is up there with if not better than
auto's too (you can't coast in an auto). Edit: i got >400,000km out off my
last land cruiser clutch....You won't see a auto gearbox in a work vehicle
that will do that(e.g vehicle used off road and towing heavy loads).

~~~
paulsutter
> I haven't bought an auto car ever, will only buy manual.

A manual-shift self-driving car may be hard to find.

It's interesting how the word "auto" (self) has evolved with respect to cars.
An "automobile" is self-propelled, an automatic transmisson of course shifts
itself, and we went right back to "self" for self-driving cars.

~~~
gtvwill
Ever bandied the concept about that some folk may not ever buy a self driving
car?

GPS/maps struggle to find most of the places I go, i doubt anybody will
release a self driving 4x4 anytime soon with the ability to map and navigate
fire trails/off road/national parks/river crossings). Like eventually they
might but it's not going to happen anytime in the next decade. Hell I've seen
people put vehicles in places and situations that manufacturers would have a
heard time believing so good luck getting software coded in a way that would
let you do it (maybe if we could get a "she'll be right mate" sudo command
overide for the navigation/control systems it could happen?).

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madengr
I like manual, but even better is my EV with no transmission.

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d-sc
Coming from a farm, I've driven both manual and automatic transmission cars,
trucks, tractors, heavy machinery, semi-trucks, etc.

At some point the type of transmission used is only one part of the car that
is going to affect its performance. I have not done anything in an automatic
that I cannot do in a manual transmission car. Sure, my automatic pickup will
accelerate faster than the manual one I had before it. But that is more due to
the engine horsepower to vehicle weight ratio than the transmission. (2013
f150 w/ 350 hp vs 2004 f350 with 250 hp)

My guess is the reason that it is becoming harder to buy new manual
transmission vehicles is declining demand and the cost associated with extra
development to create two versions of the same car.

~~~
cheepin
"An estimated 95% of all cars sold in the U.S. have automatic drive, versus
less than 20% in Europe and Japan, where stick-shift is the overwhelming
transmission of choice."

Still a good market globally, if not in the US. I'm more worried about EVs
taking over than automatic transmissions.

[http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/americans-driving-stick-
shi...](http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/americans-driving-stick-shift-
article-1.1072784)

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Upvoter33
This list is terrible. How, for example, could you ever exclude the Subaru
WRX? One of the most fun to drive -- and affordable -- cars with a stick out
there today.

~~~
MrMember
I may be biased as I live in an area where the AWD in the WRX is especially
useful in the winter but I would take the WRX over the BRZ in the article any
day.

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dbg31415
This is just depressing.

I had an S2000, but sold it when I had the opportunity to travel overseas for
work one year... Been back a few years now and I still haven't found anything
to replace it.

Given the very short list of cars that still offer manual transmissions, it's
unlikely I'll ever in my life have another car I will love to drive as much as
my old Honda. I just can't see driving a convertible without a manual
transmission... where's the fun in that?

~~~
t23
There's still plenty of M/T cars available in the US. The article just
highlights a small sample of those cars...

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coleifer
Motorcycles are keeping the faith.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
They have DCTs now too.

~~~
Neeek
I mean, they have also had mechanical automatic transmissions since the 70's
at least.

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boomboomsubban
I don't understand what people find fun about shifting, but it is not worth
the pure agony of traffic jams. Let off the brake, pray the person isn't too
close behind you, accelerate a bit, decide if traffic is moving enough to
accelerate more, brake. Repeat twice a minute. Add in hills and snow for more
"fun."

~~~
bassman9000
It offers a degree of control unparalleled by any auto system, for those who
just don't want from A to B. Sensations from the gearbox and the engine are
more direct (albeit gas pedal nowadays is no longer...).

> it is not worth the pure agony of traffic jams

You just don't notice if you don't want to. It's second nature.

> pray the person isn't too close behind you

true, but never had an issue with this

> Add in hills and snow for more "fun."

This is a non-issue for anyone that likes it, and has been driving more than a
month.

~~~
an_account
I love my manual tramsission but traffic is hellish on long drives. If my
daily commute was in traffic (like many parts of LA and other major cities),
then I definitely wouldn't want an manual for that.

But yeah, I do love my stick shift. Now that I know how to, I especially love
driving on hills. Nothing like shifting through the gears on a windy mountain
road. And for traffic on hills you quickly learn to use the handbrake so that
you don't roll back at all.

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Fuzzwah
> Outside of Germany, the SS is the only old-school V8 performance sedan you
> can get with a manual.

Except of course for the Australian car that is the original version of the
SS.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore_(VF)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore_\(VF\))

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csydas
Is the price listed on these vehicles starting at $35000 USD because of the
stick shift or is that just the starting price for cars now? I haven't
seriously looked at cars for well over 8 years since I moved abroad, and
before that it was just buying beaters from people on craigslist.

~~~
bfuller
I bought a toyota yaris with manual transmission for 12k new

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spike021
I just bought and learned to drive a manual transmission BRZ about a month
ago. The beginning was tough but was very worth the effort and time.

Sure, the transmission isn't as efficient and in some cases your mileage
probably winds up going down, but the fun factor is very enjoyable.

~~~
maxxxxx
Actually if you know what you are doing your mileage will improve with manual.

~~~
maxerickson
This has gotten less true as automatics have added more and more gears.

~~~
maxxxxx
Less true maybe, but I think you still can do better.

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Rapzid
No Fiesta ST?

~~~
mrchucklepants
I love my ST.

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dmoy
I mean riding a horse also requires more skill, and so does braking on
slippery surfaces without ABS. Personally I'd rather not do the latter, and
not rely on the former for transportation...

But to each their own. Maybe I'd me more inclined to drive manual if I wasn't
living on a hill... surrounded by hills.

~~~
badosu
> Maybe I'd me more inclined to drive manual if I wasn't living on a hill...
> surrounded by hills.

That's actually a reason to for me to prefer manual transmission, to be able
to switch gears predictably.

~~~
helthanatos
Or possibly have to stop on a hill and accidently hit someone behind you or in
front. Some hills are just too nasty. My speed control looses and gains 5
miles on my hills not really a big deal on the transmission though.

~~~
zzalpha
_Or possibly have to stop on a hill and accidently hit someone behind you or
in front._

I take it no one taught you how to start on a hill in a manual using the
handbrake?

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jessaustin
_Americans just don 't want to be bothered with the chore of working a clutch
with their left foot and shifting with their right._

It's my impression that more American drivers use their right _hand_ to shift,
rather than their right foot.

