The 20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance

[question everything]

Stick-shift loyalists aren’t taking the electric-car revolution lying down.

Following a decadeslong decline, three-pedaled vehicles are experiencing a modest but real resurgence. Manuals accounted for 1.7% of total new vehicle sales in 2023, according to data analytics company J.D. Power, up from 1.2% last year and a low of 0.9% in 2021. The Autotrader marketplace reports a 13% rise in page views for new manual cars in 2023 compared with this time last year.

Manual sedans no longer necessarily get better fuel mileage, cost less or accelerate faster than automatic ones do, auto pros say. Drivers who are sticking with sticks say that taking control of their clutches not only makes driving more fun but also provides a counter to an increasingly automated world—especially as more buyers shift to mostly single-gear electric vehicles.

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Mini recently added three new models to its lineup of stick shifts, with four more coming this month. Manual is now the only option on three of Mazda Motor Corp.’s five versions of MX-5 Miata. Acura brought a manual option back to the Integra in June after discontinuing stick shifts in its lineup in 2015. The company is releasing a higher-performance Integra with no automatic option later this year.

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Manufacturers acknowledge that traditional stick shifts might not be around forever as they take their fleets electric. Manufacturers sold 43 different manual models in 2022, according to J.D. Power, compared with 69 in 2019. While a few EVs do have more than one gear, auto makers are still figuring out how to translate the experience of maneuvering a manual to their electric car lineups more broadly. The hashtag #SaveTheManuals has already taken off on social media in the face of fewer stick models. Posts featuring the hashtag have generated some 435 million views on TikTok.

https://archive.is/jEVDj

[SheltieLover]

1. Good luck to them. Many mfrs have cheaped out & only offer cvt trannys.

Wtf wants a damned rubber band instead of gears?

[Old Crank]

10. Dammed rubber band

On our 2006 Prius was still working at 200,000 miles and second owner before other major parts gave out.

The only problem I had was the hesitation if you hit the throttle hard before it picked the right ratio.

[PJMcK]

2. My son is like this

26-years old. Drives a Mazda Miata with a 5-speed manual transmission. Drove it cross country and back during the Pandemic to hike in National Parks. Loves his car!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I've been driving 60+ years and have never owned an automatic. Still shifting after all

these years!

[yonder]

5. Same here, both of us...EXCEPT for the Fit we bought in 2016

which I love driving. Still, I think it would be sportier yet with a manual and can imagine it would be a blast to heel-and-toe it around an autocross course somewhere.

[Scottie Mom]

4. Soooooooo much fun on the 405 during commute times!

I had a Miata way back when. Loved the car except during rush hour on a busy Calif freeway.
😭

[2naSalit]

6. I hate automatics...

But have one. I also still have a 5 speed manual that I will never get rid of, I love it, had it for decades, just restored the underneath stuff, body next. If I pare down, the automatic goes. I live where I drive on a whole lot more then just pavement so I need total control from the cabin to the tread, period. I can't trust an automatic in many places.

I used to drive semis, they had automatics back then but I never used one. Don't know that I'd want to.

I hope they manage to make electrics with manual transmissions somehow.

[hvn_nbr_2]

7. I once left a car salesman speechless with my reason for wanting a stick shift

I was looking at a model that didn't have a stick shift available. Back in those days, I used to go camping in a lot of remote places. Recalling one such place, I told the salesman, "When I'm driving on a steep and twisty one-lane dirt and gravel road on the edge of a 3000-foot cliff with no guardrail in a wind-rain-and-fog storm, I don't want a machine deciding to shift gears for me." He just looked at me and had no response.

[Auggie]

8. Our 23 year old VW is a stick. I love driving it ...

keeps you present.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

9. My first car was a '66 Chevy Caprice with a 4 speed...

...a Muncie M-20.

[Best_man23]

14. Muncie M-20, that is an appliance of reliance

Had to really do something stupid to break one of them.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. My cousin had one in his '68 Impala.

Downshifted to 2nd at 90 to outrun a cop.
Did lose the cop but stripped all the teeth off the counter gear.

[Old Crank]

11. Moved to Germany and no longer have a car

Every car I rent here is a manual transmission. You pay more for auto.
Every car I rent in the US is an auto. I actually prefer auto in heavy traffic situations.
Driven many manuals, 3 speed column shifts with no synchro lows, 4-5, and 6 speed cars.
5 speed trucks with split rear ends, making it 10 speeds. Including 13 speed roadranger tractor trailers.

My favorite bike is a 30 speed.

[Old Crank]

12. Here in Germany

If you need to take your driver's license with a manual or you can only drive a car with an auto.

[Martin Eden]

13. All my cars since 1980 have been 5 speed manuals

I've always felt more attuned to the engine and more engaged as a driver when shifting my own gears. My current car is a 2016 VW Golf TSI, and it's really quite fun to drive with its little turbocharged engine. Very practical and economic as well.

Fuel economy and the environment have always been very important to me, so this may be my last internal combustion engine vehicle (which means my last clutch as well). I normally don't keep a car much beyond 10 years, but I want to hold out for the new solid state batteries.

My wife has been even more devoted to 3 pedal driving. She had three Subaru Outbacks, but 2014 was the last year that model was offered with a stick. Late last year she bought a 2023 Crosstrek with a 6 speed manual, which she'll likely keep a long time because Subaru will only have automatics on its crossover SUV's going forward.

We're in our mid-late 60's, and it's good to hear some young people are embracing the joys of three pedal driving.

[Mosby]

16. Tiptronic is really nice to have

Especially driving a 4 cylinder in the hills/mountains. So the benefits of manuals hasn't gone away, I wish they would stop with the number of gears, though.

[Old Crank]

17. Was readign a week or so ago

that BMW is going to drop the manuals for theri M series cars.
Not as efficient, not a reliable and don't shift as fast.

Electrics don't need changeable gears. The motor can run from 0 to 10/20 thousand RPM.

[NBachers]

18. Keepin' my 2005 Ford Focus with its 5-speed. I live in San Francisco and do a lot of hill & mountain

driving.

We drove up to Oregon a few weeks ago; and then down to LA the next weekend. We took the winding roads across the state and down the coast. I made good use of the gears and clutch on those twisty mountain roads.

We do a lot of exploring down in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and I always take the twisty roads home instead of the freeway. The clutch & gears really enhance the experience.