Some of us may be reluctant to admit it, but manual cars are on the decline. The rise of electrification has contributed towards automatics becoming the default option for countless motorists, so finding the very best manual cars means delving into both the new and used car worlds.
Our expert road testers have rounded up their picks of the cars that provide the perfect three-pedal experience. Ranging from stripped-back sports cars to sensible superminis, these top manual cars will have you rowing through cogs with a smile on your face.
By Shane Wilkinson, as drivers’ cars continue to rise in price and complexity, the Mazda MX-5 continues to stand proudly as an analogue sports car for the masses. To be fair, you can pick any generation of MX-5 if you want a great manual gearbox, but I feel that the current ND generation strikes a superb balance between old-fashioned engagement and modern-day usability.
View Price on AmazonThe same formula has been applied to this lightweight car for decades: plonk a revvy, naturally aspirated engine at the front, a manual gearbox and folding roof in the middle, and send drive to the rear. The MX-5 certainly isn’t a technological phenomenon, nor is it an outright powerhouse, but it is a car that offers pure driving fun, and the manual shift is a fundamental part of that.
As a way of gaining instant credibility for your new supercar, making it look as jaw-dropping as the Audi R8 did when it landed in 2006 was important, but giving it an iconic stainless steel gate for the manual gear lever was a masterstroke.
It simply turns every shift into an event, the click-clack as you knock the tactile gearlever backwards and forwards being an experience only felt in the most Italian of supercars. And it works, too – it might look like you need to be precise when going diagonally in particular, but it’s slick.
The final FL5 Honda Civic Type R has what I deem to be one of the most satisfying gearshifts of all time. The cold, metal lever sits at the perfect height and shifts with a delightfully mechanical quality. A short throw between each ratio is then accompanied by a satisfying thunk, a near-perfectly weighted clutch and the riotous howl of the Type R’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, which loves to be revved hard.
For me, the very best driver’s cars aren’t necessarily the fastest. Cars that require a bit of work are, ultimately, the ones that end up offering more reward. And in my opinion, there’s nothing more rewarding than a Caterham Seven.
Key to the Seven’s appeal is the short-throw, five-speed manual gearbox, such as the one in the 310S test car we ran in 2016. Sitting low in the cabin, you don’t want a long lever that gives the sense you’re rowing through the gears; the stubby shifter, sunken in the tall transmission tunnel and crowned by a tactile metal sphere, has to be one of the best combinations known to mankind.
The new Porsche 911 Carrera T is one of the few high-end sports cars on sale today featuring a manual transmission, which in itself is something worth honouring. But more than that, this is a celebration of the do-it-yourself way of changing gears that strips things back to deliver a purer and more engaging driving experience.
Source: autoexpress.co.uk
