The manual transmission was once the default, with automatics seen as a luxury or convenience option. Eventually, the tide shifted because the great unwashed wanted autos. Manuals are still hanging on in the market, but they’re getting thin on the ground.
Today we’re going to look at the manuals that are still available in the US market, lining them up by the number of gears. Why? Because it’s fun!
Obviously, you’re not going to find three-speed manuals on the market anymore. Furthermore, manuals tend to top out at seven speeds, with eight gears and beyond solely the purview of automatics and DCTs. Also, we’re only looking at old-school three-pedal manuals. None of that fancy automated stuff here, and the less said about CVTs, the better. Let’s dive in.
Five Speeds
There is just one five-speed manual still on sale in the United States. It’s the budget queen that you know and tolerate—the Nissan Versa! It’s been on sale since 2019 and still rocks a five-speed box, namely, the Nissan RS5F91R.
An honorable mention here to the Mitsubishi Mirage. It could still be had with a manual gearbox in 2022, but no longer. Car and Driver‘s stats page says it’s still around, but Mitsubishi’s marketing materials and forum posts indicate it’s long gone. Rumor has it you could still get one in Canada for the 2023 model year. The Subaru Impreza also had a five-speed, but it was dropped for 2024.
Six Speeds
The vast majority of manuals still for sale feature six-speed gearboxes. It’s little surprise, as most are performance models rather than budget options.
Starting with American makes, the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing get six speeds, along with the Chevrolet Camaro. Forget Dodge, though, because they’re not building any manuals for the 2024 model year. Rounding out the big three offerings are the six-speed Ford Mustang, Jeep Gladiator, and Jeep Wrangler for good measure.
Where Asian automakers are concerned, Acura kicks things off with the Integra Type S. You can have a six-speed Honda Civic in certain trims, along with the Civic Si and Type-R. The Hyundai Elantra N also gets a six-speed box, as does the Kia Forte GT. The Mazda 3 and MX-5 Miata both get six-speed boxes, too, as does the Nissan Z. The Subaru BRZ and WRX get six speeds as well. Toyota puts six gears in the GR Corolla, GR86, Supra, and Tacoma as well.
Looking to Germany, the BMW M2, M3, and M4 all get six speeds. The Z4 also gets one, too. Over at Stuttgart, the Porsche 718 is similarly equipped. As for more humble transportation, the Volkswagen Jetta, Golf GTI, and Golf R all get six-speed boxes too.
We’ll also make an honorable mention here to the Subaru Crosstrek, which lost its six-speed box for the 2024 model year.
And what of the Brits? We drove the last stick-shift Lotus ever, the Emira, and it had six glorious gears. Also, don’t forget the Mini Cooper!
Seven Speeds
Seven-speed manuals are considered a bit oddball, namely because they have to over-extend the H-pattern to fit all the gears in. Nevertheless, some automakers have gone down that route regardless.
Most notable was Porsche, which has outfitted the 911 with a seven-speed manual for some time now. It’s a hilarious shifter, but it’s not hurting sales any.
The other surprising inclusion here is the Ford Bronco. Some call it a “6+1” transmission, with six regular speeds and a “crawler” gear. In reality, it’s got seven forward speeds so we’re calling it a seven-speed manual.
Concentration
Most automakers have always converged to similar gearbox options in any given era. Today’s market is actually pretty diverse for transmission options, it’s just that options are limited when it comes to manuals.
There aren’t a great many manuals on sale today, but there are plenty of good ones. If you’ve been eyeing off any of the cars on this list, perhaps it’s time to head out and take a test drive. Vote with your dollars to show the automakers we’re not done with the manual gearbox just yet!
Image credits: Porsche, Nissan, Lewin Day, Ford, Hyundai, Cadillac
My Jeep is an auto (bought used and couldn’t find one with all the options I wanted, so I had to compromise on the AT). The is pretty good but I miss my clutch and still don’t know what to do with my left foot most of the time…
Anyone up to attempt a transmission swap with me in the future? jk
I think the most impressive manual shift car was the Mustang Steve McQueen drove in “Bullet.” It was simply the most complicated transmission, with no fewer than 22 gears! We counted. The big mystery was the shift pattern. It was never shown from an angle that would allow you to see how this incredibly advanced and complicated tranny was shifted.
I learnt on a manual*, my first car was a manual, and every car I’ve owned since has been a manual, and so I actually find automatics tricky to drive.
My left foot is so used to hitting the clutch, in an auto I stamp on the brake pedal every time the revs rise, which results in a fairly jerky driving experience.
I sometimes wonder what I’ll do when there’s no new manual cars available, but then I usually buy cars that are 15-20 years old, so I’ve still got a few decades before I have to worry about that.
*(because I’m a Brit and didn’t want to be stuck with an auto-only license)
I have a friend who bought an Si to teach his son how to drive manual a couple years ago. By the time my son is driving, I wonder if it’s even worth teaching him. I expect there will be no manuals for sale by then, except for cash grabs from a company like Porsche.
I bet that BMW, Stellantis, Ford, and GM are all on their last MT models right now. Probably Honda, too. Maybe the “NE” Miata will still be manual, but that may be one of the only holdouts.
I hope Porsche continues to kill off the manual, then bring it back as a special edition that people profoundly over-pay for, then bring the manual back as a regular option the following model year. I actually enjoyed that a few years ago.
Mazda’s 6-speed is trash. The gearing is way off where the difference from 5th to 6th is non existent (why isn’t 6th a super tall gear for highway cruising??), and anything over 115 klm/hr is revving too high, useless. Also, theres a TSB about the syncro’s (had mine go out from 2nd to 3rd and had to get a new gearbox put in under warranty). Driving that rental mazda made me realize their auto was better than their manual. YMMV
Every. Single. Manual. Has this same problem. Fifth should be longer and sixth should be a cruising gear. Why nobody does that boggles the mind
One of the retirement jobs my FILhad was a shuttle driver for Hertz. Whenever a hot new perfromance car needed to be shuttled, my FIL got to drive as he was the only one in the crew who could drive a stick. Jaguar, Mustang, whatever. My FIL loaved that job in his 80s, but since it was on company time and risk, he didn’t push them hard.
“but since it was on company time and risk, he didn’t push them hard.”
Those sound like the exact perfect circumstances to push them hard. Nothing’s faster than a rental.
Depressingly short list, and getting shorter given quite a few of these are already on the chopping block.
As a person who has a closet full of manual transmission themed shirts from Blipshift and also owns 2 cars that came in stick shift only, I feel qualified to rant about the inevitable death of the manual transmission. But instead you get a story.
Many times early on when dating my future wife, I offered to teach her to drive a stick. She always declined. So I stopped asking. Fast forward about 15 years and I mention that it would be good for her to at least know how to drive a stick in case we are on a road trip in one of my cars and something prevents me from driving. She informs me that she “knows how to drive a stick”. Flabergasted, I asked her when she learned how to do that. She relied that “she has seen me do it often enough to know how to drive one”. LOL. If only life was that easy. I would know how to figure skate or throw a football 40 yards downfield. No practice required.
The hubris is strong
It took me ten years to get my wife to drive a manual. Now she insists on a third pedal.
This causes some problems as we’re currently shopping for a vehicle, and the options for a practical daily with a stick are very limited. I can only blame myself for putting that much effort into creating this problem.
Very suddenly missing my 1971 Volvo 144S 4 speed.