20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance

[ATCclears]

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.

"It's not a statement against electric cars so much as I'm going to try to enjoy the type of driving that's the most fun to me until I can't anymore," says 26-year-old Lucas Marcouiller, an engineering salesman in Warwick, R.I., who has purchased three manual vehicles.

The 20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance

Think the stick-shift car is dead? Not yet.

www.wsj.com

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[arakboss]

Finally we can get granny gear back.

 

[Pretengineer]

I fall squarely into this category, especially since my last manual vehicle was stolen and never found.

I'm probably the only twenty-something that wants a good 6 speed and peppy motor in a good station wagon with rear or awd and a fold flat third row too.

 

[Alexx1401]

Several years ago Wife and I moved to the other side of the damn county. So had to find something that got better gas MPG's. They were selling some new little KIA's at far less than stuff a few years old. At first I could not see why till I realized it was they were 6 speed manuals. The dealers had been sitting on them for over a year and could not sell them. So few people know how to drive one any more. They don't even teach it in Drivers Ed any more here. When I started asking at work I was shocked that so many of the people I work with had never in their life driven a vehicle with a manual.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's because 30 year old stickshifts are all anyone can afford these days.
Thanks, Joe!

 

[Provincial]

When my twins (boy and girl) got old enough to drive, I took them out in the hayfield in my grandfather's Jeep CJ2A and taught them how to drive a stick shift. When it came time to get them a car to drive to school, we bought an early '90's Accord with a stick shift. 8 years later, they both prefer driving that car to any other.

They would have driven the Jeep to school (4 miles) but my wife insisted on air bags, when I offered to put seat belts in the Jeep, as well as turn signals.

 

[Nosferatu]

My new bronco is a 7speed manual. The only downside is they only pair the manual with the 4-banger. It is, however, a 300hp, 330 lb/ft torque 4-banger, so it still scoots around quite well.

Hopefully they pick up steam and get paired with the higher-spec engines as well. That's when we know the MT is truly back!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

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.

"It's not a statement against electric cars so much as I'm going to try to enjoy the type of driving that's the most fun to me until I can't anymore," says 26-year-old Lucas Marcouiller, an engineering salesman in Warwick, R.I., who has purchased three manual vehicles.

The 20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance

Think the stick-shift car is dead? Not yet.

www.wsj.com

Some of the f1 type gearboxes perform much better than manual and are still a manual (i.e. no torque converter) but with a robotic clutch. I guess you would call them a semi-automatic ha ha. But for driving experience of a manual it's not close at all because there is no clutch pedal. If you have ever seen British touring car championship racing, they use these type of shifters (note that I am not talking about automatics that you can shift manually). I no longer own one but they are pretty amazing performance wise especially with launch control. They also rev match perfectly when down shifting which is a treat. I think I'm down to 2 manual shift cars now and 6 automatics. I need to sell some of these cars they just sit there. I miss heel-toe shifting. For fun and fairly inexpensive one of the most attractive ones out there right now would be the subaru/toyota brz/ 586 (or whatever they are called). Very driftable and would be a blast with a stick shift. Also a well maintained boxster or cayman are not that much $ and are great fun. Kind of miss my old boxster S 6 speed, but being a 2 seater they are more of a sports car than fun daily driver. That sound at 7,000 rpm is amazing though. I remember getting on it from a stop and quickly getting to 120mph and knowing I still had 2 more gears. That is pretty cool. Front end gets light and floaty at around 150mph though, it's more of a sportscar for the twisties than a high speed tourer. Definitely a stick shift gets you more involved and for me is way more fun. Wife hates them though so for reg cars it's not the best choice for us right now.

 

[albin25]

The last car I had to manually shift was wayyy back in the late 70's.
It was a '59 Triumph TR3 that I rebuilt …
… I really miss that car but I was young and stupid, and when my bride-to-be was unable to figure out how to shift, and after trying hard for many lessons, she drove it thru my Dads garage door…. we had to part ways

(the car, not the girl!)

 

[CamoDeafie]

2001 Kia Sportage 2wd 5 speed, that was the first and last manual I owned. Now it's an automatic with those "+/-" buttons/switches in a Dodge Grand Caravan GT for the family. I'd love to get one of those 2005-2010 Kia Sorentos with 4wd and manuals..... but can't afford that right now with paying my dad off for the van.. my parents own a 2018so Kia Sorento and it's not quite the same, being an unibody and FWD/AWD version, unlike the 2005-2010 Sorento that was body-on-frame with RWD/4X4 capacity. On the other hand, I kinda like the new Bronco Sport in looks and specs but I'm just concerned that it won't be exactly what I want...

 

[CamoDeafie]

Now if someone were to offer a 4x4/AWD van with 5-7 speed manual, and the ability to carry 6 adults and 2 weeks of gear for each adult, and get 25-30mpg and doesn't look like it belongs to a cult.... I'd be very interested in it

Edit. Closest probably would be one of those huge 6 door stretched custom pickups from shops like Sparks Motors

 

[Aero Denezol]

There is a resurgence of people interested in racing, from go-karts to video games. Netflix has a popular doc series about F1.

Life imitating art. Just like when Call of Duty came out and the $100 Mosin Nagants dried up overnight.

 

[Provincial]

My older brother and I bought a Model A Ford to drive to school with. It had a 3-speed manual transmission without sycnros, so you had to double clutch unless you wanted to wait for the 63 pound flywheel to slow down. Also to match gear speeds when downshifting.

We also had a 2N Ford tractor with a 3-speed transmission. One day my brother parked it head-in close the closed garage door. He hopped back on and put it in reverse, and drove into the door! Actually, he put it in second gear, which was in the same position as reverse on the Model A, and every other 3-speed floor shift transmission.

 

[monkeybutler]

I've been driving sticks for 35 years.

 

[Ruger Rich]

Both my girls learned to drive a 300 inch six, 4 speed manual Bronco, 1986 flavor.

I also had them learn how to change a tire and correctly hook up jumper cables.

They used to talk about their boyfriends that only drove auoto's.

 

[ATCclears]

My daily driver is now a Honda with a 5-speed manual. I enjoy it for the manual transmission.

 

[Alexx1401]

I can't remember if WA ever had the restricted license or not but to pass Drivers Ed you had to be proficient in a manual. When I went to AZ you either had to take the driving test in a manual or you got a license that said you could only drive an auto. Seemed like a good idea to me. Back then many low end imports were coming in that were manual. People who had never driven one would run out and buy one and then try to learn on the fly. Was often quite humorous to watch.

 

[TTSX]

I have a Dodge with a 5 speed, including granny gear so it's really just a 4 speed. Sure would be nice to have one more gear

 

[parallax]

Working for a rancher after school, weekends and summer in Nevada I saved enough money to buy a vehicle, it was a sand rail made from a corvair engine 4- speed some old ranch hand taught me how to drive it I would spend my spare time exploring the old mines, mining shacks, and mountains around the area. Sometimes while high in the mountains I could see military jets doing training in the valley below occasionally they would see me and give me a fly by wave, or maybe use me for simulated target practice I was 12-13 years old at the time not a care in the world It was a different time back then not like today

 

[made in china]

My son is 2 weeks away from getting his permit.

I have been actively seeking out MT vehicles for a few reasons:

-I prefer MT, and since my commute went from 37 miles on I-5 in soul-crushing Seattle traffic to a 7 minute back-roads drive, I can now get a MT again
-Many, Many of the newer vehicles I am looking at (2007-2015) have automatic transmissions with a bad reputation but the rest of the vehicle is solid. This seem to begin when manufacturers moved out of 4AT and into CVTs and more than 4 gear automatics...
-Less likely to be stolen.
-Might force my son to focus on the driving, as it demands involvement.
-I have noticed MT versions of vehicles are slightly less expensive, and I feel if I pursue one I might be able to negotiate further savings...

So far, I have been very interested in the newer Accords with the 6MT (well, 2008 and up, I guess that's new to me), I have found a few Nissan Frontier 4WD V6 trucks with 6MT....
Getting a 10 year old vehicle with over 100K on it is a daunting search, vehicle prices are still too high, but by going with MT I can reduce the maintenance costs and probably get a good deal

It'd be nice to find something new enough that it has all the airbags, including curtains....