Once the choice of both sports car purists and miserly economy car buyers, the manual transmission has just about completed its radical transformation into a low-volume (and sometimes extra-cost) special feature for a select few cars—and fewer trucks. The “standard” transmission now appeals only to a niche set of connoisseurs who are willing to pay for the privilege of rowing their own gears. While most base-model vehicles now come with a standard automatic, the Mustang, Elantra, and some others still use the manual as the base transmission for their high-power models. One of the last outliers of the old ways was Nissan with its Versa, which was the only car left with a five-speed, and the cheapest model still available with a manual. Sadly, it’s no more. In addition, other three-pedal cars, such as the Camaro, Mini, Golf GTI and Golf R, and Forte are now either gone or two-pedal only. Here’s what’s left.
AI Quick Summary
Manual transmissions, once common in sports and economy cars, are now mostly found in enthusiast vehicles and often cost extra. A few models, including the Mustang and Elantra, still offer manual transmissions in high-power variants, and there are even more stick-shift vehicles available from more than 10 manufacturers.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article
