12/23/2023 0 Comments 2022 stick shift cars![]() You don’t see James Bond fumbling for a capacitive-touch button to fire an ejector seat, do you? No, it’s a purposeful switch, one that’s likely satisfying to use even if it doesn’t result in a baddie being voluntold into the space program. Most everything is better when it requires mechanical involvement. ![]() People of all ages can appreciate that manual gearboxes are just fun. However, I reckon it’s more than just youthful exuberance spurring a manual gearbox resurgence. An unnatural two-thirds of my rented student house driveway featured three-pedal cars, and my one housemate who didn’t have a manual bought a brand new manual Elantra GT after graduation. ![]() Fellow students with even a modicum of automotive interest were stoked when I said yes. Far and away, the most popular question asked about my 2004 Infiniti G35 while I was in college was if it was a six-speed. Mini commissioned a survey of 1,000 people and found that, “Impressively, two thirds (67%) of younger respondents aged 18-34 were most eager to learn to drive a manual transmission car.” While I could see the data set being skewed as respondents could be more likely to be enthusiasts, that’s compelling stuff.Īs a fellow youth raised on Superbad, Odd Future, and Skate 3, anecdotal experience indicates that there’s truth behind the numbers. What’s more, Mazda claims that roughly a quarter of manual Miata buyers last year were between the ages of 18 and 35, or roughly eight years of the Gen Z demographic and a decade’s worth of Millennials. Acura claims that more than half of manual Integra buyers are between the ages of 18 and 43, so Gen Z is playing some role there. Admittedly, it has some strong statistics to back this up. Yes, the Wall Street Journal claims that it’s not collectors or Luddites propping up the manual gearbox, it’s Generation Z. The manual tax is seemingly everywhere, but who is driving it? When in doubt, blame the kids. Manual examples of the BMW 3-Series are more coveted than their automatic counterparts manual Mazda MX-5s are more desirable to spec racers and weekend warriors than slushbox roadsters are manual W204 Mercedes-Benz C300s often carry a premium over automatic cars despite having genuinely awful shifter feel. However, it’s not just the exotics of the world seeing a manual tax on their heads. ![]() For context, that single-clutch automated manual E-gear gearbox carried a $10,000 premium over the gated manual on new 2007 cars according to Car And Driver. One of the most outrageous examples of this comes courtesy of a Hagerty valuation report claiming that manual Lamborghini Murcielago examples carry a 35 percent premium over two-pedal models. Hop over to your used car classified site of preference, punch in an enthusiast car available with two or three pedals, and you’ll likely see that manual models command a premium. It’s not just new cars that are seeing a manual boost. ![]()
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