Does it make sense to drive a car with a manual transmission? In 2024, going into 2025, this might not sound like a good idea, but it could be.

There was a time when cars with manual transmissions were the norm. Every driver knew how to row gears and didn’t mind using their left foot for that third pedal. In fact, cars with automatic transmissions were often a luxury, and having this automatic shifter cost more, causing vehicles to lose some fuel mileage. That’s no longer the case, which makes us wonder what drivers should have a manual transmission.

Automatics shift faster and are more efficient

In today’s market, the automatic transmission wins out. When computers were added to our vehicles, things began to change. The computers can provide impressive shift mapping that translates to better performance. Many automatic transmissions have eight or ten gears, which means smoother shifting and better shifting whether you’re trying to improve your fuel mileage on the road or 0-60 mph time at the track.

Additionally, hybrids and EVs utilize automatic transmissions, which means these future cars are made to handle the shifting without driver input. To be completely fair, most EVs utilize a single-speed transmission, and most hybrids have CVTs, but these vehicles wouldn’t perform as well as they could if they were equipped with manual transmissions.

Traffic sucks with a manual

Driving a car equipped with a manual transmission isn’t fun when you’re stuck in traffic. You’ll wonder if you can ever find third gear again and will wish you had a new car with an automatic and Level 2 self-driving to handle some of your traffic challenges. Driving around in a city can be a serious challenge when you have a stick shift and not an automatic, creating a stressful drive to wherever you need to go.

Cruise Control – It Matters

If you demand that you drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, there’s a good chance you won’t see cruise control offered. If it is offered, it will be an antiquated version, not the new adaptive cruise control that helps to adjust your speed based on the traffic in front of your car. This means you’ve got to keep your foot on the accelerator and handle any speed adjustments required on the highway. You’ll quickly become jealous of those drivers who have an automatic and simply set it and forget it while focusing only on steering.

Lap Times Suffer

The shift is complete, and sports cars are faster around the track when equipped with a high-performance automatic transmission. The same goes for a dual-clutch system or any type of transmission that does the shifting for you. Regardless of how good the manual is supposed to be, it’s simply not a match for an automatic. The only way you’ll have an advantage with a manual gearbox is to have a competition with cars that all have the same type of transmission. Otherwise, modern automatics are much better at shifting quickly and delivering better lap times.

You need a manual for drifting

It is possible to drift a car with an automatic transmission, but it’s much easier to get the back end sliding when you dump the clutch and allow the car to kick it out. This means a manual transmission can be much better for getting your car to enter the drift and get going. This won’t help you maintain a drift, but that’s a factor of steering angle and being able to initiate oversteer. In the modern world, drifting is one of the most significant uses of a stick shifter, and it can be the biggest reason for some drivers to have one.

Many high-end sports cars still have them

If you want to be able to drive many high-end sports cars, you’ve got to know how to drive a car with a manual transmission. In fact, some performance-oriented models of our regular cars start by only offering manual transmissions, but some eventually cave and add the automatics during the second or third model year of these performance cars.

Why should you drive a car with a manual transmission?

There aren’t any practical reasons to drive a car with a stick shift, but many car enthusiasts still love to drive them. These cars provide the added driving engagement to link a driver with their car in a way that an automatic transmission simply cannot. When you want driving engagement and fun and don’t care about all that other stuff, a fun car with a manual transmission can be the perfect vehicle for you.