According to the 2024 EPA Automotive Trends report, nearly 35 percent of all new vehicle models sold in 1980 were equipped with a manual transmission, but for 2024, that number has shrunk to below 1 percent. The manual transmission is functionally dead in America. Britain and Europe hang on slightly longer, but the trend is identical everywhere. Yet 67 percent of drivers 18 to 34 years old say they want to learn. The skill is vanishing precisely as interest in acquiring it increases. That contradiction defines the entire debate.
The Case for Manual Superiority
The arguments in favor carry genuine merit. Because operating a manual transmission requires a lot more attention, concentration, and synchronization than driving an automatic, you're instantly more alert behind the wheel. There's just never a dull moment when driving stick, because if you decide to laze it out on one of the transmission sequence's key movements, you're either going to break the car or crash it.
That's not exaggeration. Manual driving demands continuous engagement. With a stick shift, you have to coordinate multiple tasks at the same time. An automatic transmission requires two pedal operation, while driving a stick shift requires three pedals. Moreover, you're also modulating the throttle and predicting traffic conditions to select an appropriate gear. Your brain stays active. Your attention stays focused. The phone stays in your pocket because coordinating clutch, gear selection, throttle input, and traffic awareness simultaneously makes scrolling Instagram physically impossible.
Mastering gear changes, clutch control, and engine speed can make you a more competent driver overall. Cars are complex, and it often seems like only experienced mechanics understand them. A manual transmission offers you a way to understand how power is being delivered, why rpm matter, and what the clutch actually does. You develop mechanical sympathy, an intuitive understanding of what the car is doing and why. That knowledge translates to better decision making regardless of what you're driving.
Fuel efficiency remains debatable but real in skilled hands. When executed correctly, gear shifting can improve fuel efficiency by 15 to 20 percent. A skilled driver with a manual transmission can achieve good gas mileage because you control exactly when to shift. You can short shift to keep RPMs low during relaxed cruising. You can skip gears when appropriate. You can coast in neutral or use engine braking instead of riding the brakes in traffic. Automatics optimize for average drivers in average conditions. Manuals adapt to your specific situation if you know what you're doing.
The Case Against Manual Gatekeeping
Now the uncomfortable truths that manual enthusiasts hate acknowledging. A manual transmission is often second best on the track. If you're driving a modern performance car, the automatic transmission will outshift you. The same goes for a dual clutch or any other self shifting gearbox. There's no denying it: modern transmissions are just that good. The Porsche 911 PDK shifts faster than any human. The Ferrari DCT is quicker. The ZF eight speed in everything from BMWs to Ram trucks executes perfect shifts while you're still thinking about it.
There is nothing more frustrating than trudging through heavy traffic with nothing but fond memories of the last time you hit third gear. Unfortunately, that's most of your life if your daily driver has a manual gearbox. City traffic with a manual is misery. Left leg cramping from clutch work. Right hand perpetually moving between first, second, neutral, first again. Stop. Start. Creep forward three feet. Repeat for forty minutes. An automatic lets you zone out. A manual demands constant attention for zero reward because you're moving twelve feet per minute regardless of transmission choice.
Automatic transmissions have widespread advantages, ranging from higher fuel efficiency to increased integration with related vehicle systems, including driver assist technology as we inch toward self driving cars. The modern ZF eight speed, the GM ten speed, the Aisin units in everything Toyota makes, they're all more efficient than manuals now. They shift at optimal points every time. They lock torque converters for direct drive. They skip gears intelligently. The fuel economy argument died somewhere around 2015 when automatics caught up and then surpassed manuals in EPA testing.
According to Ahmed Raza, co founder and CEO of the Manual Driving Academy, 66 percent of drivers claim to be able to drive stick, but only about 18 percent actually are capable. That's the reality behind the gatekeeping. Most people who learned on manuals can't actually drive them competently. They can make the car move without stalling. That's not the same as smooth rev matched downshifts and heel toe technique. The skill isn't binary. It's a spectrum from barely functional to genuinely masterful, and most manual drivers cluster toward the barely functional end.
Where This Actually Matters
There are 27 manual models available domestically in 2025, mostly performance and sports cars. About 70 percent of Mazda Miatas were ordered with manuals in 2024, and 77 percent of Subaru BRZ owners opted for them last year. The manual survives in enthusiast cars because enthusiast drivers still want them. Not because they're objectively superior but because they're subjectively more engaging.
Nothing connects you to the driving experience like a car with a manual transmission. Every shift requires thought, timing, and skill. You're not just operating the car, you're partnering with it. The satisfying snick of a perfectly executed shift, the direct connection between you and the machine, the pure engagement that makes even a grocery run feel like an adventure. That's the real argument. Not competence. Not superiority. Connection.
As automatic transmissions continue to dominate the market, the skill of driving a manual car is slowly becoming a rarity. Yet there is a certain level of satisfaction and accomplishment derived from mastering the coordination between the clutch and the gears. It's an art and a unique skill. The rarity increases the value. As manuals vanish, the ability to drive one becomes more distinctive, not less.
The Accidental Anti Theft Device
Fewer than 20 percent of Americans know how to drive a stick shift, and that number drops even lower among younger demographics. Car thieves typically want quick, easy targets. When confronted with three pedals and a gear shifter, many would be thieves simply move on to an easier mark. There have been multiple news stories of attempted car thefts foiled simply because the thief couldn't figure out how to operate the manual transmission.
This is real. Opportunistic thieves can't steal what they can't drive. Professional thieves with target lists will figure it out or bring someone who can. But the random smash and grab? Your manual becomes significantly less appealing. It's security through obsolescence.
The Bottom Line
If you can't drive a manual, you're not a worse driver. You're a driver who learned on automatics in an era where automatics are objectively better at the mechanical task of changing gears. That's fine. Most people are. The manual transmission is vanishing because market forces decided convenience matters more than engagement for the overwhelming majority of buyers.
But if you can drive a manual, genuinely drive one with smoothness and mechanical sympathy, you've acquired a skill that's increasingly rare and genuinely useful. Being skilled in driving a manual transmission car can set you apart. This ability can be particularly valuable if you ever need to rent a vehicle in a region where manual cars are more prevalent. It also opens up options if you choose to own a classic or performance car, many of which still utilize manual transmissions.
The gatekeeping is nonsense. Declaring someone not a proper driver because they learned on automatics is elitist rubbish from people who confuse personal preference with universal truth. But the underlying skills manuals teach, the engagement they demand, the connection they provide, those are real and valuable.
The technical superiority is definitely with the automatic today. But then the compact disc offers many advantages over the LP, longer playing time, quieter playing without scratches and pops, ease of storage, and that hasn't stopped people from rejuvenating the format. Manuals are the vinyl records of transmissions. Technically inferior. Objectively less convenient. Subjectively more satisfying to people who value the ritual and tactile experience.
Drive what you want. Learn manual if it interests you. Skip it if it doesn't. But maybe drop the proper driver gatekeeping. The person piloting a Tesla Model 3 Plaid to 60mph in 2.1 seconds via software is no less a proper driver than someone rowing through gears in a Miata. They're just optimizing for different priorities. Both are valid. Both are driving. And both will eventually be passengers anyway once autonomous vehicles finish replacing us all.
