Row-your-own sports cars are endangered, but they give so much more engagement than an auto
There is no longer any objective argument to be made for the manual gearbox or, by extension, against the automatic gearbox. Automatics, whether dual-clutch or of the conventional planetary type, are faster, smoother, more convenient and more efficient than the old-fashioned H-pattern transmission with a lever and a clutch pedal.
This, then, is not an objective argument but an emotional one. I love a good manual gearbox, and I’m extremely pleased cars like the new McLaren McL 6GT are bringing them back in a big way.
Once upon a time, automatic gearboxes were slow and wasted energy with their slushy torque converters, while automated manuals were slow and jerky. Some are still a bit like that, but many now operate with clinical efficiency.
Even so, at best automatics bore me. They go about their business smoothly and quickly but, even if they have a responsive manual mode and some tactile paddles, as a driver I don’t feel like an essential part of the equation.
As a result, any driving satisfaction is necessarily derived from winding the engine out and pushing the chassis. Everything else is just transit. But those delights require a certain level of commitment and speed, which isn’t always possible, let alone advisable, on the road.
Add a good manual gearbox into the mix and everything changes. ‘Good’ is an important caveat, it must be said. What constitutes ‘good’ varies by personal taste, but it’s uncontroversial to say that long-throw, baggy shifts are no good to anyone. If the action is precise and mechanical, however, with a predictable and manageable throw on the clutch pedal, a manual adds a huge extra dimension to driving.
Straights, boring A-roads and jaunts through town become an opportunity to interact with the mechanicals of the car, to hone your skill. Every manual car has a certain speed and cadence of gearchange where the lever slips effortlessly out of one gear and then almost gets sucked into the next. Finding it can take a bit of time and attention, but it’s very satisfying when you do.
It’s the same with rev-matching on downshifts. Of course, you can just slip the clutch a bit and lurch into a lower gear. The driving test doesn’t require anything more sophisticated and it works fine for most people. But once you master the art of heel-and-toeing to match engine speed and gearbox speed for seamless downchanges, it’s a game you can play over and over again, no matter whether you’re on a track day or going between third and second in traffic.
I can see how that’s perceived as a chore if you’re just trying to get from A to B, but I’m never just going from A to B: I’d like to enjoy the driving while I’m at it, even if it’s not a special journey. I don’t care that the auto is faster: you can’t go very fast on the road anyway and I’m not in a race. I want to savour the mechanical interaction.
McLaren gets this. In creating the new six-speed McL 6GT, it says it has strived to achieve the strongest link between man and machine possible, to give “a form of driving connection that is increasingly rare: tactile, analogue, and deeply mechanical”.
“Every shift, throttle movement and steering input is intended to feel deliberate, physical, and rewarding, connecting the driver to the machine,” it says. “This mechanical character extends beyond the drivetrain. Hydraulic steering, tactile switchgear, and visible engineering details all contribute to a sense of purity of involvement for the driver.” Promising.
With hybrids, electric cars and combustion engine bans, things are only heading one way for the manual, and I find the idea of simulated gearboxes – like that in the new Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale – a bit too ‘vegan sausage’ to be more than a whimsical gimmick.
Perhaps surprisingly, then, the EV transition doesn’t bother me too much, because I find having no gearbox preferable to an automatic one, since it can afford instant responses and I like the mechanical purity of an EV.
As a result, a two-car garage of an EV and something old with a really special engine and a manual gearbox would probably keep me happy.
What would it be, though? The Frontline MGB restomod that I drove last year, with its Mazda MX-5-sourced six-speed, had my favourite manual shift so far – not a bad place to start.
