Art Of The Thrill

We explore how the worlds of travel, fashion, and motoring continue to keep things exciting and interesting—and what they really deliver.

- Words: Amos Chin, Haziq Yusof, and Low Weixian

THE STICK SHIFT’S LAST STAND

Despite declining production, there has been an unexpected resurgence of the manual transmission.

The manual gearbox is, by all accounts, a relic. In today’s world—where dual-clutch transmissions shift quicker and more seamlessly than human reflexes, and automatic cars outnumber manuals by a laughable margin—the days of the stick shift seem all but over. The statistics are damning: in Singapore, they’re virtually extinct outside commercial vehicles, while in the US, only about 1.7 per cent of new cars sold in 2023 featured a manual gearbox. Even Ferrari hasn’t produced a manual since discontinuing the 599 GBT Fiorano in 2013.

And yet, somehow, the manual transmission refuses to die.

The argument against it is loud and clear. Manual cars are slower, less fuel-efficient, and in an era when supercars flirt with four-figure horsepower without breaking a sweat, they’re objectively outclassed. Why fumble with a clutch when an automatic can shift in milliseconds?

Simply because efficiency doesn’t always equate to excitement. It’s not just about outright speed—especially not in a manual—it’s about engagement. The art of the heel-toe downshift, the satisfaction of a perfectly executed gear change, and most importantly, the feeling that you, not a computerised brain buried beneath the bonnet, are in control.

For something supposedly on life support, the manual gearbox is surprisingly well-represented. Porsche, Toyota, Aston Martin, and even BMW continue to offer stick shifts in select models. And these aren’t entry-level runabouts—they're serious, performance-focused machines.