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Payne: Five manual hotties vie for best stick
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 7, 2024
Charlevoix — I tested more new manual vehicles this summer/fall than I did electric vehicles: the Honda Civic Si, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Subaru BRZ tS, Toyota GR Corolla, Volkswagen Jetta GLI. All 6-speeds, all joy.
It’s a telling sign as EV sales slow amid indications they are a niche segment, not the mass market many brands and their government allies foresee. An electric motor-driven future would make manual-transmission, internal combustion-engine gearboxes obsolete. Yet, a key ingredient that EVs have been missing is the enthusiast community, as electrics have largely been adopted by luxury and green-class buyers who like their smooth ride.
Enthusiasts, meanwhile, like to be in charge. Pun intended.
Go to an autocross, track day or empty country road, and you will find manuals galore. Drivers rowing boxes, heel-and-toeing, slipping the clutch for burnouts, banging off the redline. EV motors lack that visceral thrill while their accompanying batteries make performance cars heavier and less maneuverable. There are lotsa drag strip videos of Teslas blowing away muscle cars. Outmaneuvering sportscars in the twisties? Not so much.
“This electric transition has generated zero enthusiasm among the motorsports enthusiasts who have always stood in the middle of what’s popular,” said fellow SCCA racer Jack Baruth. “This is the first time in automotive history that we’ve had a class of cars aimed at everyday purchasers … and there is no motorsports interest.”
When EVs reach for emotion, they feel compelled to mimic a manual. The wicked-quick electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, for example, has a GRIN SHIFT mode for fake shifting sounds. Would a flying car mimic squealing tires on turns?
Meanwhile, ICE brands continue to perfect sticks — and target the niche audience that covets them. Gone are the days when manuals were the cheapest thing on the lot. The Civic Si, MX-5 Miata, BRZ tS, GR Corolla and Jetta GLI are all affordable pocket rockets with a common goal: put a smile on your face.
Here’s how I rank ‘em.
5) VW Jetta GLI. The GLI is the sedan sibling to VW’s famed GTI hot hatch, but for 2025 it has stepped up with improved interior and exterior styling. Over the whoops and whip-like turns of Hell, I rowed the Jetta’s gearbox, its front-wheel-drive chassis rotating beautifully. Out of the Hankerd Road hairpin in second hear, the growly GLI surged forward with 258 pound-feet of torque from its turbo 2.0-liter.
But upshifting from second to third can be tricky. The V-dub’s box is rubbery compared to competitors, and upshifts need to be executed carefully lest you grab a bag of neutrals. On track, a mistake could ruin a good lap.
Downshifts are easier thanks to automatic rev-matching which saves time over the traditional heel-and-toe foot dance. Less traditional, and more maddening, is GLI’s haptic touch steering wheel — a step backward from the standard Jetta’s adaptive cruise and volume button controls. At just $33K, GLI is flawed — but priced right in this competitive set.
4) Mazda MX-5 Miata. Miata’s six-slinger is the best in this toybox. With short throws, crisp shifts and excellent pedal placement for heel-and-toe (no auto rev-match here), MX-5’s natural habitat is an autocross. With short wheelbase and rear-wheel drive, you can literally throw the Miata around a cone-filled parking lot.
With that wee size, of course, comes compromise, and MX-5 is the least trip friendly of our quartet. At 6’5” I don’t so much drive the Mazda as wear it.
I was stuffed into the driver seat, my head in the roof. Strap on a helmet, and I have to cock my head. Dropping the top brings relief on Michigan summer days. So compact is the cockpit that I could reach up and peel back the soft top like removing a blanket from a bed. WHUMP! In one motion, I secured it in front of the trunk. Speaking of trunks, Mrs. Payne and I could only fit one suitcase.
3) Honda Civic Si. Everything has changed from the 2006 Si sitting in my garage to the 2025 model — and nothing at all. At its core is a slim stick shift with short, notchy throws. The electronics age has blessed the Si’s manual with rev-matching for quick downshifts.
The transmission controls the same 200 horsepower as in ‘06, though the engine is now a 1.5-liter turbo-4 with better low-end torque so you don’t have to row the box as much. Still, I wish there was more top-end horsepower, like the screaming 8,000 RPM red line of the 2006’s 2.0-liter i-VTEC engine.
The cheapest car in this peer test, there is no denying the Si’s value, however. I tore around the twisties of Oakland County and Nashville’s Natchez Trace Highway this summer, never missing a shift. The stick — now exclusive to the Si and Type R performance models — is more intuitive than Jetta GLI, and both sedans have more comfortable interiors than rear-wheel-drive sportscars listed here. Their front-wheel-drive systems mean they are more all-season friendly, too.
2) Toyota GR Corolla. The GR (pronounced GRRRR) is a living, breathing example of the superiority of the manual experience. Arm it with the six-shooter and it is a rockin’, sockin’ hooligan ride as I wrung the turbo-3 cylinder’s neck, induced lurid slides and took advantage of its stiff chassis. No rev-match here, but GR features intuitive shift pattern and pedal placement for heel-and-toe.
Equip it with the auto transmission (new for 2025) and it’s … meh.
With AWD, GR is an all-season Michigan threat. The only downside of this hot hatch is you have to take your legs off to fit in the backseat.
1) Subaru BRZ tS. Rear space is also a drawback of the ‘Ru coupe, but there’s nothing like a rear-wheel sports car when it comes to on-the-limit performance. The new tS model dresses the BRZ in black trim, summer tires and big Brembo brakes. Manual shifter standard.
No rev matching here, but pedal placement is perfect and heel-and-toe downshifts a cinch. The shifter is more substantial than the Civic Si’s unit and makes for quick, notchy gear changes. The tranny is married to Subie’s signature flat-four engine which — like a Porsche Boxer 4 — makes for one of the industry’s lowest centers of gravity. That’s sportscar mojo.
I had a blast up north over M-32’s spaghetti roads — yet when I had to back ‘er down in small towns, tS comes with adaptive cruise control, which maintained the speed limit while coordinating nicely with the stick shift. That livability extended to the cargo space. Like a mini-911 (and unlike MX-5), BRZ has small backseats for storage — and a healthy boot out back for luggage. It’s a road trip car you can comfortably drive to faraway track days.
And with 356 miles of range and two-minute fill-up time, it’s more convenient than an EV. #SavetheManual.
2024 Subaru BRZ tS
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger sportscar
Price: $32,265 including $1,170 destination fee ($36,465 tS as tested)
Powerplant: 2.4-liter Boxer 4-cylinder
Power: 228 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque
Transmissions: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.8 seconds (Car and Driver est); top speed, 140 mph
Weight: 2,835 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA, 20 mpg city/27 highway/22 combined (manual)
Report card
Highs: Notchy shifter; useful adaptive cruise control
Lows: Small back seat; RWD in winter
2024 Toyota GR Corolla
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, four-passenger hot hatch
Price: $36,995 base, including $1,095 destination (as tested)
Powerplant: 1.6-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder
Power: 300 horsepower, 275 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.9 seconds (Car and Driver)
Weight: 3,186 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 21 mpg city/28 mpg highway/24 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: All-wheel-drive grip; notchy stick shift
Lows: Cramped back seat; gets pricey
2025 Honda Civic Si
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $31,045, including $1,095 destination fee (as tested)
Powerplant: 1.5-liter turbo-4
Power: 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.6 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 135 mph
Weight: 3,000 pounds (est.)
Fuel economy: 27 mpg city/37 highway/31 combined
Report card
Highs: Roomy back seat; great price
Lows: Engine power trails competitors
2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger sportscar
Price: $33,650, including $1,165 destination charge ($39,045 Club as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter four-cylinder
Power: 181 horsepower, 151 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.7 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 140 mph
Weight: 2,368 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 26 city/34 highway/29 combined
Report card
Highs: Best shifter in test; easy drop-top
Lows: Limited storage; RWD in winter months
2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact sedan
Price: Base price $33,940, including $1,225 destination charge (as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter turbo-4 cylinder
Power: 228 horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed, 126 mph
Weight: 3,217 pounds
Fuel economy: 27 mpg city/36 highway/30 combined
Report card
Highs: Auto rev-matching downshifts, roomy interior
Lows: Rubbery shifter; haptic steering wheel controls
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.