Ever since the introduction of shiftable automatics and “flappy paddle” gearboxes, the traditional three-pedal gearbox has fallen more and more out of favor with automakers. Manufacturers would argue that, especially here in the US, the average consumer doesn’t want (or even know how) to use the third pedal, and that in high-performance cars a dual-clutch gearbox is the only way to fully exploit the capabilities of the platform and engine.
Alfa Romeo, Audi, Maserati, and Mercedes all have been without three pedal models for years now.
Enthusiasts like myself make a simple argument to save the manuals: driving is just more fun when there are three pedals involved. Sadly, it’s a fight that enthusiasts are very much losing – there are only 32 models on offer in the US that have a manual transmission available and all of them are also available with automatic transmissions that easily outsell the manuals.
The simple, if a bit sad, reality is that the numbers don’t lie – people just don’t want to row their own gears anymore. I think perhaps one of the best examples is the BMW M5. 20 years ago it was only offered with a manual transmission, but 2016 was the last year one could order one with a third pedal, and frankly I can count on two hands the number of M5s and platform-sharing M6s I’ve seen since the automatic went on offer.
What happened was very simple – BMW wanted to capture more sales and poach customers that couldn’t buy an M5 previously, so they offered an automatic option. The problem this created for the manual transmission was the shift in customer base – previously the M5 was reserved for people who could drive a manual transmission, people who for the vast majority were willing to put up with rougher suspension and the “inconvenience” of a third pedal because of the experience they gave.
With the automatic on offer, though, the customer base shifted towards people who weren’t buying the car for its performance capabilities, but for the badge and cache associated with it.
These people were the sort who would complain about how uncomfortable or how loud the car was, which led to later models being less enthusiast oriented, which led to even fewer sales to people who would want a manual transmission.
This trend can be seen across the industry. Ferrari saw it in multiple models – in the 1990s the four passenger 456 was offered with an automatic and that transmission far outsold the manual.
In 2002, the new flagship model the 575 was offered with an automated manual gearbox and less than 200 cars were delivered with a third pedal. The last Ferrari flagship to offer a manual transmission, the 599, only had 30 examples produced with a manual transmission over the 6-year production run before finally stopping sale of manual transmission cars.
For Lamborghini, it only took one product generation – the Murcielago and the Gallardo were introduced in 2002 and 2004, respectively, both were the first to be offered with the “E-Gear” transmission, and when they were replaced in 2012 and 2014, their replacements weren’t offered with a third pedal.
Alfa Romeo, Audi, Maserati, and Mercedes all have been without three pedal models for years now.
Sadly, this trend has been the death, in some ways, of many enthusiast cars. However, there are a few things for us car people to take solace in. First and foremost is that cars are getting faster. Yes, a manual V12 Ferrari or Lamborghini is a very cool thing, but when you’re talking about over 700 horsepower and zero to sixty times of three seconds or less the simple fact is that a traditional manual is only going to slow you down.
The second bit of comfort is that we can see which cars are still being directed at us. With what a small portion of the new car market enthusiasts like us actually make, it’s hard for manufacturers to justify the cost of offering a manual transmission – unless the manufacturer expects a considerable amount of enthusiast interest in the car.
So if it’s one of those 32 options still on offer here in the US, it’ll probably be something worth taking a look at.
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