Unpopular Opinion: Don't Save the Manuals!

I’m sure the purists among you must be going all purple-faced after reading this and probably want me to be crucified immediately. How can I say something as blasphemous as that? How can anyone be a real car enthusiast if they don’t like manual transmissions?

By Shivank Bhatt | on June 2, 2023 Follow us on Autox Google News

Don’t save the manuals – yep, I just said it out loud.

I’m sure the purists among you must be going all purple-faced after reading this and probably want me to be crucified immediately. How can I say something as blasphemous as that? How can anyone be a real car enthusiast if they don’t like manual transmissions?

But, before you stone me to death for having an opinion, allow me to explain – or plead, in this case.

I don’t hate manuals. It’s just that I don’t love them unconditionally. You won’t find me jumping up and down in excitement on social media or automotive forums every time Porsche or BMW announce manual trannies for their new models. My heart barely skips a beat. Put simply, I’m not a blind devotee – you know the kind that wears the ‘Real-Men-Drive-3-Pedals’ label as proudly as Hitler’s army wrapped Swastika bands around their arms. I’m not that kind.

Why am I suddenly against the #savethemanuals campaign though? Simple. They are a thing of the past!

Why do I feel that? I’ll answer that with the help of the brand-new BMW M2.

In its second generation now, the M2 is back in India. On paper, it’s an all-out assault – it gets the bigger bro M3’s S58 twin-turbo engine (slightly detuned but still a 450bhp monster!); it’s got the classic front-engine-rear-wheel drive layout, and to make matters even more delectable, there’s now a manual transmission on offer in India for the first time. As close as you’ll get to automotive nirvana.

But, nope, that’s not the case.

I just got to drive the new M2 and, hand on heart, it was a bit underwhelming. And I’ve got nothing else but its manual transmission to blame! The clutch pedal had long travel, the gear-shift quality was a bit rubbery, and my biggest pet peeve was the gearing that’s unfathomably tall – you can do 20-120km/h in second gear without ever feeling the need to upshift. The engine has so much torque that you barely go past the third gear – and even if you do, you’ll be pushing your luck on public roads because this thing is fast AF! I reckon it’ll be the same story around a twisting section of road – you’ll struggle to exploit all its six ratios – or three, for that matter. From what I remember, the only time I ‘worked’ the gearbox was when I got stuck in jams. And it was a bit of a workout. So, in short, this is a manual transmission that allows the bare minimum level of engagement in the traditional sense, albeit it has all the traditional shortcomings of one!

My biggest grudge with it, though, was that it felt like a misfit in the M2. Everything about this performance car is new-age – big screens, sophisticated electronics, made-up exhaust noises, electronically-assisted launch control, and what have you. And, in the middle of all this, its transmission sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s like someone playing a saxophone in a discotheque. You barely get to catch the tune amidst all the noise.

BMW Edit

What made me despise the whole experience, even more, was the fact that I was driving it back-to-back with our Editor-in-chief Dhruv Behl's 1992 325i – equipped with a 5-speed manual. And, surprisingly, I wasn’t complaining about its three-decade-old three-pedal setup. In fact, I loved every second (or should I say shift?) of it! The reason is quite simple. First and foremost, it doesn’t have a million horsepower, which means you can wring its neck in each gear (sorry, Dhruv) without having to rent out the local runway. Here, you aren’t just ‘connected’ with the drivetrain for the heck of it. Instead, you always feel like an active member of the running gear, a cog (or nut) that’s contributing something meaningful in the pursuit of speed. Plus, with classic analogue dials for tach and speedo, it makes the whole exercise more joyous. A manual transmission in a car like this feels right at home. Every upshift/downshift felt like an occasion. I can’t say the same about the M2, I’m afraid.

Also Read: 2023 BMW M2 vs 1992 BMW 325i - The Last Old School M-Car

That’s not to say I hate the M2. It was a hoot to drive, and then some. I loved it to bits! But instead of coming home gratified from the experience, I got the feeling that I would have loved it even more with the ZF Auto & paddle shifters. I know you want to choke me to death for saying that, but it is what it is. 90% of the M2 customers also believe the same!

Should we save the manuals? I don’t think so, especially when it comes to high-performance cars. I don’t want to celebrate its existence just because it survives against all the odds and lives to fight for another day. There’s no point in delaying its death when it doesn’t feel alive or welcome in a car already. Let it go. 

You may now start hurling abuses in the comments section, I’m ready…

Tags: BMW M2 M2 Manual Transmission BMW BMW M

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