2020 Toyota Supra. BMW will make the Z4 roadster standard with a manual transmission in Europe. Cool—for France! But North America won’t have access to that variant because, well, it’s not an SUV. What we do get, however, is the Toyota Supra. Could the hands-on transmission-engine combo find its way into Toyota roadsters bound for the West? We won’t rule it out. Here’s why. BMW published the news of the standard manual configuration on the Z4 as a sort of Easter egg in a product model update release on its media site for Europe and the Middle East. “The 197-hp four-cylinder petrol engine in the BMW Z4 sDrive20i will be partnered by a six-speed manual gearbox as standard from July 2019, the page reads. In the U.S. and Canada, the Supra is currently outfitted with BMW’s 3.0-litre turbo-six, but Toyota announced Japan would receive a 2.0-litre turbo four cylinder making 197 horsepower and 236 lb-ft. of torque for its Supra. So, with the same engine, configured for a stick shift in the German roadster, the Supra could technically and quite easily be offered in manual guise. And it could also technically and quite easily be offered to North American enthusiasts who want a manual transmission on their sporty Japanese-German roadster. It could—but will it? The recent news only 33 per cent of Toyota 86 buyers ordered a manual variant in 2018 suggests maybe not. Still, it’s nice to have
Origin: Europe’s BMW Z4 is getting a manual, so will the Toyota Supra, too?
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BMW confirms smaller M cars will still get manual and RWD options
The BMW M4 comes equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox — one of the few new models in North America to offer a manual drive.Handout It sometimes feels like the act of driving is under attack. As we cruise toward total automation with adaptive cruise control activated and AppleCarplay streaming an algorithm-generated playlist of songs we’re sure to love straight into our ears, brands continue to pull away from what used to be the pillars of motoring. Such old-school features like manual gearboxes and rear-wheel-drive are being ditched for the safer and more efficient automatic and all-wheel-drive options. This is progress—for most, but not all. BMW’s M, for one, is staying the course, according to an interview BMW M chairman Markus Flasch recently gave GoAuto. The Motorsport division’s smaller passenger vehicles, including (hallelujah!) the M3, will still come with a stick shift and RWD as an optional combo. “With the M3, we were able to take over the entire drivetrain concept that we offer in the M5, and we were able to do a rear-wheel-drive version as well, plus manual transmission,” Flasch said in the interview. “I won’t disclose today how we configure those opportunities, but we can do whatever the markets globally demand. I can’t confirm, but I’ve driven the cars.” The brand chairman explained that because cars like the M4, M3 and M2 are less frequently used as daily drivers than the larger X5 M, M5 or M8, and are more frequently operated as second or third vehicles, the brand is able to justify retaining the more sporty configuration. In other words, it knows what its M drivers want from the smaller, more corner-capable offerings. Flasch also gave some clues to the fate of the CS and GTS monikers, explaining that we will see more limited editions, especially like the CS and, I can imagine, the CSL,” he said, going on to allude they don’t have to stick to coupes. As for the GTS— “We won’t see the GTS sub-brand in the future,” said Flasch. “There will be CS and maybe CSL. There won’t be a GTS in parallel with
Origin: BMW confirms smaller M cars will still get manual and RWD options
Genesis still offers a manual G70 because enthusiasts still want one
2019 Genesis G70 2.0T SportChris Balcerak / Driving Genesis is proving manual transmissions still matter by keeping the three-pedal option around in its G70 sport sedan. According to Carbuzz, in the United States, just four per cent of buyers have chosen the G70’s manual transmission option to date. In Canada, the take rate also hovers around four per cent, working out to about 1,300 cars to date since the option was introduced late last year. But for Genesis, that’s completely OK. That’s because Genesis knew the take-rate would be low for the three-pedal option, but still chose to include it anyway, because the G70’s performance and position in the market warrants it. The car itself already punches above its weight class, taking on Germany’s Big Three — notably the BMW 3 Series, which no longer offers a manual. Evidently, Genesis offering a manual G70 has won over enthusiasts. For 2019, the Genesis G70 can be optioned with a six-speed manual transmission paired to a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The engine itself produces a healthy 255 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque; opting for the manual in the G70 also adds a limited-slip differential, Brembo brakes, and dedicated performance tires. To say the least, it’s an excellent performance package — and economical, too. The G70 2.0T Sport alleviates a mere $45,500 from your
Origin: Genesis still offers a manual G70 because enthusiasts still want one
Hyundai is ditching manual transmissions for the 2020 Elantra
Hyundai’s just teased some of the planned changes for the 2020 Elantra, which include new transmissions and some fuel economy improvements. The regular automatic transmission has been dropped in favour of a CVT for Elantras equipped with the 2.0-litre engine; while vehicles with the 1.4-litre turbocharged engine, and the Elantra Sport with its 1.6-litre turbo, will receive a seven-speed dual clutch automatic. No manual transmission will be available for the Elantra for 2020, which could be seen as a negative, but really, manual transmissions rarely get better mileage than their automatic counterparts these days. If you’re an enthusiast and you prefer the feel of a manual transmission, don’t fret, you’re still in luck with the Elantra GT N-Line and the Veloster, which are much more suited for sporty driving anyway. Both the GT N-Line and the Veloster get the same engine 1.6-litre engine as the Elantra sport. The CVT offers a fairly large increase in fuel economy according to the EPA test cycle (which is, note, different from the Canadian cycle), picking up two or three MPGs in city, highway and combined driving for every trim that can be had with it. In the U.S., pricing has also gone up across the board. We will have to wait until Hyundai announces Canadian pricing to see if there has been a significant change. We reached out to Hyundai to see if all this news was true for Canada, too, and if the Sport and GT Hatchback were affected. We will update this story when we receive that
Origin: Hyundai is ditching manual transmissions for the 2020 Elantra
This is how many manual transmission cars Toyota actually sells
2020 Toyota Corolla SGraeme Fletcher / Driving When the Toyota Supra came out with an automatic-only transmission, every enthusiast on the planet cried Where’s the manual!? without thinking for a second about how hard it actually is to sell a car with a manual transmission these days. That’s especially true for Toyota; if you ask them, it’s next to impossible. In a dinner conversation with Toyota spokesperson Nancy Hubbell, CarBuzz got some exact numbers re: how many stickshifts the Japanese automaker actually moves off the lots in its various cars, so let’s take a look. Let’s start with the 86, which is Toyota’s sportiest car. Just 33 per cent of buyers opted for the manual transmission in the compact coupe, which means two-thirds of buyers still went for the six-speed automatic. The 86 is one of the most affordable sports cars you can buy today, and if 66 per cent of people buying one still go for the automatic, it paints a pretty bleak picture for the transmission as a whole. Toyota also offers a brand-new manual transmission on its redesigned Corolla hatchback; the six-speed unit makes for a fun little city car at a cheap price, but do you think that’s enough to get people to buy the three-pedal? Nope. The take rate for the manual Corolla hatch is just 15 percent. If you expand the sales to include the Corolla sedan, then the numbers drop to less than one per cent. Tacoma and Yaris buyers are also opting for the automatic 95 per cent of the time, which pushed Toyota to remove the manual as an option for the 2020 Yaris hatchback. So as usual, it’s not the problem of manufacturers not making manual transmission cars, it’s the consumer’s fault for not buying them in the first place. Although, we would argue that if more interesting cars were made with manuals, perhaps people would buy
Origin: This is how many manual transmission cars Toyota actually sells
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