Passenger cars
The Kia Picanto Sport and GT-Line are available with a manual or automatic transmission. Pricing starts at $17,890 before on-road costs for the Sport variant, giving it the honour of Australia’s most affordable new car with a manual gearbox. The Picanto GT-Line manual is priced at $19,690 before on-road costs.
The base-model Mazda 2 Pure manual is $22,870 before on-road costs. Alternatively, the base-model Suzuki Swift Hybrid is available in a manual transmission. It’s priced at $22,490 plus road costs. And at the time of publishing, the older-generation Suzuki Swift and Swift Sport are still available to purchase on Suzuki Australia’s website. The previous generation Swift GL manual is $23,490 before on-road costs, while the Swift Sport manual is $29,990 before on-road costs.
Performance cars with a manual transmission
This is where the manual really lives on in Australia. As of today, there are around 20 performance cars that still offer a manual transmission.
Starting with the $38,990 before on-road costs Abarth 695 Competizione, or the 695 75 Anniversario, exclusively available with a manual gearbox for $52,695 plus on-road costs.
BMW has a range of manual options, starting with the M2. The two-door coupe is priced from $121,700 before on-road costs. Next is the M3 G80 manual, starting from $161,300 before on-roads. BMW announced pricing earlier this year for its 2024 M4 line-up, bringing the manual’s price to $168,700 before on-road costs.
Ford isn’t shying away from manuals either, offering the option in its Mustang GT Fastback for $77,002 before on-road costs and its Mustang Dark Horse for $99,102 before on-road costs.
Honda offers its Civic Type R exclusively with a manual gearbox. Prices start from $74,100 before on-road costs.
Hyundai currently sells the i20N manual for $34,990, excluding on-road costs. The updated version of the regular Hyundai i30 has dropped its manual version, but three pedals will remain available in the refreshed i30 N hot hatch, pricing for which is yet to be announced.
Currently, the manual i30 N hatch costs $46,200 before on-road costs. The i30 N Premium sedan, available with a manual transmission, costs $52,000 before on-road costs.
Australian showrooms will be the only place where Hyundai will offer its i20 N, i30 Sedan N, i30 N hatch and Ioniq 5 N under one roof.
Next is the Lotus Emira, which is not to everyone’s budget. The manual V6 First Edition will set you back $209,990 before on-road costs.
The Mazda MX-5, which underwent an update earlier this year, is priced from $41,520 before on-road costs for the base-model manual Roadster; this extends to $56,140 before on-road costs for the top-spec RF GT RS.
You can opt for a manual transmission in the following MX-5 variants:
- Mazda MX-5 G20 Roadster
- Mazda MX-5 G20 Roadster GT
- Mazda MX-5 G20 Roadster GT RS
- Mazda MX-5 G20 RF
- Mazda MX-5 G20 RF GT
- Mazda MX-5 G20 RF GT RS
Aside from its Navara ute, Nissan only offers a manual transmission in its Z coupe. It costs $75,800 before on-road costs.
Porsche offers a manual transmission on several variants within its 718 Boxter and Cayman as well as 911 Carrera models, starting with the entry-level 718 Boxster manual for $135,100 before on-road costs. The 718 Boxster GTS manual will set you back $197,500 before on-road costs.
The 718 Cayman manual starts at $132,500, while the most expensive Cayman manual, the GTS, priced at $194,900 before on-road costs. If you’re in the market for a Porsche 911 manual, you can pick one up, the Carrera T 992, from $299,200 before on-road costs. It’s worth mentioning Porsche’s most expensive manual, 911 the S/T Special Edition 992, will set you back $660,500 before on-road costs.
You can opt for the manual transmission in the following Porsche variants:
- Porsche 718 Boxster 982
- Porsche 718 Boxster GTS S 982
- Porsche 718 Boxster Style edition 982
- Porsche 718 Cayman 982
- Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0
- Porsche 718 Cayman S
- Porsche 718 Cayman Style Edition
- Porsche 911 Carrera T 992
- Porsche 911 GT3 992
- Porsche 911 S/T Special Edition 992
- Porsche 911 Carrera GTS 922
Next, we have Subaru’s range of sports cars, including the BRZ and WRX. The base-model rear-wheel drive BRZ manual starts from $43,790 before on-road costs while the top-spec tS manual will set you back $48,690 before on-roads. The manual variants of the WRX start from $47,490 before on-road costs and extend to $52,990 before on-roads for the WRX RS manual.
You can opt for the manual transmission in the following Subaru variants:
- Subaru BRZ (base-model)
- Subaru BRZ S
- Subaru BRZ tS
- Subaru WRX (base-model)
- Subaru WRX RS
That brings us to Toyota, the Japanese auto giant, which still offers four models with a manual gearbox. The Corolla GR GTS starts at $64,190 before on-road costs. The GR86 has two variants, both of which offer a manual transmission as an option. Pricing starts from $43,240 before on-road costs.
