Buying a manual transmission sporty vehicle?

So I was browsing through some of the 8891 and ruten at some sportier vehicles and was aghast to see auto transmissions on cars like the 911, Cayman, or the newer Miata.

I had heard that manufacturers have to do double the tests to import standard tranny versions of their cars, and they may not be available here as overwhelmingly locals want auto. Anybody here seen or know of people with standard transmission sporty cars. Even a BMW for an idea… By standard I mean 3 pedals and no PDK, Tiptronic etc.

Manuals are hard to come by here and the majority of them have been hammered pretty hard by johnny racer types. The Ford Focus was offered in a stick. Look around '06-'08.

Subies, but finding a Subie in a manual that’s in good condition (and not heavily modified) will be tough.

For new cars, the WRX/STI, Focus ST, BRZ/86, off the top of my head.

I drive a stick RSX Acura. Don’t ever want to buy another stick.

Been there done that (still doing it though).

I only drove manuals before coming here. Still swear my next car will be again! I let Autocheckers talk me out of it… Still haven’t forgiven Jamie. :stuck_out_tongue:

BRZ is nice. Defo something to consider. I think the boy racers beat on their Cefiros as well so likely to be even across the board.

I also only owned all manuals before Taiwan except for one tiptronic sedan. I’m driving a large SUV so an auto is fine. But for the life of me I can’t understand buying a Miata with an auto transmission, or a 911 of any variant. I can understand the PDK (not my cup of tea) but a real auto/tiptronic takes away at least 60% of the driving experience.

I managed to find a couple 911s, Miatas, Boxsters, S2000s with standard transmissions after learning the Chinese term (“hand row” is the translation). I’m not in a rush, and not even certain if I will trade in for something sportier but just starting to do a bit of early research.

I agree the BRZ is pretty nice. Drove one the other day. Not that fast really but a nice feel. Was a stick. But I would buy the auto :stuck_out_tongue:

In Taiwan? I daily drove a stick in Beijing. Sure, wasn’t pleasant in traffic, but on driving roads… couldn’t go auto.

Taiwan does have some great driving roads where a stick would be fun !

But I spend too much time in traffic for it to be over-all worth it.

Gotcha. I don’t need to drive through city traffic commutes so it’s a bit diff for me. I think I’m more concerned about getting plowed by an errant driver in something like a Miata and what the resultant damage is vs a big sturdy SUV.

Miatas start at $390K it seems and ramp up to $750K. These are early to mid 00 cars. S2000s are around $1 mill to $2 mill (!). 996 911s seem to be around $1 mill to $1.6 mill. Early Boxsters from $400K +

The simplicity of the Miata appeals to me (I had a 1990 back in the day and performed my first timing belt change ever on it) after dealing with local mechanics… Wonder who’d be able to fix an S2000 or 911 around here. I guess the 911 could always go to Porsche, but I imagine a big nose up if dropping by in a 996 or a previous gen Boxster/Cayman.

Stick would feel really weird here because I am used to shifting with my left hand not my right lol.

Nothing beats ripping first to second with a manual though

Hehehe, for me it’s the opposite. First time I used the stick with the left I thought it’d be super weird. Turned out to be not as hard as I imagined.

Or dropping it down to second while rev matching, hitting the upcoming corner at the perfect speed and then getting back on the gas on the exit, pause, snick into third and whoosh… I’m more of a motorcycle guy but as I get older, starting to slow down.