No more manual Minis!
Boss Stefanie Wurst confirms it's auto-only from now on
Following the reveal of the new Mini Cooper EV, boss of the company Stefanie Wurst has confirmed to Top Gear that there will be no more manual versions - even when the petrol powered version arrives. It means the recent JCW 1to6 Edition is the last six-speed manual Mini to make production, so it probably was quite a good idea to nab one of those. The recent Bulldog Racing Edition has a claim to fame, too, though as an aftermarket overhaul rather than a factory model it’s a slightly different prospect. Looks even more appealing given this news, however.
Because manual Minis were good. Manual Minis are good. Perhaps the shift didn’t snick through the gate like a Civic Type R, but compared to some long winded gearchanges in French and German hot hatch they weren’t bad at all. Your correspondent owns one, and even after a dozen years of use the shift remains satisfying. There have been better manual gearboxes, yes, but plenty more that aren’t so good. It plays so well to the cheeky character of a Mini, too, pretending you’re in The Italian Job (or on a special stage) when shifting as fast as possible or getting the downshift just right. The overrun burbles are just better in a manual, too.
Sad news for fans, then, if somewhat inevitable given the way things are moving. It would be a surprise to find that the manual outsold the auto for the previous generation in any variant, and with the shift to electric the DIY gearbox had to go at some point. On the plus side, it means that there are more than 20 years and three generation of manual Minis to pick up secondhand to remind you just how good they can be. Take that from someone who never saw themselves as a Mini owner and now is all too attached - they’re great fun. Still relatively affordable, too, which seems unlikely to last…
See this R53 Cooper S as proof. Electric Blue, low mileage, one owner, the limited slip diff and just £5,495. Or there’s British Racing Green, freshly serviced and MOT’d, for just £4,590. For hot hatches that look so good and drive so well, even with their issues, that’s not very much. Especially when you bear in mind how much a GP still is. The later R56 can be bought for even less, though you really want one of the later, 184hp Cooper S facelifts (from 2010) for a less trouble engine - this one is just £4k. And there are some really, really lovely ones out there: see this Reef Blue with Polar Cream example. Expensive, yes, but maybe worth it. Or how about one of the best GPs this specialist has seen? A real manual hot hatch gem, that one.
There’s fun to be found in the most recent, F56 generation, too - if you know where to look. The JCW Challenge was a proper pocket rocket hero, with Nitron suspension, a Quaife limited slip diff, Michelin Cup 2s, better brakes and lighter wheels. Mini actually made just 53 - it was originally meant to be 100 - so they’re very rare these days. This one has been modified further, and looks a very fun way to spend £25k. Especially thanks to that manual gearbox…
Than PH articles starting "behold"
A quite good shift, they possessed
And colour schemes in bold
All with three pedals
Turbos later, superchargers first
"The people won't double declutch"
Says boss, Steph Wurst
Appropriately named
Appropriately blamed
The market, she's gamed
The Mini, she's tamed
My old R56 mini only has 110BHP and the manual box is nice. Nothing happens very quickly and its a soft little car that bounds along.
My missus bought a F56 S JCW a while back. She specced an auto and I refused to test drive it. It was her car and she was buying the wrong gearbox so I just let her get on with it. On collection day we drove down in her Golf GTD DSG with its truly awful clunkmatic box and she was too excited to drive so asked me to drive us home. Well, I take it all back. 230 ponies and an 8 speed ZF box. I had no idea what technology was inside that box but if you drive gently, its shifts gently, if you switch to sport mode and give it a bootfull it thumps and pops and bangs and just chucks you down the road... it holds onto gears in corners, its always ready. Love it.
Yes its sad we're loosing manuals but the effort to get all these cars through EU7 and then hybridise them just means its not possible to offer a manual.
For me, the Mini is mainly a city runaround and thus much more enjoyable than the manual.
These days I'd only have a manual in my second / fun / sunday morning car. But for everything else I prefer a good auto gearbox, yeah I got old, I know.
Than PH articles starting "behold"
A quite good shift, they possessed
And colour schemes in bold
All with three pedals
Turbos later, superchargers first
"The people won't double declutch"
Says boss, Steph Wurst
Appropriately named
Appropriately blamed
The market, she's gamed
The Mini, she's tamed
I'm just not interested in anything other than three pedals. I know that I am old fashioned and missing out etc but that is still the truth of it for me.
Other people are quite entitled to hold more enlightened opinions than me.
I think manuals will remain popular in places like India where budget is king for much of the market.
Added to an uninspired lever action and a dull, 'torque optimised' motor which was equally effective in any one of three gears at any speed, and I can see why BMW/Mini destroyed their market for the Spanish gearbox.
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