The perfect match of engine and manual gearbox

[irfan1712]

Burning away hours of classified trawling as usual, i stumbled on a couple of V8 and V10 R8 which dont seem to be particularly rare cars.

i started to jog in my mind what cars were seen as great, involving, entertaining, engaging (Etc) because they were opted with a manual box as opposed to the many variations of flappy paddles that they could have been bought with.. or some that just came with a manual only.

I tried thinking of the most charismatic engine that had a manual box, and off the top of my mind:

E60 M5 (North America) - howling v10 in a 5 series with a manual must have been epic

V8 & V10 R8

B7 RS4

All variants of 911 GT3s

997 GT2

McLaren F1

Various 80's and 90's Ferrar's with the gated manual

what cars spring to mind for you that have the perfect match of engine & manual box?

[RDMcG]

I had an E63 M6 with its superb V10. I recall the big push to get BMW to put a manual on that engine but as I recall it’s was not that great.

[uncleluck]

I’m speaking as a peasant here (not having driven one) but I always thought the Gallardo would be a decent car to drive with the manual gearbox? Guess it’s the same as the R8 though.

I work on a fair few old Ferrari’s and just sitting in them and feeling the gate is as far as I’ll ever get to owning one. I often find myself staring into engine bays for minutes on end admiring and sitting in driver seats (owner is fine with me doing so before anyone comments) just dreaming. I’d have them displayed inside my house if I had the money. Probably better than the reality of driving, well that’s what I tell myself.

[av185]

E9x M3 great package at the money.

But the most charismatic engine and best manual gearbox imo undoubtedly has to be the 991.2. GT3.

[Lotobear]

........ 1.4 Caterham Seven Supersport with the 6 speed gearbox, an absolute joy

[Greg the Fish]

Sod your BMWs. They're boring.

[Mogul]

Ferrari 575M

Manual, single plate dry clutch.

Little known fact but they revised the gearbox on the 575M vs. the 550 and added triple cone synchros on 1-2 and dual-cone on 4-6 to better support the demands of the F1 shift.

Therefore, for the select few that didn’t tick the £12k (?) box to add the F1 shift, they got the improved ‘box for free.

For years used manual 575Ms were unloved and cheaper than any 575M F1 equivalent but that was never going to last and the pendulum swung back to the depressingly normal reality that anything that is remotely rare with a dab of kudos becomes favoured by those with the means to out bid the ‘average’ punter....

The paradox being that the 575M (not the 575M F1 version) is arguably the ‘best-driving’ Maranello but also the one that you can’t actually drive without accepting the ‘damage’ that you might be doing to its prospective value as an investment.

Edited by Mogul on Wednesday 29th January 12:21

[Polrules]

This should do it...

[jeremyc]

uncleluck said:

I’m speaking as a peasant here (not having driven one) but I always thought the Gallardo would be a decent car to drive with the manual gearbox?

This. Especially if it's two (rear) wheel drive.



And no, it's not exactly like the R8 V10.

[RDMcG]

I cannot give a very informed opinion as most of the very exotic cars I have not drive at all.

However, on cars I have driven myself, I found the Audi R8 to be just too light on the clutch for me personally, compared to my 997RS.

Of normal cars, I liked the 5 speed on the 1985 or so Prelude I owned ( go figure) , not a quick car but transmission matched perfectly.

I also and a nice 6 speed in the E39 M5 eons ago.

Best match of a car I have owned:

this one- 997.2 RS- was so much fun to drive, amazing Mezger engine and perfect six-speed;






Best I have driven: Carrera GT

This will not be an obvious choice because getting into first is as right bugger if you're not used to it. Took me about half an hour conscious all the time of the massively expensive clutch. Once I got it it was an astounding thing to drive, every part of that car matched perfectly. An electrifying experience to push it.

[Olas]

A dry sumped 4valve 4cylinder on ITBs that idles at 6k and makes power from 7-10.5 with the bare minimum flywheel weight and >300degrees duration attached to a sequential box.

Big budget hill climbers make me go weak at the knees!

[noumenon]

Some one has to say it - MX5 NA 1.6 - the way the gearstick snicks into place like a well oiled rifle bolt is like no other car I've owned / driven.

I recall the E30 M3 being pretty nice too, back in the days when they were sensible money.

[supacool1]

Honda S2000 has a pretty decent gear change. And that engine.......

[Iamnotkloot]

Best I've driven was, surprisingly, a Datsun.

A 260z (2+2) - wow, the gearshift was perfection! Not a bad engine either though the 2+2 didn't look as good as the 2 seater, which I bought. And which had a worse gearshift

[Toymad]

From my limited experience:

DC2 Integra Type R. It seemed to suck the lever into the next gear with just a flick of the stick and chasing revs on that engine was a total joy. Bonkers noise.

B7 RS4, chasing the revs and stirring the box yourself is fantastic but maybe because it is more "sophisticated" the thrills are more to do with the speed and less to do with the viseral experience and assault on the senses the Honda gave.

[Jazzer77]

Puma 1.7 had cracking engine with a lovely gearshift.

[9k rpm]

supacool1 said:

Honda S2000 has a pretty decent gear change. And that engine.......

100% agree with this.
Best manual gearbox I’ve ever used and perfectly matched to the glorious high revving engine. Change up from red line in 2nd and you were instantly above 6krpm in third and right in the vtec powerband.

[aeropilot]

BDA with a 2000E 'box in the RS1600

[P-Jay]

I won't be popular but, a Dual-Clutch with anything.

Yeah manual blah blah blah "Well oiled rifle"

Autos are lethargic, all those Sequential semi-auto Manuals from the 2000s were a bit so-so at the time but bloody horrible in hindsight.

[Baddie]

Of cars I’ve driven, both a Ferrari Testarossa and a 308 GT4 were a much nicer combo than I’d expected; there’s nothing like an open-gate dog-leg first shift. Both had excellent engines with well matched driving ratios.

The robotised manual in an F430 was much better than expected, way better than an SMG III in the E60 M5. Wasn’t taken with dual clutch in either 997 or GTR.

Honda Type-R’s are exceptional, except the Accord which would drop just below the VTEC zone.

In current reality, I really like the 5spd/2.5 S6 combo in my 15yr old Z4. The shift is nice and short and speed well matched to the engine revs falling, can snick up or down quickly and smoothly. In contrast my E34 M5’s (both 5 and 6spd) had long slow shifts and long heavy clutches.