As far as a driver is concerned, one new-car manual transmission is pretty much like another. Sure, the transmissions themselves might be different in how they’re oriented in the chassis, and maybe some have three shafts and others only two.
But that’s all going on backstage, if you like, or under the floorpan. Top-side, in the car interior, the driver can be fairly confident that whatever he’s driving, he could reach down to the console without looking, locate the shifter and row easily through the gears, maybe only glancing down once to check where reverse is located.
But it’s a different story with automatic transmissions. Some have stalk shifters sprouting from the steering column, which don’t look cool but are very user-friendly, and some have buttons, which are usually neither. The majority, whether dual-clutch autos or traditional-style epicyclic automatics, have some kind of shift lever. But even then, it’s a free-for-all in terms of where it’s located and what form it takes, even on cars from the same brand.
QOTD: What’s The Best Manual Transmission You’ve Shifted?
A Porsche 911’s stubby shifter is similar to the latest Panamera’s, but while the sports car’s is located on the console between the seats, the sedan’s is mounted on the dashboard between the gauge pack and infotainment screen. That’s where you’ll also find the shifter on the electric Taycan.
The 911’s lever looks kind of stylish if you like your shifters to resemble the lovechild of an electric razor and a 1950s microphone. But its size and shape means it’s not entirely satisfying to use (PDK-equipped GT3s retain the larger, older-style lever because the new one doesn’t have push-pull shift capability between individual gears in manual mode).
Nevertheless, it’s more satisfying than the infuriating toggles found on modern Ferraris, which are designed to recall a classic open-gate shifter but feel far too fiddly and insubstantial.
I still love the positive action you get from a console lever that you have to physically move through set positions, rather than the electronic levers that are increasingly replacing them, and which you have to push or pull to cycle between Drive and Reverse.
They have the benefit of automatically engaging Park when you switch the engine off, but it drives me mad that they often won’t shift when you want because you haven’t pressed the switch in properly or trodden on the brake pedal hard enough.
Which is why my favorite shifter of the moment is the one in the 2023 Lexus RX I’ve been using for the past few months. The lever is small-ish, but bigger and better shaped than a Porsche’s, and feels great in your hand. There are no fiddly buttons to press, you just tug the the thing towards you, then either push it forward for Reverse, or back for Drive.
It’s the same basic setup you get in the Lexus NX and Toyota Prius, and the control layout is the same as the one used in older Prius models, though their shifters didn’t feel as high quality and were mounted on the dash.
Which automaker do you think makes the best auto shifter? Leave a comment and let us know.
