- The manual take rate of the Subaru WRX beats that of even the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring.
- Toyota recently said it believes 80% of US GR Corolla buyers will go with the stick shift.
- Subaru made the revelation at the recent launch of the WRX tS.
Subaru has yet to give the world an all-new WRX STI that revheads have been clamoring for but we do now know that buyers of the regular WRX love to row their own gears. If Subaru needed more convincing that the enthusiast market would appreciate a new STI, the sales figures of the manual WRX should do the trick.
During the recent US launch of the tweaked WRX tS, Subaru revealed that an impressive 83% of all WRX buyers have opted for the available 6-speed manual transmission this year. That leaves just 17% of buyers choosing the much-maligned continuously variable transmission option.
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These figures make the WRX one of the most popular cars with a stick shift. The Toyota GR86, a small, rear-wheel drive sports car where you’d expect a strong take rate of three-pedal cars, just 40% of US buyers go with the stick, with the remaining 60% opting for the automatic.
The manual take rate for the Mazda Miata’s ND generation was a little higher at 60%, Car and Driver reports. One of the kings of the manual transmission, the 991.2-gen Porsche 911 GT3, had a manual take rate of 46%, while 75% of GT3 Touring buyers went with the six-speed. Toyota expects roughly 80% of new GR Corolla buyers to go with the manual, meaning it could threaten the reign of the WRX.
It’s worth pointing out that perhaps one of the reasons why so many WRX owners go with the manual is that there is no other compelling transmission choice. While the available CVT does the job, it is not as fitting as a modern automatic or a dual-clutch transmission to a sporty model like the WRX.
