What Does 'Save the Manuals' Really Mean?illustration by Tim Marrs / Photo by KOENIGSEGG - Getty ImagesSave the manuals. You've seen it on T-shirts at Cars & Coffees, in hashtags, or on the quarter-window of a late-model BMW hard-parked in your neighborhood. One would hope saving the manuals is a sentiment you agree with, and I too would like to save the manuals! My fun cars currently and will always have shift levers, not paddles, at least as long as I have a functional left leg.I even, in a bit of a Biff Tannen "nobody can start this car but me," moment, I permanently disabled automatic rev matching in my 718 Spyder.Driving a manual gearbox is easy to learn and hard to master. It's a skill that requires practice, patience, and learning in public, where scary commuters in two-pedal Camrys might honk at you if your learning process delays their progress for even a few seconds. But getting over the hump is worth the effort, as it's by far the best way to connect with your machinery, to understand what your car is doing mechanically, should you care about such things. The fact that you're reading Road & Track indicates you might.frantic00 - Getty ImagesBut let's dig into what "Save the Manuals" actually means in practice. The lines can get blurry.AdvertisementAdvertisementFirst, you get the obvious out of the way: The easiest way to save the manuals is to buy new stick-shift models when manufacturers are bold enough to offer them. Perfect is the enemy of good: It's possible to change the shifter and clutch feel later to suit your specific taste, so don't let that rubbery shifter keep you from buying the manual version. The second-easiest way to save the manuals is to buy, own, use, and maintain the three-pedal cars already on the road. Many of us are already doing this and will continue to do so without any needed encouragement from me.You can also create more manual drivers. You can be an automotive saint by allowing, as my friend Jibran has, dozens of people to learn stick on your car. (The clutch is fine). You can employ the fine parenting strategy of, "I'll buy you a car when you get your license, but it's going to be a manual." You can teach your partner or spouse the skill and hope they take to it the way you have.Here's where it starts to get fun. We can create more manual cars by converting the automatic ones that deserved better.The high-value stuff led the way here: I sent my Aston Martin Vanquish back to the factory to be converted to manual twelve years ago, and it is now brilliant. As far as I know, Aston is the only semi-mainstream automaker to take this on in-house. The aftermarket went straight for Ferrari, converting F1-equipped 360s, 430s, and 599s to gated six-speeds—fairly straightforward swaps, as the factory did offer these cars in manual. Tuners then took on the Lamborghini Gallardo and Murciélago as well as the Audi R8. I've seen Instagram reels of converted Maserati GranTurismos, Alfa Romeo 8Cs, and Ferrari 355s. One lunatic even manual-swapped his own 458 Speciale. Thankfully, manual swaps are also prevalent with mainstream enthusiast cars.ernestos vitouladitis - Getty ImagesBMW freaks led the "affordable swap" scene, putting thousands of SMG control units out of a job to convert M3s, M5s, and M6s to stick using factory parts.AdvertisementAdvertisementNow the gap in value between manual and automatic variants is so vast, especially with the exotics, doing the swap is potentially a profitable choice if you're handy with the wrenches.How about putting manuals into cars that were never manual to begin with?I've just spent a day in Nashville, Tennessee, at Kwiek Classics, which specializes in complete powertrain swaps for neo-vintage Mercedes-Benzes, the vast majority of which are also converted to manual. Though my project Mercedes will remain automatic (a different story for a different day), I tested his incredibly sleepy 190E powered by a 4.3-liter V-8 out of a CLK430 and backed by a six-speed. And let me tell you friends, this is the way. In stock form, the slushiness of that five-speed Mercedes gearbox overrides nearly every other dynamic victory their chassis engineers dutifully earned. In fact, every manual-swapped Mercedes I've driven, which now numbers five, is radically improved and shockingly engaging.We take for granted that we have universally settled on a standard configuration for how transmissions work, and for how we control them (at least for internal-combustion engines), but it wasn't always the case—"three on the tree" and "four on the floor" were in showrooms at the same time. In the Thirties, there were five or six different ways to change gears, all but two of which no longer exist.AdvertisementAdvertisementNow it's no longer settled science. For instance, Porsche allows you (in its GT models) to "clutch kick" the PDK gearbox by tugging both paddles then quickly releasing them while in gear. You can do burnouts, initiate slides, and do all the things you'd typically do with a clutch. Since you can easily put the car in neutral using the lever and also clutch-kick it at will, is that now also a manual? To me, it's not, because a true manual has no automatic mode, which these Porsches obviously do. But it opens the door for unconventional manual controls, and again, perfect is the enemy of good.KoenigseggTwo years ago, Koenigsegg showed off its CC850 concept. Intended as a limited-run, retro-future throwback to their original design language, it notably featured a synthetic manual gearbox. With a video game–like hydraulic clutch pedal and a gated manual shifter fitted to a nine-speed automatic gearbox, the CC850 could be operated in full-auto, paddle, or lever nine-speed sequential, or as a fully manual six-speed with a clutch, selecting the appropriate six of its nine ratios for each individual drive mode. Word on the street is it's not quite production-ready, but before you even ask, yes, you can stall it in stick-shift mode—I personally witnessed Christian von Koenigsegg demonstrate it.Then there's Ferrari. The guys in Maranello just revealed a limited-run version of their 12Cilindri—the V-12-powered grand tourer—that packs a clutch pedal and a gated manual shifter that are wired up to a dual-clutch transmission. This setup still allows the driver to run in full-automatic mode if desired or row gears as they please. Ferrari says this system will still allow for stalls—sort of—and rev-heavy clutch drops, but no, you can't money-shift it.FerrariBut, get this, you don't need a Koenigsegg or a Ferrari to get the same effect. Ever heard of the 8HP gearbox? You probably have, referred to casually as the ZF 8-speed automatic. Variants of this transmission appear in cars across the entire automotive spectrum, from high-performance sedans like the BMW M3, the Alfa Giulia, and the Audi RS6, to GT cars like the Aston Martin DB12 and the Maserati GranTurismo, American muscle like the Dodge Charger Hellcat and even Ram 1500s, Jeep Grand Cherokees, and more. It's everywhere, which makes it affordable and available. It's also very strong. I did say Hellcat back there.AdvertisementAdvertisementYou're probably confused—as I was—right about now. The 8HP is, objectively, an automatic. It uses a torque converter to mate to the engine, not a clutch and flywheel. You only need two pedals to operate one. Further explanation is needed.Inside the 8HP gearbox, you'll find clutch packs—electronically controlled clutch packs. Using aftermarket control units such as the Turbo Lamic, tuners can gain manual control over those clutch packs. The aftermarket has supported this level of control by offering clutch pedal-by-wire simulators that open and close the clutch packs just as a traditional third pedal would open and close an actual clutch.I haven't yet had the privilege of trying this for myself (but if the powers that be are out there reading this, I would love to), but after watching half a dozen videos on it, I can say that this setup actually works. Not only does it work as a tire-shredding, clutch-kicking drift monster, it also works as a standard or paddle-shifted automatic, and the 8HP clutch packs may even take the abuse of competition-level drifting even better than a traditional manual would—early teardown videos show a lot of promise. From what I gather, you could install the transmission controller and synthetic clutch pedal in your standard road car without issue; this is not something reserved for race cars.Points against? Purists won't go for it, because it's not "real," right? And supposedly no one has truly nailed the feel of a traditional clutch pedal. Not surprising—even the best sims lack the pedal feel of a good car, and the clutch would be hardest of the three pedals to get right. But as it is a virtual controller anyway, why insist on a third pedal? An infinite number of unconventional clutch controls lie out there waiting to be discovered, from hand clutches to controllers previously reserved for disabled drivers. One could literally suck and blow the clutches open in an 8HP gearbox using a mouth controller.herstockart - Getty ImagesThe best efforts of a passionate but niche cohort of enthusiasts may not save the industry from phasing out the manual transmission as we know it. We should absolutely buy them while we can. But desperation breeds innovation, and if new-car manufacturers aren't going to give us traditional clutches, flywheels, and hydraulically assisted but analog pedals, we will figure out how to create those controls synthetically as best we can.AdvertisementAdvertisementBecause driving manual isn't necessarily about using your left foot and wiggling a lever, it's about having control over your car, being able to use your engine to add or drag power or to transfer weight, and having your gearbox right in the powerband where you need to be. To be able to disconnect quickly and then abruptly reconnect the powertrain, should one feel the need to ask their friend to figuratively hold your beer.By insisting that the driver keeps full control over the gearbox, or at least has the option, whether that's with two pedals or three paddle shifters or a lever, or even a synthetic clutch entirely, you too can save the manuals. The future of car control depends on it.You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State