High octane and a stick shift
Going into hyperspace with three of the hottest manual holdouts
For speed demons — or demons wedded to hellacious fossil-fuel power — the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing checks off quite a list. A supercharged, 668-horsepower V-8. A top speed above 200 mph. All-day track thrills that would leave any electric vehicle depleted and gasping, as demonstrated on my endorphin-rushing test laps at Virginia International Raceway.
Another feature pushed the Blackwing into too-good-to-be-true territory: a manual transmission. That optional six-speed puts these supersedans (there’s also a smaller Blackwing, the CT4-V) in rare company. Fewer than 1% of American cars are sold with a stick.
The Blackwings are also among models that have a gasoline engine and manual transmission, a pairing that increasingly appears to be a last dance of technology. Showroom EVs have no driver-selectable gears whatsoever. And Cadillac says the Blackwing models will be the last of its ultrahigh-performance cars to employ internal combustion.
All future V-Series models will be electrified. Whether General Motors and Cadillac can keep their electric promises remains to be seen. But if they can, these Blackwings — and models like them — may be Americans’ last chance to twirl a stick shift in a new car.
Blackwing fans have gotten the message: Nearly 70% of early adopters are choosing the manual, though that should settle closer to 20%, said Tony Roma, the Blackwings’ chief engineer. That’s despite the fact that automatics left manuals in their dust years ago. Whether General Motors’ snappy 10-speed or Porsche’s dualclutch PDK gearbox, automatic transmissions make cars faster, more durable and more fuel-efficient.
Those facts don’t dissuade manual loyalists, who prefer a human touch and the sense of mastery that comes from smartly rowed gears.I recently drove three of the world’s hottest manual holdouts. All are expensive. But fans can still find DIY pleasure on a budget, including with a Mazda Miata, a Ford Mustang and the kissing-cousins Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR 86.
2022 Porsche 911 GTS
Porsche actually sells a much higher percentage of manual-transmission cars in the United States than in Europe — including roughly 1 in 4 911 models that offer a stick, and up to 70% for its track-assassin 911 GT3. The latest is the 911 GTS, whose silken, sevenspeed manual is a no-cost option on five versions, including a Carrera GTS, which starts at $138,050, and a sexy, open-roofed Targa 4 GTS, at $158,150.
I drove those GTS models through the north Georgia mountains, on roads that rival Europe’s or California’s for Tilt-a-Whirl amusement. Every new 911 is a wunderkind of tech that includes electronic antiroll bars, a torque-vectoring rear differential and a twin-turbocharged, flat-six engine that’s boosted to 473 horses in GTS models.
Yes, that tech includes the vaunted PDK automatic, which is objectively faster: PDK’s automated launch control sends the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 GTS to 60 mph in under three seconds, and to a 193-mph apogee. But you’d have to pry the manual out of my cold, dead fingers.
Linking my shifting hand to the Porsche’s algorithm-crunching brain and chassis reminded me of “The Empire Strikes Back,” when R2-D2 plugs into the Millennium Falcon to ditch Imperial pursuers. Next stop: hyperspace.
BMW M2 CS
BMW has been browbeaten by enthusiasts who insist it has fattened up on SUVs and leached the fun from its cars. The 2020 M2 CS might mollify the scariest BMW troll.
This track-storming version of the 2-Series coupe plays like a montage of great BMWs past. That includes its available six-speed stick with automated rev-matching; the modern edge of a 444-horsepower, twin-turbocharged inline six; an adaptive suspension and featherweight carbon-fiber roof; and some of the world’s stickiest street-legal tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2.
Like the CT5-V and 911 GTS, the M2 CS offers carbon-ceramic brakes (for $8,500) to shed prodigious speed, trim 55 pounds of mass and eliminate unsightly brake dust on its pretty, gold-finished alloy wheels.
The caveat is an $84,595 starting price, about $10,500 beyond a 760-horsepower Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and just $400 less than the CT5-V Blackwing, to name two cars that will chew the BMW for breakfast.
Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing
Base price: $59,990 (CT4-V), $84,990 (CT5-V)
Jekyll, meet Hyde: In polite society, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing can drive like a doctor’s luxury sedan. But find a dark alley, or a blazing circuit like Virginia International Raceway, and the killer comes out, with a six-gun of manual gears at its disposal.
With its supercharged, 668-horsepower V-8, the Blackwing is a delirious good time on road or track, with a top speed above 200 mph. I managed about 152 mph on this road course’s longest straightaway, lap after thrilling lap, before it was time to squeeze optional carbon-ceramic brakes and ease into a curling right-hander.
I also tested the smaller, more affordable Blackwing, the CT4-V, which has a 474-horsepower V-6, also offering a choice of a manual or brisk 10-speed automatic. The old-school shifter gets new-tech stuff like an automated launch control; a virtual unicorn in a manual car.