Stick Shift in 2026?

[tradosaurus]

Manual transmissions are fun until you are stuck in traffic or try to drink coffee.
I did enjoy the shifting when I was young.

 

[Highlandr]

Wasn't uncommon to get the 4.0's to last 300K miles.

4.0 was a strong, strong motor.

Bought a 2000 Cherokee with the 4.0, new. Sold it when I got the 2004 Tundra. To this day I wish I hadn't done that.

 

[sd455dan]

And lets be honest, the quality wasn't great before Stellantis. lol

Mercedes did a lot of good to straighten out the Gen 2 into Gen 3 HD truck

I have 165k on my 2008.

We have had several long lived Jeeps in the family, Grand Cherokees that broke 300K The 2002 Wrangler is well over 200k but I did recently have to pull the head on the 4.0 and replace an exhaust valve. I sold my first 77 Honcho with about 200K on the 401 running strong but lots of rust. Wagoneer's were good snow rigs.

I am Glad Jeep has kept the stick option Alive on the Wranglers.

 

[34Willys]

Don't forget the awesome era of AMC JEEPs.

Patrick

 

[sd455dan]

Don't forget the awesome era of AMC JEEPs.

Patrick

Still have an AMC J10 Honcho sitting in a field, needs a new 401 and possibly a T 400 transmission rebuild, paint etc., but they make really cool resto 4x4's.

Hear some NFL players buying fully decked out and updated Late 70-early 80's Grand Wagoneer's like this one with a Hellcat installed.

 

[Hughman]

When I bought my latest jeep in 2023 I had to special order to get a stick. Manuals seem to have turned into unicorns.

 

[ultrarunner]

Still have an AMC J10 Honcho sitting in a field, needs a new 401 and possibly a T 400 transmission rebuild, paint etc., but they make really cool resto 4x4's.

Hear some NFL players buying fully decked out and updated Late 70-early 80's Grand Wagoneer's like this one with a Hellcat installed.

Here is one…

 

[redman135]

Try driving an 18sp truck in town all week(270 - 320 shifts/day depending on the route), in the weekend the gears can shift themselves.

 

[rontaki]

Try driving an 18sp truck in town all week(270 - 320 shifts/day depending on the route), in the weekend the gears can shift themselves.

Row, row, row your truck gently down the street...

 

[sd455dan]

Here is one…

I like the Wagoneer but they should have saved the Ferrari engine for a " Prancing Horse" candidate and stuck in a procharged AMC 401 in the Wagoneer.

A dead stock 401 will spin up to 7K and not hurt itself ( forged rods and crank- stock) and AMC designed heads with constant cross sectional port area, like Pontiiac did with the Super Duties, a mild build for pump gas with single four barrel and cam can be good for over 500 HP.

Procharged would be around 1K HP.

I think the mild build 401's sound great when revved.

 

[WinterDeere]

I am Glad Jeep has kept the stick option Alive on the Wranglers.

We were just searching for a manual transmission car in November, and yes... Wranglers were the top hit in nearly every search.

Looking at FWD and AWD cars 2020 - 2024, other choices were:

Subaru WRX
Mini Cooper S
Gulf GTI
Jetta GLI
Civic Si and Type R

And of course there's still the Mustang and Supra, but we were looking for a daily driver in a climate with plenty of snow and ice, so RWD cars with fat tires were out.

We ended up with a Mini Cooper S, which is all kinds of fun, like street-legal go-cart.

 

[sd455dan]

We were just searching for a manual transmission car in November, and yes... Wranglers were the top hit in nearly every search.

Looking at FWD and AWD cars 2020 - 2024, other choices were:

Subaru WRX
Mini Cooper S
Gulf GTI
Jetta GLI
Civic Si and Type R

And of course there's still the Mustang and Supra, but we were looking for a daily driver in a climate with plenty of snow and ice, so RWD cars with fat tires were out.

We ended up with a Mini Cooper S, which is all kinds of fun, like street-legal go-cart.

Mini is kind of a sore point with me. Wish the young girl that was driving her Mini had paid more attention to the road and not hit my Model Y with 8 K miles at a light while waiting. Eating about 3K in diminished value thanks to her driving and cheap insurance carrier. At least Tesla Vision is good at documenting who did what.
The Mini bounced backward about a foot moved the Y about 4 inches forward.

The mini's do Look like a fun little car. Probably not much fun to get into like a Wrangler, Not much room

 

[WinterDeere]

Mini is kind of a sore point with me. Wish the young girl that was driving her Mini had paid more attention to the road and not hit my Model Y with 8 K miles at a light while waiting. Eating about 3K in diminished value thanks to her driving and cheap insurance carrier.

Hate the girl, not the car!

Probably not much fun to get into like a Wrangler, Not much room

Actually, much more front leg room than most full-size American cars. Made for tall Germans and Dutch customers. I would not want to sit in the back seat, though... the back seat leg room is sized for children, only.

 

[ultrarunner]

I had one as a rental for two weeks and no complaints…

I do know several former owners that would not own another one…

 

[WinterDeere]

I do know several former owners that would not own another one…

So far, so good with this one, but it’s early days. I know a few people who have them, and they are all happy with theirs, so we will see.

I also would not buy a new one today, because they discontinued the manual transmission option. An automatic transmission in a Mini is almost as stupid as a 2WD pickup truck in snow country.

 

[ultrarunner]

My rental in Germany was stick shift…

I met my young nieces when they flew in and they only wanted to ride in the Mini… good times.

 

[Runner]

My neighbor has a GR Corolla and he picks his daughter up from school in it every day. I told my Wife if my Dad had picked me up from school in the 1960's equivalent of a GR Corolla (Austin Mini Cooper or a Lotus Cortina), I would have thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.

 

[ultrarunner]

My neighbor has a GR Corolla and he picks his daughter up from school in it every day. I told my Wife if my Dad had picked me up from school in the 1960's equivalent of a GR Corolla (Austin Mini Cooper or a Lotus Cortina), I would have thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.

Don’t here much about Lotus Cotinas these days…

Use to see a few at the SCCA events…