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John (not verified)    September 2, 2020 - 8:17PM

The MINI Cooper S is fantastic with a stick. Yes, it has torque steer when you put the hammer down... it keeps you on your toes! And it is a very nice feeling shifter and clutch. Unfortunately as of this writing I don't think the manual transmission MINIs are available in the US... and I wouldn't buy one any other way. (I'd choose a GTI with a stick I think).

My previous car was a GTI with a normally aspirated 6 cylinder engine and a stick shift. My current car is a turbo-4 GTI with an automatic transmission and paddle shifters. The current car has more horsepower by about 12% and doubtlessly is faster by a stopwatch, but it's not half as fun to drive. (Not only because the paddles aren't as visceral as working a clutch and stick, but also because the normally aspirated 6 had far more character than the smooth but kind of generic vibe of the turbo 4.)

I'll be going back to a stick for my next car if one is available in a car that otherwise works for me, regardless of whether it's front wheel drive or rear wheel drive.

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