Don’t pack them away just yet. The stick shift is breathing again. Or at least, that’s the story from Nismo, the performance heart of Nissan. Their boss, Yutaka Sanada, says people are actually asking for three-pedal machines again. Demand is ticking upward. It feels counter-intuitive.
Think about it. Nissan launched the R35 GT-R—probably its most famous recent hero—without a manual. You got a six-speed dual-clutch. No clutch pedal. Just a button. It was fast, sure, but sterile for some.
Now things are shifting. Sanada was talking to us in Melbourne. Big news: the first Nismo Performance Center is opening there by the end of 2 0 26. A proper temple to tuning. While chatting, he dropped this line.
“Customer demand for the three-pedel is coming back.”
Simple as that. He wasn’t saying it’s just about gears. Or the lack of them in electric cars. The Nismo tune isn’t just about hardware. It’s about the feeling. The package. Whether you’re holding a clutch or stepping on a throttle, it has to resonate.
This chatter coincides with whispers about the Nissan Skyline returning. It’s been 35 years. Imagine a Nismo-tuned Skyline hitting our local showrooms with a manual gearbox. The enthusiasts would lose their minds.
Sanada insists it’s not about the gearbox type. It’s the total experience. They’re using actual professional race drivers to tune these road cars. Not just chasing peak horsepower numbers. Torque curves. How acceleration hits your chest. How a car bites through a corner.
“Not just seeking for the horsepower or torue… how the customer can feel acceleration.”
Most of Nismo’s global lineup—the Note, X-Trail, even the Patrol—come with automatics only. The Z is the exception. In Australia, the current Nismo Z arrived as a nine-speed automatic exclusively. Critics called it a mistake. Sanada refused to call it that. A spokesperson spun it as Nissan being responsive. Now? A manual version is coming. They listened.
For now, if you want a stick shift at Nissan, you’re stuck with the base Z. The new Navara? Auto-only. Even though its sibling, the Mitsubishi Triton, still lets you drive it properly. A bit inconsistent. But then, most performance competitors are still clinging to manuals. Ford’s CEO literally said they’d pull the manual Mustang “out of our cold dead hands.” Toyota GR86? Yes. Mazda MX-5? Yes. Even Subaru keeps the WRX and GR cars alive with sticks.
The exceptions are interesting. Honda’s new Prelude? No manual. Hybrid powertrains make it tricky. Though they used to pull it off with the CR-Z. Strange.
Look at the big luxury names. Porsche still sells a 6-speed 911. Mercedes and Audi? Nada here. Zero options. BMW M boss Frank van Meel admitted their six-speed manual can’t handle the torque their automatics can. But they’re keeping the M2, M3, and M4 manuals until 2030. Maybe longer.
Is the manual dead? Not quite. It’s a niche. A passion. Sanada thinks the appetite is returning. We’ll see. Maybe the new Nismo Z manual will prove him right. Maybe it won’t. But someone out there is waiting to shift gears.
