Young people are interested in learning to drive manual: survey

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Are young adults finally jumping on the #savethemanuals bandwagon? According to a recent consumer survey done by Mini USA, manuals still have an opportunity to shine — which is good for Mini, considering the company recently announced the return of manual transmissions in more models, as well as a manual driving school.

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The small survey consisted of just over 1,000 adults aged 18 and older and seemed to prove that not only are manuals “fun to drive” but learning to drive one is a rite of passage, despite only 24 per cent of the participants admitting to currently owning a manual vehicle.

Almost half (49 per cent) of the participants who identified as Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012, though obviously those born in the latter years aren’t currently able to drive yet — admitted to not knowing how to drive a manual. However, the most interesting tidbit to come out of the survey’s results is that despite not knowing, two thirds (67 per cent) of those aged 18-34 were most eager to learn to drive a manual transmission car. Overall, 53 per cent of all participants who didn’t know how to drive a manual responded they’d be in interested in learning.

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As someone who fits into that 18-34 age bracket, I can confirm that learning to drive a manual was on my bucket list — something I was able to check off last year when I took lessons and documented the process, including what makes manual vehicles so special, and why everyone should learn to drive them. Also, that it isn’t as difficult as it seems, despite being very intimidated by the three pedals.

Mini USA currently offers the Cooper, Cooper S and John Cooper Works 2-door hardtops with a manual transmission, recently announcing that it is adding the Cooper Convertible, Cooper S Convertible, Cooper 4-Door Hardtop, and Cooper S 4-Door Hardtop to the list.

For those looking to learn to drive a manual, Mini (with BMW) Manual Driving School is open to registration for its $499 course offered in California. If you don’t live in Cali, just do what I did — a quick Google search will bring up many options for manual lessons; I picked StickGTA and would recommend it to any level of learner or someone who may just need a quick refresh.