10 Cheap Manuals With Genuine Driver’s Car DNA Inside

Many enthusiasts are lamenting the death of the manual transmission. New cars with manuals barely exist now, and many used cars with manual transmissions are becoming too expensive for the regular enthusiast to afford. That isn’t absolutely the case, though. There are still plenty of cars out there with manual transmissions and genuine driver’s car DNA around that you can pick up for cheap prices. That can be as cheap as $15,000 or less.

Read Also

1 year ago

The Future of Transportation: How Electric Cars Are Changing the Road

804 autotech

These cars are from a variety of different manufacturers, and take a variety of different forms. Many of them are more traditional sports cars. But there are a couple of sports sedans, a hot hatchback, and even something that’s more of a crossover. What they all share, though, is that they’re manual transmission cars that contain the DNA of real driving machines.

10

Acura RSX Type-S (DC5)

Average Used Value: $13,511

Engine	Read Also 7 hour ago Porsche Axes Its Most Exciting Electric Models 1 autotech Transmission	Drivetrain	Power	Torque
2-liter inline-4	6-speed manual	Front-wheel drive	200-210 hp	142-143 lb-ft

The Acura RSX Type-S has to be one of the best enthusiast cars ever made. A re-badged version of the DC5 Honda Integra for the North American market, the Acura RSX Type-S uses a variant of Honda’s 2-liter K20 inline-4 engine. 2002-2004 examples have the 200 horsepower K20A2, while 2005-2006 examples use the 210 hp K20Z1. Whichever engine is in your Acura RSX Type-S, you’re going to get all the VTEC brilliance you’d want from a fast Honda from the early-to-mid 2000s. The Acura RSX was also only ever available with a 6-speed close-ratio manual transmission, making it a car for driving enthusiasts only.

Acura

The Acura RSX Type-S is very likely to be one of the best sports car bargains on the used market right now. The average used value of one of these is $13,511, and you can realistically get examples for close to $10,000. Those cheap prices won’t last forever, though. Values of RSXs are holding steady, and people are starting to work out that these cars give a driving experience that more modern sports cars just can’t or won’t match. It might be worth picking one up now, in case you end up having a great investment sitting in your garage

9

Mazda Miata (NB)

Average Used Value: $13,314

Mecum

The first of two Miata generations on this list, the NB Miata was a step up in refinement from its predecessor. It also had a step up in power, up to as much as 146 bhp from the more powerful 1.8-liter engine. It still stuck to the Miata philosophy of being simple, light, and near-faultlessly reliable, though. That’s something that’s made it beloved by everyone.

Cars and Bids

If you want an NB Miata today, you can expect to pay around $13,314. That’s on the more expensive end of this list, but it still puts this car in bargain territory for a traditional manual transmission sports car. It’s also a car that you absolutely won’t regret buying.

8

Scion FR-S

Average Used Value: $13,094

Bring a Trailer

If you’re from outside of North America, you may know the Scion FR-S better as the Toyota GT86. The youth-focused Scion brand still existed when this car first entered production, so Toyota thought it would be a good idea to make this car a part of it. In every other way, it’s exactly the same as the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ that was sold during this era. That’s a great thing, as this platform is lauded for its fantastic driving dynamics. The 2-liter flat-4 engine is decently powerful in its standard tune, and you can easily upgrade it further via ECU remaps or by adding turbocharging or supercharging.

Toyota/Scion

The Scion FR-S is well-known for being a fantastic sports car. But, that doesn’t stop it from being a bargain. The average used value of these cars is $13,094. That makes it (surprisingly) more of a bargain than the NB Miata we mentioned earlier. With how capable this car is from the factory and how much aftermarket tuning is available for it, getting a 6-speed manual version could be one of the best pure driver’s choices on the used market.

7

Mazda RX-8

Average Used Value: $12,564

Bring a Trailer

The only rotary-engined car on this list, the Mazda RX-8 doesn’t get a lot of love in the world of rotary sports cars. But, it’s starting to get the love it deserves now. It looks great, it’s surprisingly practical for a sports car thanks to its four doors and decently-sized trunk, and its 1.3-liter twin-rotor engine can still produce up to 232 hp. Plus, it was always available with a manual transmission for that purist driving experience.

Mazda

The RX-8 has now become one of the biggest bargains out there in the rotary sports car world. You can expect to pay around $12,564 on the used market for one. Some of the best examples are also starting to fetch big prices. It may be a sub-$15,000 car now, but it may not be in the near future.

6

Mazda MX5 Miata (NA)

Average Used Value: $11,829

Bring a Trailer

We’ve already discussed the NB-generation Miata. You’d think it would be the biggest bargain among the Miata generations, considering that the NA Miata has pretty much reached classic status by now. But, the original Miata is still bargain priced. Some enthusiasts prefer the rawer, less-refined feel of the NA Miata, and it’s not hard to see why. This is as analog as you can get out of all the cars on this list. It also gains a bit of extra style from those pop-up headlights.​​​​​​​

Bring a Trailer

The NA Miata now has an average used value of $11,829. That makes it one of the cheaper cars on this list, and one of the cheapest modern classics around anywhere. If you’ve ever wanted one of these cars, make sure you take advantage of that.

5

Honda Civic Si (EP3)

Average Used Value: $9,200-$11,250

Cars & Bids

When the EP3 Honda Civic gets mentioned, people are more likely to talk about the fire-breathing Type-R version that was never sold in North America. The slightly cooler but no less fantastic Civic Si rarely gets a mention. But, for North American buyers who want a great manual-transmission driver’s car on a budget, there aren’t many better bargains than this. Like the Acura RSX we talked about earlier, it’s got a variant of Honda’s fantastic K20 engine. It was also only available with a manual transmission—a 5-speed unit, in this case.​​​​​​​

The EP3 Honda Civic Si can be yours for as little as $9,200. Even more expensive examples don’t usually sell for more than $11,250. While it’s nowhere near as glamorous as the EP3 Type-R, the Si is much easier to get in North America and definitely cheaper. Plus, if you don’t think it has enough power, you can always tune it further.​​​​​​​

4

Pontiac Vibe GT

Average Used Value: $9,000

Bring a Trailer

The Pontiac Vibe GT has to be far and away the oddest car on this list. It’s a wagon-like crossover, with nothing sporty-looking about it at all. Don’t let that fool you, though. This car was the product of a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, and as a result there’s proper Japanese engineering under the skin. That shows in the Vibe GT’s powertrain. It uses the Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine that could also be found in the Toyota Celica GT-S and the Toyota Corolla T-Sport, as well as the Lotus Elise and Lotus Exige of that era.

That gives this otherwise plain-looking Pontiac compact a proper link to legitimate performance cars. That’s certainly reflected in the power output—early versions were advertised as having 180 horsepower, almost as much as the Lotus models that used the naturally aspirated version of this engine. It was also only ever available with a 6-speed manual transmission—Pontiac clearly only wanted buyers who were seeking a proper driver’s car.​​​​​​​

Because of how little people have caught onto the Vibe GT’s high-performance secret, you can pick one of these up for as little as $9,000. That’s a true bargain for a car that has the DNA of high-performance Toyotas and Lotuses from the 2000s, but with the practicality of a family wagon or crossover.

3

Hyundai Tiburon V6

Average Used Value: $8,100

Hyundai

The Hyundai Tiburon typically doesn’t get talked about when people mention 2000s sports coupes. Because of that, it’s become forgotten and incredibly underrated. That’s especially the case with the versions powered by the 2.7-liter V6. This is quietly a really solid driver’s car, and especially so if you opt for a manual transmission example. While it may not have as much power as some of the other cars on this list, it’s one of the torquiest, thanks to having a larger displacement engine than anything else here. Having a V6 also makes it one of the best-sounding cars here.

You can get a V6-powered, 6-speed manual Tiburon for as little as $8,100. That makes it a true bargain driver’s car, as well as being one of the most underrated.​​​​​​​

2

Mazdaspeed Protégé

Average Used Value: $7,350-$8,600

The Mazdaspeed Protégé has to be the most underrated Mazda performance model ever. A performance-oriented version of the otherwise unremarkable Mazda Protégé compact sedan, it features a turbocharged 2-liter inline-4 that produces 170 hp, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. This engine was specifically developed for the Mazdaspeed Protégé, making it genuinely special.

At the moment, the Mazdaspeed Protégé is incredibly cheap. You can pick one up for around $7,350 to $8,600. That makes it the second-cheapest car on this list by a decent margin. That may not last forever, as this car is slowly gaining a cult following—but a bargain is a bargain.​​​​​​​

1

Saturn Ion Red Line

Average Used Value: $4,900-$15,000

Bring a Trailer

You might be surprised to see a Saturn Ion variant on this list. The Ion was, after all, a fairly unremarkable compact sedan from the 2000s. But, the Ion Red Line is different. This quirky sports sedan is powered by the same 2-liter supercharged inline-4 engine that was found in the early supercharged versions of the Chevrolet Cobalt SS.

​​​​​​​That means it produces the same 205 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque as the Cobalt SS, and also has the same 5-speed manual transmission. It also makes the Saturn Ion Red Line potentially one of the best sleeper sedans of the 2000s. Absolutely nobody would expect this quirky, slightly frumpy-looking Y2K-era compact to have the same powertrain as one of the best tuner cars ever sold in the North American market.

The Saturn Ion Red Line is the biggest bargain on this list. You can get one for as little as $4,900. But, some examples are starting to slip out of that bargain-basement price range. Really great examples have sold for as much as $15,000, more than the average value of anything else on this list. It might be a cheap car now, but it potentially won’t be in a few years, when collectors who appreciate quirky machines get a proper hold of them.​​​​​​​

Sources: Acura, Bring A Trailer, Classic.com, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Pontiac, Saturn, Scion