Top Gear’s Top 9: the best manual gearshifts you can buy right now

Although they may look like chalk and cheese, the new FL5 Civic Type R doesn’t actually change the recipe too much from the dramatically-styled FK8. So, you still get that lovely tear-drop shaped metal gear lever that feels sweet in the palm of your hand. Well, most of the time – it’s bloody freezing on a winter’s morning, but we’d put up with frostbitten metacarpals for this shift.

Mazda (like Ford used to) puts thought, love and plenty of budget into its manual gearboxes. As a result, even the CX-30 crossover and the Mazda 3 hatch offer shifts that would shame a French hot hatch. The peachiest is saved for the MX-5, though. It needs working to get the best from those modestly muscled naturally aspirated engines, but with a shift this crisp, it’s hardly a chore.

Very lean times for fast fun cars (and quality gearshifts) at Ford, with the Fiesta ST being unceremoniously binned and the Puma ST now reliant on a 1.0-litre engine with way less power than it used to enjoy, and a forgettable auto. But for the time being, Ford will still sell you a Focus ST with a chunky yet slick shift that's very satisfying indeed, and possibly something of a future collector's item.

The ultra-short throw shift in a Seven is so stumpy it’s over almost before it’s begun, but don’t be lulled into thinking there’s little to savour about this addictively snickety gearbox. It’s the full racecar experience this – exquisitely precise, yet properly physical, and joyous when you get the throttle blip just so. Quite alarming if you miss the gear, though. Maybe practice in a friendly 170 before having a crack in the loony 620, which even offers an optional sequential gearbox for the ultimate in ‘get lost, paddleshifters’ fury.

No sooner has Toyota finally offered the GR Supra with a manual gearbox (and a very pleasant one at that) it's pensioning the car off entirely. Happily, you can still enjoy a snickety stick in the little GR Yaris, which gives it a more boisterous character than the (admittedly very good) optional paddleshift auto.

So, you can no longer buy a new Cayman GT4 in the UK. That’s because Porsche is focussing all of its posh-Cayman production on the PDK-only GT4 RS. You can still get a GTS 4.0 though, complete with that naturally aspirated flat-six and a standard-fit six-speed manual gearbox. Yes, the gearing is too long, but the shift is still wonderful as you’d expect from Porsche.

Is Pagani's six-speed open-gate manual even better to look at than to use? Just possibly: it's a spectacular sculpture, a centrepiece for the Utopia's baroque cabin, but perhaps just a touch less tactile than the shift in a GMA T.50. Still, that's sold out, whereas you might still be able to get your name down for a Utopia Roadster or one of the hotter track versions if you're quick about it...

We could have included engineering marvels like the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 or the Koenigsegg CC850 here, but we’re still yet to drive either of those cars, and we’re talking about manuals mere mortals will be able to get their hands on.

So, what you really need is a Kia Picanto. Seriously, its notchy shift isn’t bad at all, and with just 99bhp from a turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder you’ll be rowing through the five speeds all day. Much more fun than having to weave a piece of unobtanium around potholes the size of large tower blocks.

Yep, we're cheating. Because it's another Porsche, and it's one you can't buy right now (all 1,963 examples of the S/T are long since sold out). But this is one of the best manuals of the last decade: a shorter throw than a GT3's, with more jeopardy thanks to the lightweight clutch and ultra-revvy flywheel effect of the 513bhp, 9,000rpm flat-six. A fitting transmission for one of the very best sports cars Porsche has ever created.