Autocar writers' cars of 2020: Porsche 911 Carrera S manual

I know, I know:  this isn’t the most imaginative choice of annual automotive highlight. In many ways, it’s arguable that it shouldn’t even be allowed, what with the 992-generation Porsche 911 being well over a year old now. However, the bit of it that is new - a seven-speed manual gearbox - transforms the very good into the flippin’ fabulous.

It really is amazing what the addition of a DIY gearbox can do to the character of a car. In PDK automatic guise, the 911 Carrera S is an incredibly polished piece of kit with a sublime chassis, but there’s always a sense that it’s in control of proceedings as much as you are. That’s not the case with the three-pedal car, which forces you to be completely engaged from the moment you prod the starter button. Whether you’re pottering or pressing on, this 911 is a total immersion driving device.

The stubby leather-topped lever that sprouts from the centre console has a grittily mechanical short throw that’s as amenable to lazy, slow changes as it is to an arm-pumping maximum-attack action. Either way, you’ll find yourself swapping cogs just for the hell of it. A rev-match system helps with the silky-smooth changes, but with such perfectly placed pedals, you’ll want to heel and toe your way to the perfect downshift. 

Then there’s the way the gearbox encourages you to maximise that gloriously flexible flat six, which, with 444bhp, will leave you questioning how much faster you’d ever really need to go. You can short-shift to your heart's content, letting the lag-free elastic energy pull high gears from low speeds. Or alternatively, you can hold onto a gear until the exhaust note turns from hollow bark to scintillating howl and the needle on the rev counter kisses the limiter at a heady 7500rpm.