Top Gear is unquestionably the biggest car show in the world. And not only do they produce great TV shows, but they produce great content for their YouTube channel too. This video from Top Gear is very special, as Ollie Kew has a first drive in the manual Toyota Supra. He compares it to the Toyota GR86, and relishes in a car that Toyota fans have wanted for ages.

Updated November 2022: With the announcement of the manual transmission in the Toyota Supra earlier this year, the opportunity to row their own gears is extremely exciting for fans. The manual Supra is starting to show up not only in car reviewers' hands but also in automotive enthusiast garages. Read on to find out more about what reviewers are saying about the manual Supra and actually getting one yourself.

Finally, We Have A Manual Supra

Toyota now makes two, rear-wheel drive sports cars with a manual transmission. These are some of the last analogue sports cars that are in existence, with so many cars going to automatic. The Supra has unconvinced Kew, purely because he didn’t feel it drove correctly. The manual Supra has lighter alloy wheels as well, as Toyota looks to bring the weight down slightly. The suspension and power steering are all tweaked too, and the manual shifting makes it more of a joy to drive than the eight-speed automatic. The 200-gram gear-lever helps to give a very high-quality shift.

RELATED: Every Difference Between The 2022 Subaru BRZ And Toyota GR86

How The GR86 Stacks Up

Top Gear Manual Supra vs GR86 Rear View
via Top Gear YouTube Channel

The GR in GR86, of course, stands for Gazoo Racing, and this was a manual car from the off as well. Buttons and switches for climate control are very welcome over the influx of touch controls we see these days. The GR86 keeps the purist philosophy of the previous GT86, and its 2.4-liter engine rights some of the wrongs of the GT86’s engine. As Kew puts it, it is fun without going to insane speeds. But this car is about driving fun, not big power and speed numbers. And the manual, Kew says, is a cracker, and something everyone should go for.

RELATED: 8 Reasons We'd Buy The 2023 Toyota Supra Over A Jaguar F-Type

Two Very Good Manual Toyota Sports Cars

Top-Gear-Manual-Supra-vs-GR86-Supra-Front-View-1
via Top Gear YouTube Channel

These are two very fine sports cars from the Japanese giant. Kew says that the GR86 is a brilliant car to run through the corners, and the transmission is so much fun. The manual Supra is certainly a step up from the automatic version as well, and it was something many of us had always wanted. And Kew is happy that Toyota is very determined to improve upon the Supra, its flagship sports car.

But for $20k less, the GR86 is perhaps a better investment.

Getting Their Hands On The Manual Toyota GR Supra

Now that the new 2023 Toyota GR Supra Manual is on the market, we're starting to see automotive channels getting some time behind the wheel. A recent review from The Straight Pipes YouTube channel had Yuri and Jakob giving high praise to the Supra's manual gearbox. Yuri specifically states the gearbox is "one of the notchiest, most perfect manual transmissions ever".

RELATED:Why A Manual Gearbox Injected New Excitement Into The 2023 Toyota GR Supra

Even better is that the new Supra with a manual gearbox is now available to purchase. However, many appear to have markups, so you'll have to do some shopping around if you want one at MSRP.

Source: YouTube @ Top Gear and TheStraightPipes