With the latest patch, it is possible to enable manual transmission from in-game settings!

After launching the game, go to Options > Controls > Assign Controls, scroll down until you find "Manual Shifting" and switch to "Yes". Two new options for shifting up and down should appear. Assign any keys you wish and you are ready to go.

As of 2023, the steps below are no longer needed

First of all, you have to bind the keys from outside of the game, so you can shift up and down in-game.
Thanks to one of the developers, Savino, a simple program for this step was created, to make things easier. (and yes, it's safe)

Manual Gearbox Tool 1.11[cdn.discordapp.com]

- Extract the tool to somewhere like desktop and run it.
- Click "make current" then press your desired key for "shift up". Repeat this step for "shift down" as well.
- Click "output key to file". A text file named "output_key.txt" should appear in the folder you extracted the tool to. Copy the lines.

Like it says in the text file, go to C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Crashday\config\controls.config (Make sure you can view hidden folders on Windows). Open the file with a text editor such as Notepad++ and find these lines:
eventInput(13) is for shifting up and eventInput(14) is for shifting down. -1 means there is no key bound.

Now, replace these lines with your lines from "output_key". For instance, I used LShift for shifting up and LCTRL for shifting down here.


Note: As far as I know, the tool only works with keyboard. However, you can still bind the keys if you are using a controller! (Skip this part if you successfully managed to bind the keys for keyboard)

- Launch the game, then navigate to Options>Controls.
- Change the "Steer left" with the button you want to shift up and "Steer right" with the button you want to shift down.
- Close the game, open controls.config and find these lines:
Your latest settings should be in these lines. eventInput(1) is for steering left and eventInput(2) is for steering right. I left those untouched as I don't have a controller.

Only replace the "-1 0" part with your own buttons (that you set for steering left and right). Do not touch the eventInput numbers. Also, don't forget to set your previous controls for steering left and right after doing this step!

Note: This method also works for keyboard. The important thing to remember is "Config(0)" is for keyboard while "Config(1)" is for controller.

Install the mod below and you should finally be able to play with manual transmission. Don't forget to shift from N to 1st gear before driving!

Manual Transmission enabler

- What does this mod do?
This mod enables the manual transmission in game.dbs. Enable this mod if you want to play with manual transmission.
You may notice an additional 1000 RPM for the most cars, however this doesn't affect the performance of those cars.

You can also play with manual transmission in multiplayer, however be aware that the manual transmission will be enabled for everyone in the lobby.

Credits:
- MicaLovesKPOP for his help with torque curves
- Savino for providing the gearbox tool