Chris Rosales
Chris Rosales is a staff writer at Motor1 who focuses on how cars feel to drive, with a particular emphasis on performance models and manual-transmission vehicles. His work blends technical detail, hands-on testing, and a clear enthusiasm for car culture, drawing on about a decade spent deeply involved in the automotive scene. Across reviews, lists, and features, he consistently looks at the relationship between driver and machine rather than treating cars as simple consumer products.
Driver engagement and the fate of the stick shift
Rosales stands out on the automotive beat for sustained coverage of manual transmissions and the drivers who still seek them out. In his comprehensive list “The Stick Shift Isn't Dead Yet: Every Manual Car You Can Still Buy In 2026,” he catalogs the full range of new vehicles still offered with a manual gearbox, turning what could be a simple shopping guide into a map of where driver-focused engineering survives in the modern market. He follows that work with pieces like “We Asked Every Automaker How Many Customers Went For Manuals In 2025,” where he queries manufacturers directly to quantify how many buyers opt for stick shifts, grounding the conversation in hard take-rate data rather than nostalgia alone.
These recurring projects show that he treats the manual transmission as a lens on broader questions of driver engagement and automotive strategy, not just as a personal preference. By tracking availability across brands and model lines over time, he documents how enthusiast-oriented options move through product cycles. The combination of exhaustive inventories and manufacturer responses gives his stick-shift coverage a specificity that distinguishes it from generic commentary about “the death of the manual.”
Performance reviews and video road tests
Rosales is a regular presence in Motor1’s performance and sedan review coverage, often fronting video road tests of high-powered models. Recent work includes a video review of the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla, where he evaluates the latest evolution of that all-wheel-drive hot hatch and its updated powertrain. On the sedan side, he reviews cars like “The 2025 BMW M3 Competition Is a German GT-R: Video Review” and “The New BMW M5 Solves a Problem It Created: Video Review,” framing each car’s character by comparing it to benchmark performance icons rather than treating them as ordinary four-doors.
Across these reviews, he focuses on how chassis tuning, power delivery, and drivetrains shape the driving experience, effectively translating technical specifications into on-road behavior. The repeated use of video formats and performance-oriented titles signals that he is comfortable evaluating cars at the limit and communicating that experience to an enthusiast audience. His perspective is less about luxury features or basic utility and more about how these cars accelerate, corner, and respond to driver inputs, which sets his coverage apart from more general consumer reviews.
Technical features, tires, and EV experiences
Rosales also dives into specific technologies and components, particularly where they affect how a car drives. In “I Tried The Porsche Taycan's Fake Shifting. It's Missing One Thing: Fun,” he examines simulated gear changes in an electric performance car, assessing whether software-controlled “shifts” add anything meaningful to driver involvement. That focus on the interface between new technology and traditional driving sensations reflects a broader interest in how electrification and digital systems are reshaping performance.
His technical angle extends beyond powertrains to areas like tires and product-specific evaluations. A recent piece on the Kumho Road Venture AT52 tire tests how a particular all-terrain tire behaves in real-world conditions, treating it as a crucial element of vehicle performance rather than a background detail. He has also covered topics such as Ineos’ record first-quarter sales and the forthcoming Nissan Xterra, connecting product news and market performance back to what they will mean for drivers and off-road enthusiasts. Together, these stories show that he approaches the beat with a component-level curiosity, linking engineering choices and hardware to the way vehicles behave on the road and trail.
Car culture, events, and enthusiast stories
Beyond individual cars, Rosales spends substantial time embedded in car culture and major enthusiast events. In “We Went to Japan's SEMA. It Was Incredible,” he reports from the Tokyo Auto Salon, documenting the modified cars, tuning trends, and show atmosphere while drawing parallels to American events like SEMA. Another feature, “In Search Of Japan's Driving Soul, I Found It In A GR Yaris,” follows him on Japanese roads in a hot hatch, using travel and local driving environments to explore what makes a particular car resonate with enthusiasts.
His storytelling regularly returns to adventurous, hands-on experiences. In a piece about taking a 10-year-old Nissan Xterra off-road and his anticipation for the new generation, he uses a real-world trail drive to assess durability, capability, and how a vehicle fits into outdoor lifestyles. Outside Motor1, he has written about subjects like a Spanish shop building unconventional retro Chrysler PT Cruiser conversions, highlighting eccentric corners of the car world and the builders behind them. He has also reviewed the driving and cultural experience of the video game Gran Turismo 7 for a car-focused outlet, treating a racing simulator as another expression of car enthusiasm.
Rosales’ professional profiles describe him as a car journalist who “probably likes cars a little too much,” a line that matches the breadth of his engagement with cars, games, events, and niche projects. Before joining Motor1, he worked as a staff writer focused on the technical side of automobiles for an enthusiast publication, covering a wide range of automotive topics. His presence at events like Pikes Peak, where he joined a team covering the hillclimb alongside other media, further underscores that his reporting is grounded in being physically present in the environments where car culture happens.
All of this makes Rosales distinct from a generic automotive reporter: his beat is defined by deep, hands-on immersion in performance driving, an ongoing investigation into the survival of driver-focused technologies like the manual transmission, and a willingness to follow car culture wherever it lives, from Japanese tuning halls to off-road trails and digital racing circuits.
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