I know the purists and hardcore enthusiasts love their manuals but there are some of us who can drive manual yet need an automatic for practical reasons, like those of us with long commutes and plan to use this car as a DD.

And again, just because they offer an auto, it doesn't have to be disaster for the "softcore" (?) enthusiast.

Aisin has a nice 6 speet AT. Offer that with the ability to shift via buttons or an autostick (tiptronic was offered with the 7th gen Celicas, but only 4 fucking gears!!!) and that will attract a lot of potential customers.

Or... ressurect the last gen MRS's 5-SMT, which they've had 10 years to improve upon.

This will be my daily driver and project car, and I intend to have a shitload of fun with it on the road -- but, I don't plan on regularly tracking it or trying to go sideways in it -- guess that makes me a mere softcore enthusiast... :sigh:

The hardcore "you're not allowed to drive MY car" attitude isn't going to help Toyota sell enough cars or win anyone too many friends...

And who knows, one of those so-called softcore enthusiasts might turn out to be the guy you need help from if you start tuning your car... where have I seen this before...?

Absolutely no doubt in my mind they'll release an automatic box for this car, if it goes to production. I don't have any figures to back this up, but here in Australia at least I'd say a minimum of half of all new cars these days are automatic, if not drastically more. Driving in traffic sucks and anyone who doesn't enjoy spirited driving will want an auto for their commute.

They're going to make this car appeal to as many as they can, since they're building it to confine to a small budget. True, for once they might be building something with a sporty nature, but it doesn't mean they want to rule out a good portion of the population just by not offering an auto model.

Oldies love sporty looking cars, but don't care so much about the powertrain like enthusiasts. These are the ones with the cash who buy the most new cars, and guess what? They like cars that are easy to drive in traffic too (read: automatic transmissions).

I don't think this car will be getting a DSC. Sure it's becoming more commonplace, but they're building this vehicle on a budget. That's tech a few years back where they can (eg, transmissions but not emissions).

I'm not planning on that either. I just happen to think that an automatic in a sports car ruins the idea. If there was an automatic S, it would completely bog down the experience while driving. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it and this car isn't a pure sports car. I dunno. However, I still think that an auto strips away the experience. :iono:

On the other hand, it will give people who don't want to work a clutch in stop and go traffic a reason to have the -- shall we say the "approximate" experience.

Again, no one said it should only come with an auto. That would turn off people just as much as it not having an auto option (well, technically, about 90% of americans drive auto trans cars, so actually, they'd still sell more cars that way...)

Anyway, if they use the Aisin 6 speed AT, they even keep the same gear ratios. The only difference may be the potential speed at which it shifts.

Seriously -- there is no reason for Toyota to take the "exclusive club" path for this car. It's already being designed to spin out of control! At least give more people the chance to have fun doing that :bellyroll:

How will another car with a AT ruins the idea or what they call the sports car experience? a car is individual, it reflects the owner personality not the owners if one owner wants his car to be in show with lights and big ass speakers and 20 LCD screens thats on him, I'm not going to let a burned rice kill my buzz. childish rant like that are the one who labels real enthusiast away from any car not automatic transmission.

i agree with jordo. i daily drive an 05 s2k, i need my cars to have a clutch pedal, but it is snobby and honestly lame for me to wish the ft wouldn't have an automatic option for those that want it. i don't care if posers buy this car. i want this car to sell in large numbers to insure that it will stay on the market, unlike my s2k that got canned this year. even if posers buy this car, the fact of the matter is i'm not one of them, and i'm not gonna let posers ruin my enjoyment of this car. if you care so much about this being a purist car that you don't even want there to be an automatic option, you're basically telling me you care too much about how others perceive you when you drive the car. i could really give a crap less how others see me in this car, it's all about whether i enjoy how it drives or not. how would an option that you're not even going to buy somehow dilute your car? lame.

You ever tried to drift in an automatic? Take the fun factor of sliding a car with standard and slash it in half.

Its not even a comparison.

Very true but irrelevant. The reality is that most buyers will never drift the car. Also, I still don't see how the auto trans in someone else's car affects how one drift his/her car with an manual trans.

;) I don't think having automatic sport car is bad idea. My friends
own 350z, Supra and they like it.

Who said drift? I said spin out of control :laughabove:

personally, i would never touch an auto ever again but if it means my gf can also roll up in a sexy red FT-86, why not.... my manual one to be bought will smoke it

Where in the world did I make a childish rant? I was merely stating my opinion. If doing so means it's a childish rant then you are the one with the problem. :respekt:

here you go