Should I go AT or MT?
 

First of all, I'm sorry for the extremely vague question, know you get tired of it.

I'm planning on buying a sporty car soon, and the twins are on the top of my list. The problem is I have never done a manual before and this would be my 100% daily driver for at least 3 years.

Is the automatic still as fan to drive as the MT on this car? Will it make it dramatically more slow when hammering on the gas?

Should I take advantage of the car to learn to drive a stick? I do have to drive a decent amount of traffic on the way home everyday.

Any insight from those who tried both is greatly appreciated. Thank you beforehand.

My BRZ is my first manual ever. I learned to drive stick on her, and boy am I glad. I'll probably never be buying an auto again given the opportunity. If you want the full experience, go standard and enjoy it the way it's supposed to be enjoyed.

Never tried AT, have had MT for 4 years in California city traffic, zero regrets. Totally fine learning on it, worst case scenario you replace a clutch at some point down the road, no big deal.

I think if you never plan on hitting the track/autox having AT will be satisfying. There are a few who track/autox their AT, but I think it's more a note on why people buy their cars than the people who buy them.

MT>AT

Never automatic.

Some people complain about driving a MT in traffic and yes, it can suck. But not once have I seen a thread where someone said "I got the MT but I really wish I had gotten the AT". However, here on this forum you can search and find some threads where some people have commented "I should have gotten the manual".

These are a great car to learn MT on.
That said the "AT" on these is very different from your run of the mill family sedan. You do have the paddles and manual shift mode for when you want to play but can just drive around in auto when you are being just a car.

You will get a huge MT bias on here cuz' racecar but in the long run both trannys have their ups and downs.

Is the traffic in downtown Beaumont excessively obnoxious?

Your call. Either will do nicely.

I bought my BRZ with auto transmission, but I made this decision after driving manual RWD cars for 30 years and finding that for daily driving, the auto suited my needs better.

However, if this is your first sporty car, get the manual and learn to drive stick. The 'more fun/engaging' reason is subjective and I'd argue that I have just as much fun in my auto as I did driving stick, but I really believe that it's good to learn how to drive a manual transmission well. It give you more insight into the mechanics of what's happening in your car and makes you more aware of power bands, throttle control etc. It's also useful if you want to learn how to ride motorcycles.

Downtown beaumont is almost irrelevant lol the hard part is that southeast texas has a ridiculous amount of refineries that cause very bad traffic from 3 until 8 pm for the entire area.

HELLO, TJBarnes and WELCOME to ...... The Forum ...... :clap:

First off, if you're looking for a sporty car, at a relatively economical price ..... you're looking in the right direction.

If you have always wondered what it would be like to drive a MT car, this would be a good opportunity. The FR-S/BRZ, with a MT is an easy car to drive.

I think it boils down to ...... if you like to shift ..... get the manual ....... if you don't like to shift ..... get the AT.


humfrz

That was clever .....did you mean to be clever ...... or did it just spill out ....:D


humfrz

I drove a manual Acura EL (after learning how to drive stick after about an hour) and I found it more 'fun and engaging' than the automatic FRS I drove. Granted I didn't encounter much traffic since it was on an quiet road, but rowing your own gears is something you'll never experience in a automatic. In the end it's entirely subjective which you find suits your requirements but if you're young and willing to learn, I say go for the manual.

One thing though- don't pay attention when people say that paddles are the same as manual. Wrong. It's the CLUTCH that makes the difference not so much choosing your gears.

Learn the heel n' toe shift when you get the car- start off learning to drive the stick right straight away.

Start off with heel and toe? How about people learn the basics before jumping into advanced techniques? If you are ripping around the streets using heel and toe all the time you have no business driving with the public in the first place. Those are track driving methods not street.
How does a clutch make things better? It just makes it so you can shift the gears and the paddles can do that faster and better than any person can with the clutch and shifter. So ya the paddles are NOT the same as a manual they are actually better. This is not a bloody Corolla AT we are talking about here.

DANG! ......guybo, most stick drivers have enough of a challenge learning to drive a stick the granny way ....... :eyebulge:


humfrz

I almost always heel toe to 2nd gear for turns on the street.
It's super easy in this car without driving balls to the wall.

I'm Ultramaroon and I approve this message.

OP, If you find anything interesting about this conversation, you will regret purchasing an automatic. It's a sports car. You are a sports car driver. Just go fucking have fun.

As someone that has driven manual cars over 200,000 miles in day-to-day commuter traffic in DC, South Florida and Atlanta, I can say that once you learn how to drive a manual it will basically become "automatic" in your daily driving. You won't even realize you are changing gears even in heavy traffic, just like all the orther driving mechanics in most situations, so that shouldn't stop you from getting a MT if that is what you want.

By the same token, the AT in the 86 is very good and I don't miss having a MT.

Get what you think suits you best. As you can see the only answers you are going to get on here boil down to MT>AT4EVER and "AT in this car is very good".

It's a personal choice, and I don't think you'll regret either one.

Sorry I wasn't clear there since that statement was supposed to be linked to the learn the basics first comment and it appears to be a stand alone comment in my post.
If you are brand new to MT, still learning the basics and are driving heel and toe on the streets you are an asshat! It is easy to screw up and have things go wrong until you have practice.

The mode of shifting does not make it a sports car. Many people do not regret buying an AT. Pretty sure the AT guys can have every bit as much fun as the MT ones.

Long run you will have less problems and more fun with mt

Brakes are for pussies.

Of course not, however I stand by my implication that especially for this flavor of sports car, for those interested in traditional aspects of the driving experience, MT is an essential component.

If one is curious enough about MT to start a thread asking about it, then my advice is to go all in.

Scratch that itch. YOLO.

https://media.giphy.com/media/1IhtFKZPZmDPa/giphy.gif

Learn it right, right from the start. Heel n toe shifting is not a track only method of shifting. It has nothing to do with shifting fast or for speed. It's the right way to shift to be easy on your trans. I do it every down shift if I am going for groceries or having fun. It's just the right way to shift and it is in no way unsafe. I'm not sure what you're smoking @Tcoat- you don't get what I said at all. :slap:

I don't know if MT or AT is faster. I don't care. MT takes a certain amount of skill and you have a lot more control over your car and a real connection that the AT doesn't have. It's in the clutch.

I'm not saying double clutch shift either.

no.

especially on this one. no.

please enlighten me

If you know how to drive a mt (granted the population is less every year),and proper maintenance, You have little clutch wear, gear wear.

With an automatic, you have more shifts, more wear, more maintenance, and more moving parts. More opportunity for negative issues.

I think heel toe is fairly advanced for someone just learning to drive MT. It's even considered advanced for "normal" people that have been driving MT for years. One can easily screw up and slip off the brake if they aren't experienced.
Not sure if it was implied, but they should learn to rev match before learning heel toe as well.

My feet don't agree with heel toe..

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

1. The AT on this one is MUCH tougher than the MT
2. This MT is less idiot proof than other also not idiot proof MTs
3. This clutch and the operating mechanism has known weaknesses.

I speak from firsthand experience.

Worthwhile read:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6485

In the end you'll have to drive it and live with it. So why not test drive both in the traffic conditions most reflective of your driving pattern, then pick the one that worked for you.

For me, I can say the AT is no slouch especially in AT's manual mode.

gotcha

thank you

I come from an auto world where either there was no option, or the mt was much better, without all the electronic bullshit

It is not the "right way to shift" for normal street driving and sure as hell not "better" for your transmission if doing it all your downshifts. It is a performance driving technique for maintaining speed through the corners and it is gross overkill to use it for every down shift.

Wondered how long before the whole "skill" and "connection" clichés would get thrown out there since they are pretty much the go to statements for the MT elitists. If you need a third pedal to have fun driving you are doing something wrong.

Most intelligent statement so far!

Heel and toe is not really useful for the street...when are you going to be slamming the brake pedal in preparation for a corner? If you're barely depressing the brake pedal your heel has to go a lot further to blip the throttle. For my feet at least, it's extremely uncomfortable unless the brake is mashed very far down.

The easiest thing on your transmission is a rev matched double clutch shift, which I find fun to do. That said, out of all M/T drivers, the vast majority don't rev match, and out of the people who do rev match, the vast majority don't know how to double clutch.

OP can't because he doesn't know stick.

Only OP knows whether or not MT is part of the sports car dream. If he doesn't try it, he'll never know.

At no point did I say he should not try it. In fact I OPENED with it is a great car to learn MT on. WWF's statement was to try both and that can still be done. OP doesn't need to know double clutching and heel toe or any other advanced method to try it. Sure they will jerk around and stall a few times but it is as good a time to try as any. I taught my 13 year old grandson how to do it in 15 minutes and he grasped it so a grown adult should be able to. They just need to put all the "you need to drive MT like it is anime" bullshit aside and learn how to stop, start and change gears.

Oh, oops. I didn't mean to imply you discouraged it.

What I mean is it's not an intelligent statement to suggest he "test drive" both. He can't. He can only decide to buy and learn how to drive MT with it.

...which is what I suggest he seriously consider.

Everybody should learn to drive MT and if looking at sporty cars own at least one MT one in their life. There are also other options for learning MT before actually buying one. Don't know about anyplace else but around here you can get a MT driving lesson from a pro for about $50. My impatience comes with the whole "AT sucks and anybody that buys one will be sorry" attitude that prevails here. There are many many very happy AT owners and it is a totally viable option. People here tend to talk like they are driving their cars balls out 100% of the time when the fact of the matter is if they are driving around a city or doing long highway runs the opportunities to use the advantages of the MT can be rare.