Only AT 86’s at my dealers?
 

:iono:...Austin is not small, not Houston but well over a million. I went to both Subaru dealerships, only showroom tS models, not interested. Toyota only has AT 86 and manager told me most inventory they get is AT, even 860 Special Edition which honestly I’m still trying to figure out what is “special “?? Stripes.

Meanwhile, went back to Mazda and wanted to drive soft top since I already drove RF. As a brand new MT guy, I REALLY like MT in MX-5 ND and I’m most likely buying one in couple months. Waiting on MY 19, increased HP and few other cosmetic upgrades. RF has horrible blind spots and I enjoyed full top down more and simplicity of ST.

Is AT worth testing? On 86 that is?

Is AT worth testing? On 86 that is?


:popcorn:

What's the rush? Find a '17 manual new/used, test drive that. It's going to be the same experience in comparison to a '18

Then at that point you'll know if it's for you, or not. If so, maybe go '17 bro deal , or wait for a '18

The 860 was the only way you could get a 17 with all the stuff of the BRZ Limited in one special colour and one normal. With the new GT trim level for 18 that stuff is available on any colour.

No, not really.

I rented one for two days once, it was a lot of fun with the rev-matched paddle shifting. I've been hardcore manual my whole life, but wouldn't kick an automatic 86 out of my garage.

Come to COTA April 7-8, I'll give you a ride in my '17 with an ACE header. :)

Tell the dealer what you want. Just because they do not have it on their lot does not mean they can not sell it to you. Dealers swap inventory all the time. I have purchased multiple cars that were not on the lot. Came to an agreement and they found me a car and had it brought in.

As already stated, look for a used one to test drive. That way you aren’t dealing with a brand new car that hasn’t finished break in. You can give it a beat down without feeling bad about it.

It’s ridiculous that MT sales on most cars are down yet you can’t even get one if you want one. As soon as an MT hits the lot they sell yet they don’t order enough to keep up with demand. So stupid. What really sucks is the number of people that go in wanting an MT and they don’t have any in town so the settle for an AT and nothing is documented to tell the manufacturer/dealer that the desire for an MT was there. Instead it goes down on record as the person choosing an AT.

My thought is that everyone should own a roadster with a MT, at least once in their life.

The top down driving experience in a roadster is a unique experience.

The new Miata is probably the best roadster ever made (in its price range).

Yes, many times I miss my NC ..... :wub:


humfrz

Not really rush, just planning my buy in next couple months and tired of thinking about it honestly. I’m pretty set on ND, but don’t want to rule out twins before ever even driving one. Doesn’t have to be ‘18, they don’t have any MT at all. Subaru or Toyota. New or used.

Hell yeah, sounds fun!

I don’t want to order one, I want to test drive one. I already told dealer I wanted to drive MT and they said most of what they get is AT. I know MX-5 AT sucks, so that’s why I was asking about twins.

Only AT 86’s at my dealers?
 

Strange that most of what they get is AT when 75% of the Twin sales in the US are MT.

Check CarMax near you?

My theory is it's not that they are mostly getting AT, it's that AT's aren't selling like MT so they aren't said for before they hit dealerships. I also had an issue trying to test drive an MT back in July, and the reason I was given was that MT's are always sold, so they can't let you drive a sold car.

And then the sales people try to brain wash people into buying the slow moving cars by saying, “everyone wants automatics”. Hahaha

My theory is that the dealers are hoarding them because there are less and they're superior in ever way, shape and form. :iono:

I've got a 15 FRS auto. No problem with it. Love it! I run tons of autox with it. It's not that much of a handicap. I've beaten dozens of manual transmission twins. Pedal dance and sport mode work very well. Great for local competition.

I’m not autoxing so don’t really care if it can beat MT, I just know how much I enjoyed driving MT ND, and that’s as rookie, can only imagine once I get more hours with clutch!

Very true, Subaru had just sold limited ‘17 MT that I thought I was gonna get to drive.

LOL, oh god, not like this...

:lol:

I did not say order. A dealer can pull up the inventory of other dealers in the area. To make a sale they will swap inventory. My CRZ I bout was pulled from a Houston dealer.

But if you are not ready to buy just go find a used one, Toyota, FRS, BRZ that is manual and drive it. As stated previously.

Once you decide what you want go to the dealer you like and make a deal. They will do anything they can to find your car and make a deal. It is fun to start the conversation with the salesman and say I want X,Y,X car but you do not have it on your lot.

The auto is worth driving, they spent a bunch of time making it as good as possible.Read this about the development of the AT 86.

It's worth a drive just to eliminate it as an option. I only say that because buyer's remorse is real. If you want a manual, get a manual.

I've driven a couple. It's cool but it's still an automatic.

I heard if you buy an auto 86, it comes with a free bag to put your balls in. It's a shame that most new car buyers don't want a manual....maybe it's too hard to text and drive with a MT?

I test drove the AT, and I'm going to say its probably my favourite standard automatic that I've used. In D it shifts like any grocery getter car would and its as smooth as any automatic I've driven(and I've driven a lot). In manual mode this is the most responsive automatic with the paddle shifters, a lot of automatics are really bad with this mode but this is probably the closest one to dual clutch. Its slower than a DCT but I doubt anybody really notices unless they time it. Now the main issue you could have it with, the gear ratios are fuel economy oriented so fuel economy will be excellent with the AT, but acceleration is worse than the manual. I don't think its fruitful to test drive the AT if you want to get a sense of how the car is even if you do buy the MT.

Ultimately I did go MT. The visceral nature of this car to me says MT only. No regrets on my part since this is the easiest MT I've lived with. Yet if my left leg stopped functioning, its actually good to know this car is still great with a AT as I know very well some cars are awful with a AT.

DANG, mattyice ...... you looken ta get slapped around ..... :eyebulge:


:D


humfrz

The AT is great if you aren't worried about extracting the utmost performance. It shifts pretty fast, just a little slower off the line & more drivetrain loss.

A friend of mine got the old E46 SMG. First week, “oh it’s so cool, it rev matches and shifts so fast and it’s identical to the MT mechanically”. Second month, “the cool factor wears off. I miss the a MT”. After that he got an STi and enjoyed that. Then got a Evo MR and liked that even more. Then got a GTR and liked that but just like the SMG he missed the manual. So he got another Evo MR. Today he has an F80 M3, manual of course. There is just something about shifting that can’t be replaced with an AT regardless of some of their technical superiority.

I guess if you’ve never driven a manual in a fun car then you’d never know the difference in a Twin with AT. Only the Twins AT isn’t technically superior performance wise. There is a fairly large gap on 0-60. All that BS about busy shifting in that post linked above is just that, BS. Throw any press guy in a car and there will be a learning curve. Take shifting out of the equation and obviously the curve is flattened a little. In the long run these press guys would have gotten used to the gearbox and been on par with the AT press cars. The Twins definitely have close gears (busy) but IMO that makes for more shifting.... more fun. Isn’t fun factor at the top of the list when buying a car in this class?

Just like OP, my intention was to buy an MT but they had only AT when I was in the dealer. My first car was MT and I wanted an MT again. I did the test drive with AT, impressed, and bought it. I have no regrets. Yes it was slower than MT when it was NA due to gear ratios. But supercharging with the AT gears are actually an advantage since there is now more than enough power to drive them. Plus, my top speed is higher than it would be with MT. My 0-60 is around 5 secs. Get the AT and supercharge it!

Or MT and supercharge it. [emoji12]

When you buy the automatic do not forget to get the T shirt.

https://allbluetees.com/wp-content/u...image-1297.png

I think those of us that are passionate about the left pedal would never be satisfied with anything else. The urge to hoon is real even if it's just a little clutch kick making a left turn on a rainy day.

In fairness, I admit that it's silly. I wonder just what percentage of drivers are incapable of driving around a clover leaf without fantasizing about doing it sideways.

Probably about 95% I would say. On behalf of the other 5% of us, I say their loss.

When I bought my FR-S i test drove the AT but knowing that I would buy the MT. I didn't want to test drive it when my manual skills weren't very solid yet. To be honest I thought the AT as a transmission is fine, but it makes the car feel more sluggish especially starting off and honestly it saps a bit of the car's character. I think if I got the AT I would not have been as happy with the car.

Sure, have it your way
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