Manual Pros
 

I wanted to know how this cars manual compares to other vehicles. This is my first mt and as I learned on this car I was just wondering how it stacks up to other sporty cars. to me the feel is amazing, and I was also wondering about how many miles did it take you to really have manual as muscle memory. Im a few k miles in and its easy for me but sometimes i mess up minor things likes downshifting or a sloppy shift every once in a while. Just wondering!
thanks

The manual transmission on this car is spectacular. Shifting feels very solid, accurate, and tight. In terms of gear ratio, 1st gear is pretty low and 2nd is pretty high. In my limited experience, I have only driven a few sports cars and for non-sporty cars it's mostly been an accord and camry.

The downside is when you get a new car, it'll be very hard to find one like this without any upgrades.

I also forgot to note that our clutch is VERY light!

Compared to other vehicles i love how the FR-S shifts. It's incredibly easy. I actually started teaching my gf to drive manual in this thing, and she only stalled it once and then was able to take it on the street in about ten minutes.
From my experience with other sports cars, the clutches were a lot stiffer, and a bit more difficult to drive, with the exception of the s2000 which is pretty much the greatest shifting experience ever.

:D

I also think the FR-S is easy to drive. Very forgiving as far as not stalling it goes.

I learned to drive a manual in a 97 camaro in highschool. That thing was pretty sad (though I did love it at the time lol).

I also agree about the s2000. My dad owns one that I get to drive on my birthday lol. So amazingly smooth and you get a "snick-snick"ness that's very impressionable. I also test drove the Civic Si and I must say, I think Honda has to be a dominant player in the affordable sports cars' transmission quality. The whole time I drove it I got the feeling that Honda had been doing this right for a long time and knew what they were doing.

That being said, you can't really weight my opinion too much as I've only driven a handful of manuals in my life.

How does it stack up against other cars? Very very very well. The manual trans in this car, as far as how it feels, is awesome. Not completely void of feel to make it seem rubbery, as you might find in a BMW, (Some people like that btw) but just enough notchiness to make it feel like you're operating a well oiled rifle bolt. Also, the throws are very short compared to what you'd find in most other cars. The C5 Corvette I had before this made it seem like you were throwing a circuit breaker ever time you went to change gears.

The trans/shifter is as good as any I've owned (nearly 20 over the years), and among the best I've ever driven, with the S2000 probably the best I've driven.

Hard to say how long it took me to develop muscle memory for shifting a manual trans, as that is all we had growing up, and I could proficiently drive a manual trans car before I got my license (starting at age 13 or so). In fact, I kept messing up when driving the car I was in for my driving instruction since it was an auto, and I kept jabbing the brake pedal with my left foot.

when people say the clutch is light does that mean the car starts rolling after you release the clutch 10-20%?

They mean that it does not require a lot of pressure to depress the pedal. What you are referring to is called the catch point, and it is adjustable on most car.

Clutch is extremely light (no effort to depress, no resistance and consequently no feedback on engagement). The flywheel is light and the motor doesn't have much torque so it's one of the more difficult cars I've driven, after you get rolling it's a breeze with some practice and figuring out where the revs should be, tightest most connected immediate gearbox I've ever used.

Cars compared to: '08 Miata, '13 Abarth, '97 Camry, '91 Nissan Pickup, '85 Civic
Very similar to the Miata, except the Miata had a more forgiving gearbox that was just as satisfying and a heavier flywheel which made the gear changes feel smoother.
Abarth has by far the easiest manual I've ever driven, within a mile I no longer worried about where the revs were or where my foot was in relation to where it grabs, just shift shift shift all day long. 400+ on my FRS and still struggling for AT like smoothness.

Compared to my Tiburon, the grab or catch zone on the clutch seemed quite narrow on test drives, and engagement is high up in the clutch's pedal travel range--but I'm sure I'd get used to it. Try driving a Genesis coupe turbo for a truly horrendous clutch with a micrometer-wide catch range.

Hahaha almost bought that exact car.
I am loving all this feedback. Very interesting.

If you've ever driven a Miata, how would you rate the transmission against the S2000?

If not, maybe someone else has driven both?

I learned how to truly drive a M/T on an '05 tC for the last 5 years. When I first started driving my new FRS M/T, I had some difficulties with trying to figure out the catch range as it was a little underwhelming when it came to feedback from the clutch. Just like the majority of replies states, the clutch is much lighter than the tC I practiced in; couple this with a light weight fly wheel with the revs dropping pretty fast made me nervous in my first first drives in my FRS.

I just broke 2k miles last week and will say that I am completely comfortable shifting in this car now. I have not even driven this car every day in the 5 weeks of ownership that I've had it. My fiance drives our FRS when I am out of town for work, which is every other week and I'm usually traveling for 4-5 days at a time.

the transmission is really, really good. as good as the S2000 or the recent MX-5s

I actually have not had the chance to drive a miata, so hopefully somebody else will have your answer!

Gearbox is lovely when up to temperature. Can be a bit of a pig when it's cold.
Clutch is not as smooth as almost any other car I've driven. There is an area where a very small percentage of the pedal travel is responsible for a large percentage of the engagement. If I'm not concentrating I'm likely to engage too quickly through this area and the shift isn't as smooth as I want.

Previous car was a Civic so I may have been spoiled by Honda.

I have to agree with everyone else on the clutch being too light. Short of installing a heavier clutch, is there anyway to get a heavier feel to it? It feels even lighter after you adjust the grab point.

This car's flywheel was like 20 lbs .. I thought that was heavy and was thinking about replacing it so i can do harder/faster shifts lol

I really like the FRS MT gearbox and transmission, but I still struggle to shift smoothly. My first three cars were MTs ('83 Celica, '84 Toy P/U, '97 Civic) with my last one being a AT ('05 4Runner). I do have to give Honda their props that the Civic gearbox was actually quite good in relationship; I haven't driven a S2000 before but I can imagine it being Civic-like but just better. I have to agree that the FRS gearbox is a little extra knotchy in the morning when it is still cold (sometimes 2nd is a little difficult to get into when it is cold for me). Transitions between gears both up and down are still challenging to get super smooth for me. I doubt I will ever get it as smooth as the FRS AT which for the most part is almost unnoticeable, but in a good way. But I do enjoy manual rowing the gears.

give more gas to match revs it wont bounce

I'm coming from a WRX with a stg 3 clutch and the FRS clutch is really soft not as stiff at the oem WRX one as well. At least thats how it felt from my test drive (still waiting on delivery).

Im came from a Eclipse GSX using a ACT 2100 clutch then to a 2005 Evo running a ACT Extreme pressure plate (such a stuff clutch my left leg was like twice the size of my right). I think the FRS shifts much more smoothly but the clutch is way to light, even my friend who has a stock clutch Si says it's way to light.

When warm, I think this car's transmission is nearly as good as the S2000/Miata shifters. About on par with the RSX-S. Slightly notchy, but very very good.

I think I'm the only one then. I actually do not like the clutch or the transmission on the FRS. Here's my opinion on clutches and transmissions

Clutch is too light on the FRS and has no feedback at all. Clutch travel is on the short side, catch point is almost like an on off switch. I can barely tell where the engagement point is. You're suppose to be able to feel where it starts grabbing then as you release the clutch more it'll grab in a linear fashion, instead if you feel it grab then when you continue to disengage the clutch it'll make the car hop like a bunny rabbit. (i'm exaggerating to get my point across)

Transmission is too clunky. The short shifts are nice but shifts are not smooth. It does not glide in smoothly. In my Porsche it slides in very nicely yet you can feel it shift into gear

Comparing to my previous MINI Cooper S and Porsche Cayman S

Porsche has the best clutch and shifter feel I have ever driven. You really get what you pay for at 3X the cost. MINI is very good also. the clutch is lighter but has very good feedback.

BMW on the other hand I do not like. It has too much spring feel to it. feels like you're stepping into a rubber band and springs back.

I want to say that I'm dissapointed that a lot of owners are learning to drive a MT in this car,... but I guess that's sort of what the engineers inteneded it to be.

The gearbox is definatly on par with the best, but sadly I've still felt better Honda's.

EBMCS03 makes a lot of valid points.

light? meh i think it feels great i drove a 04 vw jetta shifter on that thing was the lightest i have ever used felt like there was nothing but air when pushing the clutch in. and the gear box felt like the whole thing was plastic.

Its like Honda did something so well (the S2000) they ran out of juice to make another similar car. I mean between the NSX, and the S2k, those people know how to make a RWD car - even if its FR or MR.

Stop making a car we wont afford and make one that we can Honda!!! Im lookin at you new NSX