2017 Red Manifold
 

So I was at the dealership to buy my new 17 brz and I noticed the show car didn't have a red manifold and it was auto transmission but the week before I was at another dealer and they had a manual transmission and it had a red painted manifold, does the manual have red and the auto not?

That's correct, the automatic has no changes to engine so there's no red manifold only manual cars have those.

Exactly this.
The automatic is the same engine as previous years, so the red intake manifold is only on the manuals.

I remember reading that they couldn't get the Auto to pass certain noise level requirements when downshifting, so they had to keep the same engine as last year. (Or something to that effect, if I recall correctly)

The color red in the manifold provides that 5hp gain. ��

Thats your punishment for buying an automatic :paddle:

That doesn't make sense. Whether the the car is a manual or an AT being driven in manual, they will make the same noise level.

There's something up with the 2017 Auto...They're giving "more power" and a different rear end to the manual. My guess is they're just trying to appeal to a different market with the AT.

Manual gets a RED one AT gets a black one...:)

The have two different engines and diffs adds production costs so I doubt it is a marketing ploy. "Hey you want AT? Well we kept the power and acceleration down to your level" won't sell many extra cars.
I have never heard of a noise requirement that would have such a fine line that an AT would fail and a MT pass. I am guessing that it is more likely a mileage or emissions requirement issue that would cost more to correct with the AT then it costs to have two engines in the system.

I agree with you. Are there really two different engines? Or, is it the 4.3 rear end causing an issue with emissions/mileage in the AT? Purely guessing here but none of this makes sense.

There are two engines. Even the car configuration sections of each Twin shows the AT with the old engine specs.

Okay, but why? 5 extra HP can't go into an AT? Old engines laying about? Unlikely.

Kinda funny when you think about it and not believable.

If I was privy to all Toyota/Subaru's business plans I would be worth millions. We may never really know but I am sure that there is a legit reason for it since neither company is a Mom and Pop operation making random or unwarranted decisions. It really isn't something open for debate or to be disbelieved by anybody.

"... Buyers who order an automatic transmission will have to make do with the previous 200-hp engine and 4.10:1 final drive; engineers tell us the automatic cars could not clear pass-by noise regulations during downshifts with the new engine..."

http://www.caranddriver.com/subaru/brz

Just stating what I read. :)

My thought is that Toyota/Subaru have too many old parts left in their bin so they would like to empty the stock. My guess is that the red manifold together with other engine upgrades will come with the A/T in the future, like 2018 till the end of production of current BRZ/GT86.

Most likely the MY2017 engine block is the same, the manifolds are different.

The old engine and new engine had same overall specs, and nothing different about the combustion chamber shape or burn characteristics. The manifold changes would've necessitated a change in ECU timing and fuel maps, hence the "AT with old engine peripherals and MT with new peripherals" as something that points to emission-related engineering requirements.

-alex