FRS as a Daily Driver?
 

So I placed a deposit on an MT FRS with all the intentions of making this car a daily driver. Granted, I live in LA, the traffic capital of the world, and go through an hour and a half commute total going to and from work. I elected to choose manual since my current DD (Honda Civic 97), is stick and I got used to it. Plus I felt like the driving experience wouldnt be as enjoyable with an AT (even with the higher MPG with AT.) Am I nuts goin MT with this car? Also who else is making this their DD

You'll be fine. This is my DD as well. At least your leg won't fall asleep on the commute, because it will be getting a work-out! :bellyroll:

No you haven't gone nuts. Mine will be a daily driver.

Not mine going to be daily. It a 25k car not limited production run car. The mpg are great and seem it would be cheap to maintain. But each person have different view of value.

You would be nuts to go with an AT. It's second nature to take my foot off the clutch in traffic and then put it down when I stop. It keeps things interesting so I don't fall asleep or road rage *as much*. You will be so happy you went MT when you take the car out for fun when not working.

This is a car to enjoy and have a complete driver's experience. This shouldn't even be available in AT.

What realtime MPG you getting with your frs so far Peking?

I been getting 34 mpg, with conservative driving street. I saw 39 average for highway

YES!

Oh yehes!!! 1gal to and from work! $4.50 only per day. Unlike commuting. Lol.

I'm a SCCA Nationals title holder, and instructor for many many drift and track events as well as a fan of true manual transmission. But guess what, I chose a AT for the my first FRS since it was THAT good on all venues I used it, and found it to be a great compromise. :D It's a personal preference. I just though the overly closely packed 6 speed gear ratio was simply too busy for my daily use, and 1-4th gear ranges on the paddle-AT fit my track duties just as fine on this daily car, if ever I use it on a raceway, and 5th and 6th being much taller (the two gears I rarely use on any raceway) made for a very quiet and efficient travel, as I frequently do. I wish everyone who is skilled enough, had a chance to take both on a real raceway to decide, but no auto maker is THAT liberal outside of Press events and such.

Nothing against a 6MT and its fans. I will buy my second FRS in 6MT to pack the car with a lower final gear ratio for a dedicated track car. But for now, I truly feel the taller 6th and quick rev matched AT paddle suits me fine for my #1 FRS which is a commute/demo car for the industry. :D

Pekingduck must have a really strong tailwind each way on his commute... :)

In mixed driving if I can see 20-25mpg without having to fight for it, I'll be set for a long time.

It will be my daily driver, but my commute is only about 5 minutes. :x

My car before the current one was a 99 Civic that was a DD. Even though my current is AT, I still instinctively step with my left foot thinking there's a clutch pedal there :P I used to commute to K-town every morning on the 10West, so hella traffic to and fro.

No problem driving standard in LA traffic mang. You'll be fine.

is this according to onboard computer? OR you actually calculated by hand at the pump (miles driven/gallons filled at the pump)

The computer reseted each time and what it told me for was average out by the computer. I was shifting around 3k RPM, try to avoid complete stop hoping for a greenlight, hold off on jack rabbbit start, stayed below 70 mph, and coast when I see traffic.

I was driving on PCH


I think the car get really good gas mileage as long as you drive it like a granny and enjoy the view. If you enjoy the car in the mountain pass I expect to see far worse average.

Way more accurate to calculate it at each fill up. My subaru's on board computer always says I'm averaging 1.5-2 mpg more than in real life.

This will be my daily driver as well. I commute from Simi Valley to LA everyday and I'm not worried in the slightest about the MT being a problem. Granted, I do work graveyard shift so I don't see much traffic anyway :P Like the other members said, you'll be glad you got the MT. I know I will once I get mine. I'm ordering my Raven today btw :P

DD here too!!!! it will be the perfect DD but then again i have had gutted DDs lol so im sure my vision of whats acceptable is a bit skewed lol.

It will be my DD as well i don't have a very far commute to work every day maybe 20 miles both ways. But living in the Tampa Bay area traffic gets bad and we have all the OLD drives from everywhere on the planet and they think they can drive like where they came from. So to say the least driving a MT around this area can keep you on your toes at times. But all my cars have been MT so its nothing new to me.

If you ask me, I think that anyone who buys this car with AT is going nuts!

I'm using it as a DD (first day today) and no problems at all...about a 45 min. commute each way.

Drove a stage 3 clutch with my scion tC in DC traffic from Columbia, MD to Mclean, VA for 2 years on a daily basis, after 6 months my left leg had a substantial tone compared to the right one. Will drive manual until I can't physically any more :)

How are you calculating this?

- odometer vs. fuel added to tank?
- Instantaneous fuel consumption from dash readout?
- average fuel consumption from dash readout?

if its from instantaneous fuel consumption from dash readout you have to be careful what you are doing when you decide to chose a value for the activity city/highway

The average of course fuel consumption and of course not instantaneous fuel. I would not do the odometer vs fuel because that mean I have to drive conservative the whole time with the frs.

Did you use that average fuel consumption thing?

Nope just don't put in a stiff aftermarket clutch, let me tell you the leg and ass cramps you get is HELL!!

I haven't tried it yet. I still have over 3/4 tank on my first tank, but I'll check it when I get off work.

Why would you have to change your driving habit if doing tripmeter vs fuel added? It's the most accurate way to calculate mpgs per tank. Just fill it up, reset trip meter, and upon next fill up take miles on trip meter and divide by fuel added.

I do it at each fill up on the forester and like I've already said the avg mpg on the onboard is always 1.5-2 mpg more. Was the same when I had the spec B.

:bow: im jealous!

Because I don't want to gas up only a little bit. Also I am pretty sure when you get this car you won't be driving conservative. I just wanted to see my average after I am over the honey moon phase, if I will ever be.

I've been using it as a daily driver so far (might invest in an old Jeep Wrangler just to be safe though) and it's been perfectly fine. Haven't calculated the mpg yet since I haven't had to fill up the tank yet.

My commute is fairly quick and easy to my office, but I look after 22 different sites so I travel all over in a given day. The MT has been no problem at all and I still look forward to every shift. If this transmission isn't in Car and Driver's Top 10 Manuals at the end of the year, I'll be amazed and disappointed in C&D. I've actually been surprised at how comfortable the cabin has been over-all. I've had a little trouble finding appropriate storage space, but other than that it is absolutely great. I had the CR-Z before this, solely for DD purposes and mpg, and am perfectly happy with the switch.

Gas up only a little bit? No reason for that when doing trip meter vs fuel added.

I would still have to gas up to add fuel for baseline and after to see how much remove. It a bit of hassle with time and the incoviences. When I have a perfectly good meter there.

I've never used an onboard MPG calculator or GPS and I have always suspected as much...thanks for confirming it.

I'll stick with the gas pump and manual calculation method(the one that boggles service managers minds when you explain it to them!).

Ok, so you're not actually against trip meter vs fuel added method. You just don't want to top off to start it now even though I don't think anyone was actually asking you to do that.

I was just trying to bring light to the fact that onboard mpg computers usually don't match up to real life mpgs.

How often do you hear reports of people regretting getting an automatic? A lot. But I can't think of a single instance of someone regretting getting a manual transmission. :shrug:

Right now I'm averaging 30.3 mpg according to the computer. I drive 35 miles each way to/from work 50/50 city/hwy. once I fill it up I'll let you know what it is by dividing miles by gallons.

does a new car need break in time before it shows its true MPG?

If I do get this car, it will also be my DD but will treat it like my wife. Gift it maybe once every 2 months with different parts/mods.

One thing I do really want is, if possible, replace that crappy Scion A/C controls with the Toyota86/BRZ one and possibly change ALL Scion emblems and put on the Toyota emblems. Also, put on a push start ignition like the GT86/BRZ.

you guys think that's possible when this car comes out?