Manual Pros

[bdanisi]

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

[Books]

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!

[lantsalot]

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.

[Purdue FR-S]

Originally Posted by lantsalot

with the exception of the s2000 which is pretty much the greatest shifting experience ever.

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.

[ThePoet]

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.

[Miniata]

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.

[nbafandan]

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

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by nbafandan

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.

[strat61caster]

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.

[Sport-Tech]

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.

[bdanisi]

Originally Posted by Sport-Tech

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.

[cgrey]

Originally Posted by lantsalot

with the exception of the s2000 which is pretty much the greatest shifting experience ever.

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

If not, maybe someone else has driven both?

[kthxbai]

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.

[dori.]

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