Automatic owners

[ein311]

Daily driver.
I travel to the SF Bay area quite often and don't miss driving a manual in traffic.
If I go out with the girlfriend and have a couple drinks, she can drive my car home.
The AT isn't junk and actually works real well.

[finch1750]

1) I was commuting 150 mi. a day in shit traffic.
2) It's my DD and I can be lazy
3) The auto on this car freaking rocks. Shifts faster than I ever could. no missed shifts. Perfect rev match.

This is the first automatic car I have ever owned and went back and forth a lot with the decision. The thing I hate about autos is they take away from the experiance as you don't ahve as much control, even if it's an SMT or whatever. but with this car, you have complete control so nothing is lost out.

I get a few less HP, so what. Not what this car is for.

[congee]

1) Future shared car between family members
2) Daily commuter in 40-50kmph stop and go traffic
3) Winter driving (+Drive while enjoying hot coffee at the same time)
4) Don't know how to drive manual
5) Love the paddleshifters

[The359]

I have an auto, and I selected it for a few reasons:

* I have limited experience with a manual and with being a sports car I was worried what harm I might do to it, even if that is unlikely.
* Also, being a daily driver, it makes it more comfortable to drive.
* I test drove both back to back and felt no major difference in the two when in manual mode.
* It's unique, I knew most people would not be buying autos.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by doggieboy09

... I want to know the reason for buying vs owning a stick shift.

The autotrans in our FR-S works very, very well, and we haven't missed any of the tradeoffs for not having a manual. If I were serious about autocrossing it would have been a tougher decision. Our FR-S is a toy car, not a daily driver, and we don't share the apparently fairly common 'need' for an A/T, since anyone who's likely to drive our car is reasonably clutch competent and mature enough to use one responsibly.

And of course if you are pleased/disappointed with your decision.

Lower revs at highway speeds, better MPG, more comfortable to drive when casually cruising, fun with paddles (non-porno, of course) and one benefit I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet: no big-bucks clutch replacement every 60K to 70K miles... yeah, we're pleased.

[dnavas]

Hey, I'll offer something somewhat different. I got an A/T, wouldn't get an M/T, but I'm not happy with what the transmission does under about 15mph. When in slow traffic (6-12mph), it hunts more than I'd like, when accelerating it seems to spend more time shifting into another gear than driving, but above there it works pretty well.

I would not be happy with drone at highway speed from M/T -- I'm annoyed by the tire hum, nevermind the engine noise ;^/ Was never really a driver, had no interest in learning stick, prefer to drum in car than shift :shrug:

The car is freaking awesome. Total surprise. She's going to get me in trouble around a corner sometime shortly, because every time I think I'm going too fast, the car just hunkers down. Unbelievably fun.

[Monoman]

Originally Posted by Gunman

My wife doesn't drive a manual, and the auto gives me the option to use the paddles.

This. It is "her car" and our daily commuter.

[Sithspawn]

Well, I actually owned a manual FR-S. When I was first going to get the FRS, I had only owned manual cars and felt that this car needed a manual and that the auto would suck. Then my boss got one with the automatic. When he told me how incredible the A/T in this car is, I decided to give it a whirl. The A/T in this car is truly a masterpiece and is unlike any other A/T I've ever driven. In Sport mode it outshifts me in a manual and even though I can heel toe an M/T pretty well, the rev matching and downshifting of the A/T is superior. This car is made for corner carving and the A/T in sport mode matches this car perfectly.

So, when my other FR-S ended up being a lemon, I got the A/T as my replacement and have not regretted it one bit. I generally drive it in manual mode with the paddles and it is my daily driver. On occasion when I'm feeling lazy, I'll put it in full auto, but it is pretty rare. The only other time I put it in full auto and Sport mode is when I'm hitting up my local canyon. There are literally 6 different ways to drive the A/T depending on your mood or driving style and that kind of flexibility is pretty impressive.

The only complaints I have about the A/T is the paddles are a bit small and the lock up on the converter is a little off in certain situations (like engine braking to a stop in manual mode). I can also feel the little extra weight in the corners compared to the MT. The A/T is not quite as spry as the M/T in this regard but unless you are really tuned in to the vehicle dynamics and have driven both versions extensively, I don't think the average driver will notice the subtle difference.

In closing, I think the A/T is an excellent choice for this car and the slight compromises in acceleration and cornering are well worth the advantages it affords.

[The359]

I too had noticed that the paddles are somewhat small, I tend to have to go to the bump shifter on the stick when I'm making a turn from a stop since my hand is not in the right place to shift up into 2nd. A bigger paddle on the right side would help this.

[tony1019]

1. its hard to get road head when you have to shift a manual
2. too lazy to teach wife how to drive a manual
3. havent driven a manual frequently in 10 years
4. love the auto in this (i believe its from a lexus)
5. longer gears work better with my turbo and im always making boost
6. i can always use paddle shifters

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by tony1019

1. its hard to get road head when you have to shift a manual
2. too lazy to teach wife how to drive a manual
3. havent driven a manual frequently in 10 years
4. love the auto in this (i believe its from a lexus)
5. longer gears work better with my turbo and im always making boost
6. i can always use paddle shifters

Its a version of Aisin's 8 spd found in the IS F. Excellent gearbox.

[minted-rose]

1. my daily
2. better gas mileage (60 miles/day for work)
3. commute sucks balls during rush hours (maryland drivers suck)
4. haven't driven a manual in almost 10yrs

[chenshuo]

My reasons:

1. i'm lazy.
2. paddle shifters look very sexy
3. daily commuting car in heavy traffic
4. this auto shift is not bad

[636]

wut