Commuters driving stick

[rcm47]

Originally Posted by hmong337

As far as I'm concerned, manual transmission is the only option for this car.

I wish this was the case. I know this guy always bragging about his automatic FR-S saying his is better cuz he "has the best of both worlds" and he can't even drive a true manual. I can only imagine how many more douche bags like this are rolling around in an FR-S.

[alan.chalkley]

First gear on the manual is a nice low ratio and it is good for just crawling along in the sydney peak hour.
I test drove the auto and was tangling up the paddle shifters when i palmed the steering wheel with one hand.
The steering wheel is for steering the car , not for changing gears or radio stations.

[Braces]

Suberman ... You are correct that the DCT is taking over. All the highend manufacturers are doing this: Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, mclaren, etc. Etc. Odds are the DCT will find itself in most sportscars at any price level. Yes ... The DCT is quicker ... Both in the real world and at the track. If numbers are your thing ... Yes the DCT is superior. But the connection between the driver and the car is slowly being removed. I don't care about numbers. I don't want COMPUTER CONTROLLED: sound generation, throttle blips, rev matching, torque steering, nannies on steroids, etc. I just want an enjoyable car that I feel connected to and unfortunately ... These cars are becoming rare. Rant over.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Two words. Contra mundum.

That's Latin for "Who gives a crap what the world thinks? The world is full of it."

Arguing from the majority is a logical fallacy, just as trying to argue about the "inferiority" of the 86 using numbers is a logical fallacy.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

You should have stopped at contra mundum....

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Braces

Suberman ... You are correct that the DCT is taking over. All the highend manufacturers are doing this: Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, mclaren, etc. Etc. Odds are the DCT will find itself in most sportscars at any price level. Yes ... The DCT is quicker ... Both in the real world and at the track. If numbers are your thing ... Yes the DCT is superior. But the connection between the driver and the car is slowly being removed. I don't care about numbers. I don't want COMPUTER CONTROLLED: sound generation, throttle blips, rev matching, torque steering, nannies on steroids, etc. I just want an enjoyable car that I feel connected to and unfortunately ... These cars are becoming rare. Rant over.

Anybody notice I chose a manual?

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by hmong337

As far as I'm concerned, manual transmission is the only option for this car.

Technically, it's not an option....

[rawrmatty]

All of you have been great thank you so much!

I am pretty sure I came up with what I will drive now... Manuel all the way!
I know it will be a learning process but I know in the end it will all be worth it!


Thanks for all the advice everyone!

[Jaywest717]

Originally Posted by rawrmatty

All of you have been great thank you so much!

I am pretty sure I came up with what I will drive now... Manuel all the way!
I know it will be a learning process but I know in the end it will all be worth it!


Thanks for all the advice everyone!

This was my first manual and it took me five days to become comfortable using it with this car (and by comfortable, I mean going through an entire day without stalling and having successful uphill starts without any issues!). Most important thing I feel is learning exactly where the clutch catches the engine in 1st gear. Also, the e-brake is your best friend. Everything becomes MUCH easier after you get those two things down. Good luck!

[Billylammerkins]

As far as I know, most of the people that can afford the higher end cars (Lamborghini, McLarens, GTRs, etc) are geeks that cannot drive. I know this because I've worked at several car dealerships, and have sold many $80k+ cars, most of these owners are terrible drivers from what I see on test drives. One of my customers actually got in a car accident in his Gallardo, BEFORE he even left my lot....

Anyways, get what you want to drive man. I'm a commuter and I drive stick everyday because its second nature to me. When I get in an automatic I feel out of place because the clutch isn't there (my sister's C-class). It's all down to preference, if you feel like the manual is going to be a hassle to drive everyday, then go ahead and get the automatic. To each their own!

[hmong337]

I always find myself searching for the clutch in my wife's automatic Toyota Echo. Or any auto car for that matter LOL.

I don't think I could ever own a slush box. I just don't feel safe driving an auto especially during winter. Yea, traffic jams do suck but I'm not stuck in them everyday. Even still, I could never see myself owning an autotragic even if I did do a lot of stop and go.

An automatic FRS/BRZ is like dating a hot chick but not being able to fuck her. Teased and blue-balled everytime! You're missing the true essence of this car if you're not getting the manual. SERIOUSLY!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NztQZll5-v4"]2013 Subaru BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

[AsianStyle]

Originally Posted by Manic

Actually, I ended up doing a paper on this in college. Some sosh shit for GE, but it actually makes congestion a lot worse. When lanes are already at a crawl, everytime a car switches lanes because of a perceived opening, they slow down the car behind them, forcing them to create a larger gap.

Conversely, the opening left by the merging car is quickly filled in by the car following, negating any sort of relief created by this action. End result, no one gets to their destination any faster; traffic becomes progressively worse for everyone.

The real trick to relieve congestion is to have everyone maintain an actual 3 car length between everybody. It's the constant full stop braking that really exacerbates the amount of cars on the road. But, if this gap between cars existed, the braking would surely be minimized. Rather, instead of everyone trying to hit 50mph average, if they dropped that 10-15mph, it would actually make everyones commute faster and smoother.

But people are dumb and would never agree to such cooperative driving mentality.

Yes, I fully agree with what you said. You leave a small gap to minimize full stops and discourage lane switching until necessary to make an exit. That helps everyone get to their destinations without driving people mad.

The use of phones or idiots leaving huge gaps just cause people to drive more aggressively and raises the number of people switching lanes and causing full stops.

[Suberman]

I did a little arithmetic:

Automatic speeds in gears are 1.02%, 1.06%, 1.1%, 1.21%, 1.40%, and 1.22% higher ( and 1.09% for reverse).
max speeds at 7,400 rpm are 58, 100, 147, 205, 288, 328 km/hr, Top speed is reached in 5th. The manual reaches its higher top speed in 6th.

Published figures put the automatic 1.08% slower 0-60 mph (7.9 - 7.6 seconds).

Most of the difference is gear ratio.

You can (for some money) fit a shorter final drive diff (4.55:1) to the automatic and eliminate the only disadvantage the automatic has.

Question is, why didn't Toyota do this, the replacement diff is on their parts shelf just waiting for the Torsen innards.

[Hanni_0176]

Originally Posted by Suberman

I did a little arithmetic:

Automatic speeds in gears are 1.02%, 1.06%, 1.1%, 1.21%, 1.40%, and 1.22% higher ( and 1.09% for reverse).
max speeds at 7,400 rpm are 58, 100, 147, 205, 288, 328 km/hr, Top speed is reached in 5th. The manual reaches its higher top speed in 6th.

Published figures put the automatic 1.08% slower 0-60 mph (7.9 - 7.6 seconds).

Most of the difference is gear ratio.

You can (for some money) fit a shorter final drive diff (4.55:1) to the automatic and eliminate the only disadvantage the automatic has.

Question is, why didn't Toyota do this, the replacement diff is on their parts shelf just waiting for the Torsen innards.

Maybe they figured the driving enthusiasts would be purchasing manuals, and were more concerned with acceleration than mpg's, whereas they figured that the consumers purchasing automatics would be more concerned with cruising rpm's and fuel efficiency?

Please note: I do not work for Toyota, so I have no idea what kind of market research they did to come to their conclusion.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Hanni_0176

Maybe they figured the driving enthusiasts would be purchasing manuals, and were more concerned with acceleration than mpg's, whereas they figured that the consumers purchasing automatics would be more concerned with cruising rpm's and fuel efficiency?

Please note: I do not work for Toyota, so I have no idea what kind of market research they did to come to their conclusion.

Or, they knew a properly geared automatic would be quicker than the manual.

BMW now fits the ZF 8 spd automatic (very similar in operation to Aisin's newer transmissions) in preference to a manual for its main markets other than the US. The cars are quicker with this automatic.