Weird shifting? Maybe? Please tell me I am wrong.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Transmission is super notchy for at least 10 Kmi but once the blocking rings lap together, it shift's beautifully.


The lack of clutch feel is bullshit. Might as well stuff a blanket in the foot well. :/


Ermax is on point even though he's exaggerating about the swap taking 5 mins.


https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77390

Lol never saw this. I know what I'm doing this spring now!

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Lol never saw this. I know what I'm doing this spring now!

Hard pass on the SS-braided line. I was weak.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Transmission is super notchy for at least 10 Kmi but once the blocking rings lap together, it shift's beautifully.


The lack of clutch feel is bullshit. Might as well stuff a blanket in the foot well. :/


Ermax is on point even though he's exaggerating about the swap taking 5 mins.


https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77390

Okay, 6 mins. Hahaha

[Seiryuu]

OP, I feel you for the most of what you're saying. The first month or two, I also had a rough time shifting smoothly and would often stall to my own surprise, leading to an overall initial dissatisfaction with driving this car. This is coming from almost 10 years of driving different manual cars beforehand. You will get used to it in due time though. Hell, I'm still not perfect driving mine and it's been over a year but it's 90% smooth. For a sports car, I'm really not sure how the engineers signed off on this when all Subaru ever emphasize for this car was the FEEL/CONNECTION of driving it.


There are three ways to improve clutch feel that will help improve driving smoothness:
- Clutch slave replacement as mentioned above
- Removing the assist spring above the clutch pedal
- Replacing the assist spring with a less springy one.

<--- this video gives a good explanation and idea


For heel-toe downshift, no thanks to the DBW and sorta odd height difference between the pedals, I've learned that you really have to STAB the throttle in (precision and finesse be damned) to have a better chance of getting a proper revmatch. Intuitively, It feels like too much (because it IS if the throttle was cabled) but more often than not, it lands the rev perfectly in the lower gear. Works best above 3K RPM.



It's too bad this car isn't like the Miata, where you can hop in and your body muscles just "gets it" with the controls within the first drive. But like I said, you'll enjoy it more in due time.

[joro2]

I also find the clutch feel on the 86 platform to be different from any other sports car I've driven.
It grabs high and somewhat suddenly, it took me a while to get used to this but now I like it, even prefer it.
It does make the car more challenging to (performance) drive, however I find that challenge part of the appeal. It makes me a better driver, forces me to be more precise in my shifting, and has helped me bump up my skills (and that for me is fun, i.e. w/ every drive I can strive to learn & improve).

Also, echoing what others have posted, re: the shifter's unpleasant "notchiness"* definitely gets better (particularly with going into 1st) as I've added more mileage. This isn't so much about my improving skills or getting used to the BRZ's clutch/shifter but more about mechanical break in. This car was delivered from the factory really "tight" feeling, which seems like a throwback, as most other modern cars I've driven haven't required that same patience w/ break-in.

(*The shifter started to feel much better at about about 3-5K miles, and continues to feel even better as I approach 10K miles. There's now that good mechanical "notchiness" I like vs. the not so good notchiness that would sometimes require a double pump of the clutch/extra flick of the shifter to get into 1st after a full stop when the car was brand new).

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by ermax

Okay, 6 mins. Hahaha

lol spit my coffee.

[Ultramaroon]

Let's talk about throttle response with this idiotic VSC system. It is programmed to consider all sorts of things before it decides to respond to the gas pedal. One of these conditions is brake pedal application.

Imagine a less engaged driver making a panic stop. The driver may accidentally press both the brake and gas pedal. The programmers came up with a feature to aid in this potential situation. They cut the throttle while the brake is applied. Unfortunately for us enthusiasts, what they consider a mistake is called heel-toe.

I don't know about the refresh but up through 2016 model years, even the long press doesn't disable this feature. Pedal dance does.

[ermax]

I’ve never noticed it cutting throttle when on the gas and brake. When autoxing I do a lot of LFB. I use the long press on the TC button. The only time I suck at heal-toe is after an ECU reset. The throttle response seems to be all over the place for 100 miles or so.

[soundman98]

I only notice the dbw system occasionally while rev-matching, like the ecu got distracted by a pretty girl.

My only complaint with vsc is that i have to long-hold every time i get in the car(of which I'll eventually fix). It's otherwise not intrusive enough for my style

[Ultramaroon]

I'm not saying the throttle cuts completely. It still works but the left side of the curve is scooped out.

[treerexaudi Official]

Originally Posted by Seiryuu

OP, I feel you for the most of what you're saying. The first month or two, I also had a rough time shifting smoothly and would often stall to my own surprise, leading to an overall initial dissatisfaction with driving this car. This is coming from almost 10 years of driving different manual cars beforehand. You will get used to it in due time though. Hell, I'm still not perfect driving mine and it's been over a year but it's 90% smooth. For a sports car, I'm really not sure how the engineers signed off on this when all Subaru ever emphasize for this car was the FEEL/CONNECTION of driving it.


There are three ways to improve clutch feel that will help improve driving smoothness:
- Clutch slave replacement as mentioned above
- Removing the assist spring above the clutch pedal
- Replacing the assist spring with a less springy one.

<--- this video gives a good explanation and idea


For heel-toe downshift, no thanks to the DBW and sorta odd height difference between the pedals, I've learned that you really have to STAB the throttle in (precision and finesse be damned) to have a better chance of getting a proper revmatch. Intuitively, It feels like too much (because it IS if the throttle was cabled) but more often than not, it lands the rev perfectly in the lower gear. Works best above 3K RPM.



It's too bad this car isn't like the Miata, where you can hop in and your body muscles just "gets it" with the controls within the first drive. But like I said, you'll enjoy it more in due time.

Thanks a ton for this! I have heard about taking the spring out, but have heard many say it adds a 5% or 10% dead zone in the first part of the clutch where it kinda just wobbles and wiggles at the very top when foot is not on the clutch when driving. I have also heard that it did help with the feel though...

Originally Posted by ermax

I’ve never noticed it cutting throttle when on the gas and brake. When autoxing I do a lot of LFB. I use the long press on the TC button. The only time I suck at heal-toe is after an ECU reset. The throttle response seems to be all over the place for 100 miles or so.

I have though of a few times, to either long hold the tc button, or pedal dance to be rid of all assists, but few acquaintances say that if anything at all bad happens while those assists are off they check the computer in the car after an accident (if totaled probably) and they end up giving you much less for the car for reckless or inducing bad driving behavior. I honestly do hope this isn't true, but then again, people talk.


Thanks for all for farthing this discussion. I recently found a DBW controller unit for the gt86 brz and frs which might help solve some problems.

[artongdou]

I have a 17 w/ PP, and I feel like the same way. I have to slip the clutch for a split sec between shift, and it gets better as progression into higher gear. I also feel smoother if I add gas as I am letting go the clutch. Otherwise, once the clutch is engaged, you get the engine brake which makes the shift choppy.

Another thing I notice is that it's easier if I shift at high rpm, above 5k.

[Chikna]

I have been having issues with my car since day 1. It only happens when shifting from 1st to 2nd some kind of metal rubbing noise. In fact, service tech couldn't fix it. Now I shift from 1st to neutral shake it a bit and then to 2nd. There is slight delay in rev though.

[joro2]

Echoing what others have observed, re: clutch & shifter...

I wouldn’t quite describe the action as “slipping” the clutch, however the 86 setup does seem to require a delicate balance between throttle and full release of the clutch just as the pedal begins to bite; which is higher than other cars I’ve driven, pretty much near the top of the travel.

Also agree that smooth shifting in the 86/FRS/BRZ does require just a bit more throttle (but not quite a clutch “slip”), and that the platform likes higher RPMs ie. definitely get smoother shifts when taking each gear to at least above 4000.