What do you drive - MT or AT?

[Dispect]

Both

[Wise]

Manual always. I hate automatics with a passion.Even daily driving I love manual, as it gives you something to do while driving.

I've never driven a car and thought 'Oh this would be more fun with an automatic.'

I've driven a lot of automatics on the other hand and thought, 'this would actually be fun if it was manual'.

In fact I'd rather have a manual 91 Miata than an Automatic 911. I mean sure flappy paddles are okay and go alot further towards being enjoyable than the standard dog box, but for fun and involvement, nothing beats a stick.

[Captain Insano]

It is odd to me how defensive and how adamant alot of the MT owners are about only driving a MT car. Sure I get it, I've owned lots of MT cars and I understand how some people feel "more involved" driving a MT (me included). But at the same time, everybody is different and as much as some of the people that like MT are adamant about it, there are plenty of people that don't like shifting every time they drive a car including on a track (I personally don't mind shifting, again, I've owned many MT DD cars). To have the attitude "if you have to explain to somebody why everybody needs to drive a MT car they just don't get it" is actually proving you don't get it yourself. I understand the dynamics of shifting. I understand how alot of people like that more for DD and for track. Please don't insinuate that I don't get it or that I "don't feel involved or visceral" with my car when I drive it.

I mainly have an AT so my wife can drive it in a pinch if we have to switch cars for hauling kids or transportation for some reason. I do like MT cars more in general, but the AT on this car is pretty great IMHO for a practical/cheap (non dual clutch), flexible, sporty, DD car that either me or my wife can drive. I have no regrets. The only thing I really dislike about the AT is that it does not get as much attention from aftermarket parts companies (as of yet). The car itself, I love.

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by Captain Insano

... To have the attitude "if you have to explain to somebody why everybody needs to drive a MT car they just don't get it" is actually proving you don't get it yourself.....

First of all, that's not what I said. I can only assume that you're talking about what I said earlier in this thread. Let me quote myself for accuracy:

"I've always said that if you have to explain it to someone, they'll probably never understand."

Notice that I didn't say anything about "everybody needs to drive a MT car". My words were in response to someone who was trying to explain why he prefers driving a MT car. And in my experiences, people who don't understand what he was talking about are always people who haven't driven a MT car, either because they don't know how or they're simply not interested in driving MT cars. So trying to explain the feeling you get when driving a MT car isn't going to help. If they took the time to actually experience MT driving, then an explanation wouldn't be needed because they'd understand. And if not, at least they'd have first-hand knowledge and a better understanding of what you're talking about when you talk about the visceral feeling, you know, the connection between man and machine, that sort of thing.

[Captain Insano]

This topic has been covered in many threads and in many of the threads there will be MT owners that post about how MT is the only option if you are **insert word here about real sports car oriented, enthusiast, excellent driver, want to feel the car, track or race the car, are not disabled, on and on**. Hence my post. In these threads it seems some of the MT owners feel there is only one option (definitely not all MT owners, but some). At the end of the day, the reason I typed you don't get it if you think what you typed (more on that below) is because there is no right answer. It is purely subjective and personal preference of car owner/driver.

I did get the impression from your post however that AT drivers just don't get it. All the context you just provided was not provided in that single sentence post. I guess that is not what you meant in your post, but it sure sounded like it. So chalk it up to the very phenomenon of easily misunderstanding what somebody means after you read something they typed in a forum (pretty common). Genuine apology here.

Also, in post #275 it sounds like you think most MT have a better understanding because there are probably more drivers of MT that have driven both MT and AT than vice versa. I don't fall into that category having owned and driven many AT and MT cars.

EDIT - Just to be clear, I'm not trying to pick a fight or get people worked up. Just overall providing my opinion it all boils down to personal preference regarding choice of transmission on this car.

[Captain Insano]

My favorite thread on the topic as the OP has many good points for both transmissions.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ight=Automatic

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by Captain Insano

This topic has been covered in many threads and in many of the threads there will be MT owners that post about how MT is the only option if you are **insert word here about real sports car oriented, enthusiast, excellent driver, want to feel the car, track or race the car, are not disabled, on and on**. Hence my post. In these threads it seems some of the MT owners feel there is only one option (definitely not all MT owners, but some). At the end of the day, the reason I typed you don't get it if you think what you typed (more on that below) is because there is no right answer. It is purely subjective and personal preference of car owner/driver.

I did get the impression from your post however that AT drivers just don't get it. All the context you just provided was not provided in that single sentence post. I guess that is not what you meant in your post, but it sure sounded like it. So chalk it up to the very phenomenon of easily misunderstanding what somebody means after you read something they typed in a forum (pretty common). Genuine apology here.

Also, in post #275 it sounds like you think most MT have a better understanding because there are probably more drivers of MT that have driven both MT and AT than vice versa. I don't fall into that category having owned and driven many AT and MT cars.

EDIT - Just to be clear, I'm not trying to pick a fight or get people worked up. Just overall providing my opinion it all boils down to personal preference regarding choice of transmission on this car.

Look, if you're not trying to pick a fight, then I'll explain my views. Still, I'm not so sure why you insist on dissecting my words and taking them out of context.

For example, if you took the time to read post #275, why didn't you also look at post #267 (which was the post to which I was responding at the time) to see what was said? Here, I'll quote the relevant part of that particular post: "...people who cannot let go of their MT's (just because it is all they've ever known)...." And my response in post #275 was basically that it's silly to say that MT drivers have only ever known MT cars, simply because just about anyone who drives an MT car has also driven an AT car. I'm fairly certain that I'm not making any kind of outrageous statement there, wouldn't you agree? The ironic thing about that is that it doesn't work both ways. I know LOTS of people who drive AT cars and have never driven an MT car. So for someone to claim that MT drivers "cannot let go of their MT's (just because it is all they've ever known)" is a silly statement and not at all based on reality. If anything, I'd think the opposite would be much more accurate.

Also, why do you seem to take my posts so personally? I wasn't talking about you or anyone else specifically. I was making a generalization. And if you drive both AT and MT cars, then you're just like me and everyone else who drives MT cars. Like I said earlier, if you drive MT cars, then it's safe to say that you can also drive AT cars. Unfortunately, the opposite isn't always true. That's not a dig against people who only drive AT cars, it's simply an observation that I made as a result of someone making a comment that seemed silly to me.

[Captain Insano]

Again, I think I misunderstood that single sentence post as I stated (and did apologize) also stating why (no context in that post).

I agree with what you typed in the other post. There are quite a few drivers on the road that use AT and have never driven MT. I don't want to argue about that logic applying specifically to this car. I think it's alot more relevant if you have driven both AT and MT on this model versus on any old model car as the AT on this model car is pretty sophisticated. I also think the MT on this model car is great too. I've supplied my reasoning on why I drive AT as the OP intended in this thread in my other post. That's all, I'm done here. Thanks.

[Doug&Julie]

We bought the AT. Not going to get into arguments about one over the other (we can drive both), but for me and my situation right now, the AT was the best option.

[mit_peid]

I just realized I resorted to the same generalizations and name-calling tactics that I was annoyed at others for using on this thread. Perhaps I shouldn't have grouped all that were defending the MT as simple-minded and unwilling to accept new tech, but it was an observation after reading through the thread. A case of where the few idiots out there ruined it for all I suppose. My first three cars were MTs, and my last one was a AT. I am a decent stick driver, but am not by any means a race car driver. I am still relatively young (at least I have two good legs, but I am just a little mentally disabled =P) and live in an area with traffic (L.A.). After reading up on the FRS/BRZ AT and how sophisticated it is, I just think it narrows the gap between MT and AT. We obviously all have driven uneventful ATs in our lives (rentals or our own), but from the short test drive I took in the FRS, this Auto is just pretty special. Do I want the option to have the full MT for 15% of the time, sure. But the FRS will be my DD and sometimes I don't mind having a "Camry" mode or even a "Sport" mode that can perhaps make better (or at least more consistent) shifting decisions than I would. I like people bringing up data and numbers like 0-60 times, weight diff between AT & MT, MPG discussions, shift responsiveness, gear ratios, etc instead of just pride of being a man and controlling your stick . To each his own... Still on the fence between MT and AT... But just pointing out the folks sharing their experience with the FRS AT bring more to the table than the few who jump in pounding their chest about great of a MT driver you are. All this talk about feel and control in the MT, I get it cause I know how to drive stick and I'm kind of over it. I'm sure all the MT advocates are making tons of $ winning races.

[Cajun]

AT. No desire whatsoever to ever own a vehicle with a MT.

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by mit_peid

I just realized I resorted to the same generalizations and name-calling tactics that I was annoyed at others for using on this thread. Perhaps I shouldn't have grouped all that were defending the MT as simple-minded and unwilling to accept new tech, but it was an observation after reading through the thread. A case of where the few idiots out there ruined it for all I suppose. My first three cars were MTs, and my last one was a AT. I am a decent stick driver, but am not by any means a race car driver. I am still relatively young (at least I have two good legs, but I am just a little mentally disabled =P) and live in an area with traffic (L.A.). After reading up on the FRS/BRZ AT and how sophisticated it is, I just think it narrows the gap between MT and AT. We obviously all have driven uneventful ATs in our lives (rentals or our own), but from the short test drive I took in the FRS, this Auto is just pretty special. Do I want the option to have the full MT for 15% of the time, sure. But the FRS will be my DD and sometimes I don't mind having a "Camry" mode or even a "Sport" mode that can perhaps make better (or at least more consistent) shifting decisions than I would. I like people bringing up data and numbers like 0-60 times, weight diff between AT & MT, MPG discussions, shift responsiveness, gear ratios, etc instead of just pride of being a man and controlling your stick . To each his own... Still on the fence between MT and AT... But just pointing out the folks sharing their experience with the FRS AT bring more to the table than the few who jump in pounding their chest about great of a MT driver you are. All this talk about feel and control in the MT, I get it cause I know how to drive stick and I'm kind of over it. I'm sure all the MT advocates are making tons of $ winning races.

Any time this topic comes up in an automotive forum (which are mostly filled with enthusiasts), we're bound to get all kinds of reactions/responses. Some people will type of long-winded and meaningful posts to explain why they feel the way they do and other people will post short one-liners why their choice rules and the other choice sucks. It's the nature of the beast.

That said, I don't fault anyone for his/her choice. Buy & drive whatever floats your boat. We all have to be happy with our decisions in life. At the same time, it's human nature to defend your own personal views, especially when you feel other people are contradicting them. And that's okay too. As long as the debate remains relatively respectful, I personally welcome all points of view and all comments.

[Mo707]

FRS MT
only time I regret it is when I'm eating and driving. I don't know what it is but if I'm eating and driving and stopped at a light and go to take off I'll stall. Only when I'm eating. t(-.-t)

[Yuck]

Originally Posted by Cajun

AT. No desire whatsoever to ever own a vehicle with a MT.

same here dude. same here!