I 90% agree with Ichitaka. I've driven both on a few occasions and Ichitaka here was my driving partner in the FRS Press Event last week.

Coming from a SCCA SOLO2 Nationals, Instructor at Drift Day, and layout and operations consultant for Formula D and D1 Grand Prix USA, background, I'm no slouch or foreign to the standard manual transmission.

The FRS I ordered is an automatic, however, and am planning to also get a manual as time goes and resources and funds permit.

The Automatic in the case of FRS/BRZ is not like a traditional auto slushbox in actual use. Although its fundamental design may be close to the traditional automatic with a torque converter, the operation and feel, through advanced design and many years of R&D for the IS-F and this car, feels much closer to that of the pneumatic clutch systems of exotic cars.

As such, it merits from both the easy operation and smooth feel of the auto, with less maintenance costs and complexity, but also when asked and with choice of a few levels of selective software pre-programs, it does lock up for a direct linkage to the engine in 2-6th gear, and provides manual mode where it will snap into each gear, drop into a lower gear to full range of RPMs instantly, and also hold a gear to redline and even ride the rev limit without shifting, if you choose the mode of program.

In more than half the cases in the one day autocross, constant arc hold drift practice, and full 2.2 mile road course. The journalists present, posted faster laps, especially in the autocross section in the AT, over the MT.

In the hands of a seasoned driver, the MT should post fraction of a second faster laps after enough time with the car, but this is also mostly attributed to the wider gaps in gears 3-6th in the automatic. With full 6 speeds to choose, when I say wider, I don't mean wide at all in a traditional sense. The FRS AT has a really flexible, multi-use range and is still very close from 1-4th gears. 5 and 6 are progressively taller, but if you REALLY think in real practice, in MOST small raceway of under 2 miles, where the FRS shines well, these two top gears will not be used, as the car really doesn't hit the 125mph+ range in such tracks.
Moreover, even the most enthusiastic of Sunday racers prefer to stay off Super Speedway scale tracks of such speeds. So for all intensive purposes, the 1-4th is close enough and closer than most traditional 5speed Manual of the past.

The tall 5-6 gear provides in exchange, a rather whopping 3mpg difference on the freeway. And a much quieter ride with less wear on the engine, than the fully closed 6MT box.

Sure, the manual is the way to go if the FRS you want is an all-out track car dedicated for such, as upgrades to clutch to hold more power, or if changes to final gear ratios in custom racing approach actually requires you to have the closely packed full 6 speed, or in the case of those into drifting, clutch engagement and control of driveline shock, is a necessary element I suppose. (spelled in most youth terms, clutch kicking).

Keep in mind though, that shifting is actually a loss-time element in any track racing for speed and time. The more gears you have, and the closer they are, the more skills and concentration a driver needs. If the driver has enough talent and pretty deep senses in the art of dynamic driving, it may help as in theory it does provide the advantage. But it being a MANUAL as the term implies, the speed only comes at the available skill set, especially with cars this delicate, many geared, and underpowered, driver skill is the biggest factor in speed. With a novice track racer, the FRS will always post faster times with its sophisticated and responsive sport semi-auto mode transmission. Period.

I prefer Manual in most cases, even when I drove a Lamborghini Gallardo eShift, I had preferred the standard manual due to the unpredictable element and quirks, but with the FRS/ISF semi-auto mode shifting, it is one of the few I really would not mind at all, especially for a daily-driven part time Sunday track car.

PS. But I hear you... The amount of "WHAT THE HELL?" words that come from my peers is pretty deflating, but I am old enough to see through peer pressure, and I am positive that half of them will "****" when they try the FRS in Semi Auto at the autocross. And in due time, I will buy another with the wonderful, racetrack-ready 6MT-box-equipped car too, but that is when I get serious and toss the Torsen LSD, and shove a 4 pinion clutch pack LSD with even shorter final drive, and roll cage the crap out of it to partake in a ONE MAKE FRS CUP that I want to organize one day. LOL! Because I see this car like the AE86. That it is something I don't need to go all out in 2012, because it will be a part of my fleet for the next 25 years like the old Hachiroku.
Besides, if there are rumors for a Turbocharged or Supercharged Hot Version Release model in the future, wouldn't you rather that THAT one as the full manual?? That's my plan!!
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