Manual or automatic?

[Matter]

Besides the old school aesthetic of a manual, what are the reasons to get a manual or automatic in a new Supra which will be primarily a track car (90%)? I grew with a stick but the auto is faster and you can always shift when it will help. Just wondering what dedicated track drivers think. Thanks.

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[puckshaw]

If your goal is to set the fastest lap times, get the auto. If you’re doing it for the experience and enjoy the added engagement of the manual, go for that one. It just depends what you’re interested in.

 

[Emspilot]

Oh boy. Here we go….

 

[Matter]

Oh boy. Here we go….

an oil thread is next

 

[splv]

Some like ‘em thicc, others like some thigh gap. You gotta know what you like. You gotta do you.

 

[MattPhantom]

Phantom grey only comes as auto.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Every single serious track car for me has been a manual and heel & toe is good to know. But no doubt the ZF trans is quicker. I’m truly shocked how far along ”automatics” have come along without being a dual clutch! They really really did a beautiful job. I can drive it to work occasionally and rip through the gears at the track, like a hot knife on butter… she’s soooooo smooth

 

[kaj]

If your goal is to set the fastest lap times, get the auto. If you’re doing it for the experience and enjoy the added engagement of the manual, go for that one. It just depends what you’re interested in.

This post could have ended the entire thread. That's 100% it. The auto in the Supra is so good, I finally was okay buying an AT car. I was a 100% MT track car guy.... now converted.

 

[FLtrackdays]

This post could have ended the entire thread. That's 100% it.

Yeah but I couldn’t have used my hot knife and butter analogy

 

[kaj]

Yeah but I couldn’t have used my hot knife and butter analogy

which results in hot butter. I love hot butter. On pop corn... baked potato....

 

[suicidaleggroll]

The auto in the Supra is so good, I finally was okay buying an AT car.

Same. I’m nearly 40, the Supra is the first AT vehicle I’ve ever owned, everything else has been MT going back to when I was 15. Even now when I get a rental car, the AT in them are so bad. I had an Impala rental for 2 weeks last summer, that trans was a nightmare, I don’t understand how anyone lives with that garbage. But the ZF8 is a completely different animal, I have no complaints (after the xHP tune which fixed the shift points in normal mode), which is saying a lot.

 

[kaj]

Same. I’m nearly 40, the Supra is the first AT vehicle I’ve ever owned, everything else has been MT going back to when I was 15. Even now when I get a rental car, the AT in them are so bad. I had an Impala rental for 2 weeks last summer, that trans was a nightmare, I don’t understand how anyone lives with that garbage. But the ZF8 is a completely different animal, I have no complaints (after the xHP tune which fixed the shift points in normal mode), which is saying a lot.

I was looking at the xHP tune. What's wrong with shift points in normal? Mine seems to be doing really well doing it's best to help with MPG. I wouldn't mind some improvements.

 

[suicidaleggroll]

I was looking at the xHP tune. What's wrong with shift points in normal? Mine seems to be doing really well doing it's best to help with MPG. I wouldn't mind some improvements.

It shifted at way too low of an RPM for me, always felt like the engine was bogging. The xHP tune pushes it up to a more reasonable ~2k RPM, and then you can adjust +/- 50% from there if you want to fine tune it.

 

[DrSupra]

When I was looking to buy, I saw these threads get pretty intense like but it's a personal preference thing so I suppose that's not unexpected.

I know it's not this simple and there's more nuance but I bought a manual because if all I cared about it speed and cutting tenths of a second off acceleration and lap times, I'd go for a different car all together. Soon any electric car is going to be as fast or faster to 60 and for lap times something like a C8 or a C7 grandsport would have better. Sure, the argument can be made that if I wanted pure driver engagement I could have bought a BRZ or Miata or GT350 or something that gave out some more driver feedback and was more raw...but I thought the Supra with a manual was the best combination of a manual transmission, acceleration, reliability, and quality that I could get and it was relatively well priced.

Having not owned a MT car in years, I realized this may be one of my last chances to get a new car with a manual and an internal combustion engine that would be fun and relatively engaging but that I could also use to get to work whenever I wanted, not worry about anything, and be relatively comfortable. There probably are cars that could do it all that a little bit better too but I've always wanted a Supra and it being a BMW underneath is actually a plus for me.

 

[kaj]

When I was looking to buy, I saw these threads get pretty intense like but it's a personal preference thing so I suppose that's not unexpected.

I know it's not this simple and there's more nuance but I bought a manual because if all I cared about it speed and cutting tenths of a second off acceleration and lap times, I'd go for a different car all together. Soon any electric car is going to be as fast or faster to 60 and for lap times something like a C8 or a C7 grandsport would have better. Sure, the argument can be made that if I wanted pure driver engagement I could have bought a BRZ or Miata or GT350 or something that gave out some more driver feedback and was more raw...but I thought the Supra with a manual was the best combination of a manual transmission, acceleration, reliability, and quality that I could get and it was relatively well priced.

Having not owned a MT car in years, I realized this may be one of my last chances to get a new car with a manual and an internal combustion engine that would be fun and relatively engaging but that I could also use to get to work whenever I wanted, not worry about anything, and be relatively comfortable. There probably are cars that could do it all that a little bit better too but I've always wanted a Supra and it being a BMW underneath is actually a plus for me.

If you took a poll, you would probably find most of us with AT Supras probably have at least one other car with a MT, in the garage. I'm not sure any of us MT guys would give up on them altogether.

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