Mutorcs

Actually Yes you can do sommething pretty similar to downshifting with a CVT by pushing the "sport" mode. The CVT will select a lower gear (and rev more obviously) and make It react faster.
As for the rest I wont brother debating what feeling connected to your machine means as this is not the right place to do It and I think It would be useless
Just understand that its something pretty personnal so you shouldnt be trying to give a general definition of It. People are different.

WinkleDinkle

I'm just curious why the solution always seems to be buy an automatic instead of teaching your SO how to drive a stick? Its not like learning a second language where it gets more difficult as you get older. Realistically she should be able to get herself around with a few days of practice.

DocEwww

I'd like to get my girl into a X MR someday. There are days I wish I bought one myself instead of the GSR since its a my daily.

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

I know that Subaru likes to babble on about the six ratios (that it uses in pseudo-manual mode) as if they were gears, but we don't need to copy said nonsense (which comes from their marketing dept, not the engineers). So please don't talk about lower or higher gears in a discussion of a CVT.

As to whether you can force the Subaru CVT to use a higher ratio, possibly at corner entry, the answer is yes. But you don't have continuous or infinite control over the ratio used; there are six discrete settings (or ratios) available when you use the manual controls. This is where the confusion (alluded to in my first paragraph) comes from. They aren't gears. They are six settings of the CVT.

Mutorcs

Oh so the Sub doesn't have a "sport" mod?
A CVT has only ONE gear but the size of this gear changes continuously. So the sport mod I'm talking about has nothing to do with pre-defined ratios. It just reduces the gear in proportion to your speed so it will obviously make your engine rev faster. I don't know if you understand what I mean... English is not my native language so some things may not be very clear. I'm talking about 99's technology so I don't see why the sub woulnd't also have this "sport" mod. It is very useful before overtaking somebody or before going into a situation where you need more power faster. Just like down-shifting in a manual
GUYS let people choose to drive WHATHEVER THEY WANT. What's the big deal with everybody not wanting to drive a manual?

KruMsz

iTrader: (2)

do you have a price range or is this a bottomless wallet? the evo MR vs frs and brz will have a large cost difference. anyways if money is no object, your gf will love the MR. to make it easy, evo GSR = stick and MR = dual clutch auto & manual.

KVandy15

I live in MN and drive a 2012 MR year round, I run Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 tires in the stock size on the stock wheels. I have never in my experienced a car that is even comparably composed through the worst that our winters have to offer. It's really mind blowing how good it is on both ends of the spectrum.

If I leave it in normal mode and leave stability control on it never wavers. It's a calm and controlled ride in the most inclimate weather that MN can muster. The only time I opted not to go was when I was plowing snow with the front lip and only because I didn't want to hurt my baby not because she wasn't willing.

Then when you get bored with the mundane experience in normal mode you flip it up to S-Sport and disable stability control and you remember that your daily driver is a 300hp AWD rally car and it takes you a couple of hours to wipe that **** eating grin off your face after you get done hooning your way home.

LB_Reddy

Get da x mr dct unless u like to use your foot for the 5speed gsr.

MercuryMR

I have a 2010 MR,I also have a decent business.Do Not purchase the MR unless your ready to deal with the routine maintenance.I am not saying the BRZ FRS is cheap to maintain because I don't own one.But be prepared to shell out for upkeep.other than that I really enjoy driving my car.

ddawg1130

iTrader: (1)

All I have to say to the OP without reading the rest of the comments:

Go to the mitsubishi website and just look at the evo. There's only 2 models and it's pretty clearly spelled out what the difference is. (hint, one is manual, the other automatic...)

Noble713

As a X MR owner who has dealt with some nasty winters (still probably mild by Minnesota standards) I'd highly recommend the Evo. Fun and easy to drive, and simply laughs at inclement weather almost like it's not there.

That said, I'm kinda surprised at how much hate the GT86/BRZ get. I test drove one on a brief stateside trip and really enjoyed it (coming from my JDM Evo IV at the time). Slap an Innovate supercharger (just don't buy from FA20club, very bad rep as a supplier) on and you've got a fast-as-Hell go-kart that looks WAAAY sexier than the comparable Miata. *shrug* I think it's so unpopular in the US partly because it's sub-optimal for our flat, straight, wide driving conditions. I'd definitely own one here in Japan, full of narrow, twisty, mountain roads and overcrowded stop-n-go city traffic.

I'm also not sure why you said the BRZ has no automatic. It's got an auto option on Subaru's US website, and considering that the GT86, FR-S and BRZ are all built at the same Subaru (well, Fuji Heavy Industries) factory, it would be odd for any ONE of them to be missing something as important as an optional automatic transmission.

DGS

I'd guess he was misinformed by a dealer who didn't *carry* any autos.

(A dealer who tells you half truths is a good dealer to stay away from. There are quite a few "bad" dealers in the US -- for any marque.)
(I had a Toyota dealer insist that Toyota hadn't made an "All Trac" since the '70s -- when I had my '88 Celica GT-Four sitting out front. )
(That was the same dealer who couldn't manage a wheel alignment with a $40K Hunter machine. I did better myself, with a protractor, plumb bob, and tape measure.)
(I wound up driving 90 miles past three other Mitsu dealers to buy my X from one that would order what I wanted, instead of trying to find something "nearly right".)


http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...tomatic-review
Apparently, a slush box makes the BRZ even slower.
7.4 sec to 60 mph? Order out for a sandwich while waiting.

From all reports, it's a fun, flickable, well balanced drifter -- although somewhat underpowered.
(But the BRZ is at least driven from the correct end. IMO a FWD is just a Segway with training wheels. )

But the OP is looking for a car in MN for a girl who can't drive stick.
Not a drifter or rallye driver.
So a car like the EVO that sticks to the road, sun or snow, is probably the better choice.

This does raise an interesting question. Is a paddle shifter a good interim step between an automatic and a shifter?
You won't learn to use a clutch, but it can teach you *when* to shift.

TxFAkuma

iTrader: (17)

^ Excellent question.

Btw.. She ended up with a 2014 Lancer ralliart and I must say it looks just like a fricken evo. It even has the evo hood! I had never seen the lancer ralliart. It is a beautiful turbocharged car for a chick. Anyway, yes I own a 8 and now that we were shopping for a Evo for her and I had seen soooo many new ones I now have the itch to buy one. I love a sunroof and I know I can have it professional installed at the Mitsubishi dealer with warranty but its at a cost. I never driven a automaic with paddle shifters... I love manual. I love sunroof. But the MR auto is the only one with the sunroof and that is very dumb. So... for someone who enjoys a stick.. is it fun / enjoyable for a paddle shifter?

Sorry I am typing on my phone and no didn't proof read lol

Thank you guys much!

DGS

The '14 X MR is my first "two pedal" car since the Nixon administration.

I'd been hearing the complaints about earlier paddle shifters and stuck with manuals.
But I read the specs on the Getrag twin clutch, and heard the reports from 458 Italia owners (the 458 uses a 7 spd Getrag) and figured it was worth a shot, for the days when the bum knee wasn't up to a clutch.
(And I still have the Italians for when I want to stir my own coffee. )

After a little familiarization -- I love this paddle shifter.
You're still shifting the car, but you're doing it by flicking a paddle, instead of a process involving a pedal and a stick.

And the shifts are quick. It's just "okay" in "normal", but in "s-sport" they're abrupt enough you get a bit of power kick. I usually stay in "sport", which is a good compromise for around town.
The specs say a stock MR is a half sec quicker to 60 than a stock VIII, despite the extra weight, and I think it's all time saved shifting.

You can even overrule it in auto and it'll just shift as ordered. (Hold the paddle to put it back in auto).

I ran it in auto on the highway and once on my commute home to compare gas mileage, but I've been using it in manual mode all the other times.

The hardest part to get used to is down-shifting later.
Because it does it *immediately* when you pull the lever.


Oh: and I got a sunroof on mine.

TxFAkuma

iTrader: (17)

Long story short.. I am very very close to purchasing a 14' Evo and I was gonna get it used for $31,991 and it had 7,005 miles. Really was. Then I looked at it and thought to myself.. this car is dumb.It had no packages in it. It was a basic GSR. It was boring. So I decided why not lease a 14' GSR for $36, 000 with the Sight & Sound package & a extra fender package. The fender package is kinda cool because it flares out the body a bit more on the bumpers. Now im in a predicament... I really enjoy the GSR because it is manual.. then I test drove it today and now idk if I like it.. it didn't seem short shift like the 8's. I also really love the MR because of the packages and sunroof but I never driven a paddle shift and I hate boring automatic sport cars.. so idk if I should go for the MR automatic with paddle shifters and regret it. Or get the GSR and enjoynthe manual and get used to the shifter? It was my first time driving the X but it feels like my 8 is extrem short shift compared to.the X. Idk.. I might be tripping. Sorry for the noob comments and stuff but I never ever thought I would.be interested in a X after owning a sexy (and better lol) Evo 8. Help?