Subaru To Introduce EyeSight Safety Tech for Manual Transmission-Equipped Cars
Subaru is generous with its EyeSight safety systems, equipping the package on several vehicles. Until now, however, buyers could not get the tech for cars with manual transmissions. Subaru recently announced that it is working to develop EyeSight tech for manual transmission-equipped vehicles, which does two things: First, it ensures safer vehicles across Subaru’s lineup, and second, it means we’ll likely continue seeing manual transmissions available from the automaker for the foreseeable future.
EyeSight includes features like automatic emergency braking, forward collision warnings, and adaptive cruise control. The version adapted for manual transmissions will retain those features, and Subaru said there would be no change in their performance with the move to manuals.
Subaru will first offer the tech for the Japanese BRZ but hasn’t shared when it expects to roll the feature out to row-your-own models in other countries. Subaru wants to achieve zero fatalities in crashes in the U.S., so it’s likely only a matter of time before the updates make it here.
Though Subaru only offers two models with manual transmission options, that number makes it one of only a handful of automakers even considering the gearbox. BMW recently announced that its next-gen vehicles would do away with manuals and dual-clutch gearboxes in favor of traditional torque converter automatics, so a pair of manuals from a single company is worth celebrating.
[Image: Subaru]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
More by Chris Teague
Comments
Join the conversation
Genuinely surprised they're bothering, because it seems like their commitment to the WRX is limited and they aren't selling anything else with a manual in meaningful numbers, but glad to see it.
So they discontinue the manual trans in the Impreza and Crosstrek for 2024, then decide they want to offer EyeSight in their manual-equipped cars? Sounds like somebody at that company needs to get their priorities straight...
Greeaat! So now they're ruining manuals too...
Crap. Eyesight even in the BRZ and the WRX. I don't want Eyesight in any vehicle that I own. I guess I have owned my last Subaru. That's okay. They keep demonstrating that they no longer make cars for people like me amyway.