Subaru developing EyeSight technology for manual BRZ models
Starting later in 2023, Subaru BRZ buyers in Japan won’t need to give up the manual transmission to order the EyeSight suite of electronic driving aids (or vice versa). The company developed a version of its well-regarded technology that’s compatible with three-pedal cars for its home market.
The new version of EyeSight is based on the technology that’s already offered on the automatic BRZ. It bundles several driving aids such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, a lane-departure warning system, a lead vehicle start alert, and a rear collision warning. One of the challenges associated with fitting this technology to a manual car is the risk of stalling. In an automatic, the engine stays on even if the pre-collision braking system brings the car to a full stop. In a manual, the engine stalls if the driver doesn’t select neutral first.
Subaru hasn’t detailed how it cleared this hurdle; it merely clarified that its new EyeSight system “is now combined with control tailored to the driving and operating characteristics of [manual transmission] vehicles.” While the BRZ will inaugurate the technology, it’s not unreasonable to assume that other stick-shifted members of the global Subaru range will sooner or later benefit from it. Here, there aren’t many left: the Crosstrek and the Impreza recently lost their standard manual transmission, but the WRX continues to come standard with three pedals (and therefore not EyeSight).
In our market, EyeSight comes standard on the BRZ Limited equipped with an automatic transmission, which costs $33,815.
Subaru will provide additional details about the EyeSight suite of technology developed for the stick-shifted BRZ in the coming months, and sales are scheduled to start later in 2023 in Japan. As of writing, it’s too early to tell whether we’ll get this feature in the United States, where EyeSight is only available on the automatic BRZ. We’ve reached out to the company, and we’ll update this story if we learn more.
It should also be noted that other car companies currently combine a manual transmission and ADAS technology.