The 6-speed manual and the 8-speed GR-DAT automatic.
After driving both versions of the GR Yaris on track, I found that the biggest difference was not simply whether I changed gears myself or let the car do it.
The 6MT and GR-DAT give the driver different jobs to do. And that changes what the driver pays attention to while driving.
In the 6MT, I operate the clutch, choose the gear, manage engine speed, and reconnect the drivetrain myself.
With GR-DAT, there is no clutch pedal or H-pattern shifting, and in D mode much of the gear selection can also be left to the car.
In my case, that means some of the attention I would otherwise use for shifting becomes available for braking, load transfer, steering angle, tire behavior, the road surface, and the driving line.
I am driving the same kind of car on the same circuit, yet I begin to notice different things.
That became very clear once I had driven both.
First, an Important Limitation: My 6MT and GR-DAT Cars Are from Different Generations
My 6MT GR Yaris is a 2020 model, while my GR-DAT car is the updated 2024 model.
There are many differences between the two beyond the transmission, including engine output, body structure, suspension, cooling, and various control systems.
So this article is not a controlled comparison in which only the transmission has changed.
Nor do I use the lap times I recorded in the two cars to claim that one transmission is worth a certain number of seconds over the other.
What I am describing here is much simpler:
what felt different to me, as the same driver, when I drove both GR Yaris versions on track.
The 6MT Gives Me More Points of Contact with the Car
One of the strongest impressions I get from driving the 6MT on track is how many parts of the driving process I am directly involved in.
I press the clutch.
I move the shift lever.
I match engine speed.
I release the clutch.
Then I reconnect the engine to the driven wheels.
My left foot, right foot, and right hand are all involved in that sequence.
At the same time, I hear the engine, feel vibration through the car, sense acceleration and deceleration, and feel the body move beneath me.
My inputs and the resulting changes in the car form one continuous chain.
In the 6MT, I have a strong sense of physically feeling
what I am making the car do at that moment.
Being Able to Choose and Hold the Gear I Want Is Also a Major Part of the 6MT Experience
Another thing I value in the 6MT is the freedom to choose the gear myself.
Which gear to use.
When to shift.
How long to hold that gear.
Those decisions are basically mine.
I can enter a corner in third gear and keep third all the way through the exit.
I can deliberately use a taller gear.
Or I can keep the engine higher in the rev range.
I make the choice, and the consequences come back to me through the behavior of the car.
That continuous sequence—
choose → operate → feel the result
—is a major part of what makes the 6MT enjoyable for me.
There is more work to do.
But that extra work also creates more points of physical and sensory contact between the car and the driver.
With GR-DAT, I Start Noticing Things I Had Been Missing
GR-DAT changes the experience in a different direction.
There is no clutch pedal to operate.
There is no H-pattern shift lever to move through the gears.
In D mode, much of the gear-selection decision can also be left to the car.
In M mode, I can still request shifts myself, but the workload is still different from a 6MT, where I have to carry out the entire shift process including clutch operation.
For me, that difference is significant.
With GR-DAT, I find it easier to pay attention to things such as:
- how quickly I am releasing the brake
- how much brake pressure I am still carrying
- where maximum steering angle occurs
- whether that much steering angle is really necessary
- whether there is still grip left in the tires
- where I can begin opening the throttle
- where the car finally points toward the corner exit
- which line allows me to unwind the steering earlier
But the most interesting difference appeared beyond even these things.
The Same Track Began to Reveal Different Things
After I started driving the GR-DAT, I became more aware of small details in the circuit itself.
A slight gradient in a section that initially looks flat.
Changes in camber within the same corner.
A line where positive camber helps the car, while moving slightly away from it places the car on adverse camber.
Differences in the pavement.
Places where the car tends to compress.
Places where load comes off the car.
All of those things were present when I drove the 6MT as well.
The difference is that, in my case, GR-DAT leaves me with more attention available to notice them.
I began thinking not only,
“How should I drive this corner?”
but also,
“How is this corner itself actually shaped?”
That was one of the most interesting things I discovered only after driving both transmissions on track.
This Is Not Simply a Case of GR-DAT Being Faster
The point here is not that GR-DAT automatically makes a driver faster.
There are plenty of drivers who can extract extremely fine information about vehicle behavior and road surface while driving a manual transmission.
My two GR Yaris cars also belong to different generations, so their lap-time difference cannot be treated as a transmission-only comparison.
What I am describing is simply my own experience:
when I drive both, GR-DAT gives me more room to pay attention to vehicle behavior and to the circuit itself.
GR-DAT Also Creates a Mismatch That the 6MT Does Not
GR-DAT does not always behave exactly as I would choose.
In D mode, the car decides which gear to use.
There are times when it shifts while I would personally have preferred to hold the current gear.
M mode lets me request shifts myself, but it still feels different from a 6MT, where I operate the clutch, choose the gear, reconnect the drivetrain, and then continue using that gear through my own actions.
In the 6MT, gear selection itself is part of my job.
With GR-DAT, part of that job belongs to the car.
Because I also drive the 6MT, I sometimes find myself thinking,
“That is not what I would have done here.”
The extra attention GR-DAT gives me comes with a tradeoff: I give up some of the complete freedom I have in the manual car.
That difference matters to me.
The 6MT and GR-DAT Create Enjoyment in Different Places
After driving both, I have become less interested in the simple question:
“Which is more fun, manual or automatic?”
The two create enjoyment in different parts of the driving process.
In the 6MT, I press the clutch, choose the gear, match engine speed, and reconnect the drivetrain.
Operating the car, including the shift itself, is part of the enjoyment.
With GR-DAT, I can devote more attention to questions such as:
How long should I carry the brake?
How much steering angle do I really need?
Which line lets me rotate the car earlier?
Where can I start opening the throttle?
The enjoyment comes from becoming more deeply involved in controlling the motion of the car itself.
For me, these are not competing forms of enjoyment.
They point in different directions.
Ideally, I Would Like Both in One Car
Ideally, I would like the strong physical connection I feel in the 6MT while also having the freedom to concentrate on vehicle behavior and the road surface that I get with GR-DAT.
In reality, the more work the driver performs, the more attention that work requires.
Hand some of that work over to the car, and more attention becomes available for something else.
Karting is interesting in this respect.
In many karts, the driver does not need to devote attention to a clutch pedal or conventional gear changes, yet the connection between the track surface, tires, chassis, and the driver’s body is extremely direct.
You can feel the surface and the chassis through your whole body while concentrating on braking, load transfer, steering, and the driving line.
In a different form, karting gives me something close to the two qualities I find myself wanting from both the 6MT and GR-DAT.
Why Do They Feel So Different?
Everything above is mainly about what I have experienced on track.
The next question is why the 6MT gives me such a strong sense of connection with the car, while GR-DAT makes it easier for me to devote attention to vehicle behavior and the circuit itself.
I have explored that difference separately from the perspective of drivetrain connection and the different tasks performed by the driver in:
Why a Manual Feels More Direct — and Why an Automatic Can Be Faster
This article stays with the experience itself; the mechanical explanation belongs there.
Speed and the Value of the Track Experience Are Different Questions
There are situations in which GR-DAT has advantages when the objective is lap time.
But that is a different question from which transmission gives the more valuable track-driving experience.
There are experiences I can get only from the 6MT.
There are also things I began to notice only after driving the GR-DAT.
For me, the two do not fit neatly into a simple hierarchy.
When I actually travel a long distance to a circuit, I often choose the GR-DAT.
That is a separate issue from which one is more enjoyable on track. After a track session, not having to operate a clutch and shift manually reduces the workload on the drive home.
For the broader question of which transmission makes more sense to own, including everyday driving and the distance to the circuit, I discuss that separately in:
GR Yaris: 6-Speed Manual or GR-DAT? ★ A Rational Choice Based on How and Where You Drive
Conclusion | The Same Track Reveals Different Things
The most interesting thing I learned from driving both the 6MT and 8-speed GR-DAT on track is that I pick up different information even when driving the same circuit.
In the 6MT, the clutch, gear selection, rev matching, and reconnection of the drivetrain all become part of the physical experience of controlling the car.
With GR-DAT, some of that work is handed over to the car, and I find myself paying more attention to things such as gradient, camber, steering angle, load transfer, and driving line.
This is not about one being better than the other.
Same track.
Same driver.
Yet the 6MT and GR-DAT make me notice different things.
That is the clearest thing I have learned from driving both on track.
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