Subaru Develops EyeSight System for its Manual Cars
Besides its extensive participation in WRC Championships, Subaru has always prioritised road safety to eliminate traffic accident deaths involving its cars by 2030.
It also wants to reduce the number of severe or fatal injuries by as much as 50% or more by 2025 by constantly enhancing its safety technologies, which include systems like EyeSight.
When it comes to the EyeSight system, it's one of the most impressive driver-assist technologies we've sampled. It can take action by steering or braking if it senses any safety hazards. What sets it apart from other car manufacturers is that it uses two cameras on the front windshield instead of radar to keep an eye on the road and identify any potential hazards.
While it's a clever piece of tech, it has, until now, only catered for the automatic Subarus models, leaving out the manual-equipped variants in the cold. Why, you wonder? After some digging, we've established that EyeSight requires a certain level of control over the car's speed and braking that is impossible with manual transmission. Until now…
For a while now, the Japanese automaker has been developing its EyeSight for manual transmission vehicles, which will debut on the BRZ, and we expect it to be rolled out to other manual cars under the Subaru banner.
It's not an entirely new system; instead, it's based on the existing EyeSight system and will offer pre-collision braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings, sway warning, lead vehicle start alert and rear sonar warning, all tailored to the driving and operating characteristics of manual cars.
The BRZ, which will launch in overseas markets in the coming months, leads a double life as the current Toyota GR 86, which has been the talk of the town since its local arrival at the end of 2022.
Currently, Subaru SA says it's unlikely to introduce the BRZ in Mzansi due to factors such as the exchange rate, which makes it highly challenging for the BRZ to compete with the GR 86.
For reference, the Toyota GR 86 is priced from R733,500 for the manual variant and R770,900 for the automatic version.
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