M5 Lite

I was at the car wash last night and as I was waiting for those guys to get done washing & drying it, I had a guy come up to me and start talking. He owned a black C5 Vette and asked me about my car, asked if I had anything done to it and all that.

Well then he saw one guy at the car wash try to pull up my car, but he didn't know how to drive stick so he called over someone else. This guy who owns the Vette says to me "If you're driving such an expensive car, why didn't you just spend the extra money and get the automatic transmission rather than the manual?"

I was in complete awe and wondering if this guy really owned that Vette or not. Turns out his Vette was auto also. I just told him "I know, maybe next time I'll have a little extra cash to get the auto!" hahaha.

That was classical!

Paul

hahhahaa thats funny.

Loseit

iTrader: (1)

proud to be American!!!

spiroh

I guess there isnt many of us out there that prefer stick.

M5 Lite

I should have explained to the guy that the 6-Speed costs about $2500 more than the automatic. Maybe next time! Now he's gonna think I'm some cheap ass barely able to make payments on my ride.

Zapata

Stick is fun but it can get a little annoying. M5, would you say the same thing to C. Montoya or R.Schumacher? There is a reason they've gone to SM tranny.....you're going to it as well with the new m3.....

Scooter

o lord too funny!!

where do i start??

first off, he's getting his car washed...i would b so scared if i owned a Vette...and second, who in their right minds buys a sports car with an automatic?? yikes!!!

droideka

Yeah, and that reason is that those engines rev to 18K and cost and arm and a leg to replace if someone misses a shift. Try $100K and up.

moomaster_99

For one, you can concentrate on actually driving the car to the limit...one flaw stick drivers tend to overlook...which is why, in an auto..you can fly through turns and maybe just flick it once to downshift...while a manual driver still has to slip the clutch and downshift it....and the second reason being that the Corvette has SOOOOOOO much power that an automatic is actually much better for dragging...more consistent..and you spend less time at the line spinning your $300-400 tires to smoke.

tuRb0mikEy

F1 technology has goten so advanced that the most dated thing in the car is the driver himself. clutch pedal shifting was elminated not because it's "annoying" but because a standard manual was way too slow. Button shifting aloows the driver to keep both hands on the wheel while cornering, which is what you need trying to control 800HP in a car that weighs 1500 pounds..

I'm sure Schuey enjoys manually shifting in his personal cars

CO-CL-S

I've always thought there should be a test before some cars could be sold (like vettes), so idiots wouldn't get them!

Zapata

i never said that clutch shifting was eliminated in f1 because annoying factor. Annoying is shifting in bumper to bumper traffic without ridding the clutch.

ok so why the hell would i want to take the hands off the wheel of my car when i am driving. Sure, it's fun and adds to the classic driving experience. You really need to be "one" with the car with the stick and it's an amazing feeling but i hate when people get all high and might about stick v. auto thing. However, SMGII is the way of the future. It isnt there yet but it is getting there. From a manufacturing standpoint it gives the company more control no how their car functions.

JRock

Damn M3Sins, you're such a poser with your stripped 5series.

moomaster_99

What's wrong with an automatic Vette?

M5 Lite

More drivetrain loss. Only negative for me. That extra 5% is huge in a car like the Corvette! That equates to 17hp less!

Pull_T

I've seen figures that 75-80% of Corvettes are sold as automatics. Not to stereotype these buyers, but the ones I have met are more "mature" in years and likely to remember the days when having an automatic was somewhat of a status symbol over the little people who had to drive manuals (which at that time were non-synchro'd and harder to drive). A lot of others also buy it simply becasue it is a Vette, they could care less if it had 180 or 400 hp and don't care to drive a manual. The other sterotype I would add is that "Joe Corvette Owner" thinks he is the baddest mofo in the world with the baddest car. Not surprising he'd look down his nose at your lowly BMW (<--his opinion of car).

As far as putting a Vette down the 1/4. Talking C5s here, stock for stock, the 6 speed, if well driven should have a bit of an edge over the auto. An "average driver" would be more consistent with the auto, though, and might likely garner a better time with it. Stall converters on the auto as well as lower gears and stickier tires could shift the edge both ways.

CO-CL-S

I'm not complaining about the automatic Vette, I'm talking about
the driver!

moomaster_99

Wow!!! That's really gonna hurt a Vette...
Now your slower .1 sec in 1/4 vs. a professional driver, but still probably about .3 sec faster in the 1/4 vs. an average one.

M5 Lite

Majority of Vette owners I've seen, they have done modifications to their cars. I don't know if I'm just in the wrong group of people or what, but to them, HP is everything! 17HP is ALOT!!!

If you even look at the 0-60 times (in no way do they do this car justice), you'll notice that by 60MPH the automatic vette is already .2 seconds behind. That .2 seconds can be the difference later on between 13.1 seconds and 12.9 seconds in the 1/4 mile.

0-60 on Manual = 4.8 seconds
0-60 on Auto = 5.0 seconds

moomaster_99

They get 30 whp from swapping their intake....the 17 is relatively nothing....and as I said before..the diff between professional driver with stick and auto is low...plus an auto will tend to garner faster times then an a manual if both drivers are equal...ie average.

M5 Lite

How so? Stock vs. Stock?

moomaster_99

A stick has more variables...and it is harder to launch a car with that much low end torque and relatively low weight. In an auto, I am the first to admit it is more than see the 3rd yellow and stomp the gas, but then it isn't slipping the clutch...feathering it...and then almost immediately popping it into 2nd...and powershifting to 3rd

Pull_T

Quote me next time, foolio !!!

Another factor is that the 6 speed has shorter gearing, especially in first gear than the auto. This will help out a "good" driver who can hook up that extra leverage. The gearing would be easier to take advantage of at the track than in the typical street scenario however. Also, like I stated before, tires would swing the advantage. If one were to get rid of the Goodyear RunCraps and get something with some stick, like a DR or Nitto 555s, then I would say the stick driver has a better chance of utilizing his gearing advantage at both street and track.

tuRb0mikEy

It's ok if you don't know how to drive manual...Really...enjoy that great tactile feel of pushing a plastic button while i relish in rowing thru 5 or 6 well placed gears..

Zapata

I know how to drive manual I prefer the feeling of shifting with a clutch but I know that this feeling has it's draw backs. I would hope that somebody would come out with something that would allow me to manually control the clutch but have it setup via an electronic clutch button or something and shift at the same time so I'm not taking two hands of the steering wheel. I am very profecient while driving with one hand but I know i'm much much better with two on the wheel at all times.

M5 Lite

Given your responses regarding auto being superior *at times*, I wonder why Ferrari, Lambo, Lotus don't have automatics in their lineups. Maybe some of you know something they don't.

I know that Moo is going to stay automatic from his reasoning .

Are you guys actually telling me that stock for stock, the CLS/6 will actually be only as fast as the CLS/Auto?

I would think that you guys would expect the CLS/6 to hit the 1/4 in about 14.3-14.5 stock vs. the 15.2 for the CLS/Auto.

Maybe, I'm just over analyzing this, maybe as moo said, "Now your slower .1 sec in 1/4".

I pity the fool who has sympathy for a Corvette driver who buys an automatic. I understand if it's a super tweaked car pushing 1000HP and having an auto, but come on, its a street 'racing' (whether you want to believe it or not) car.

BTW, Good morning I need my coffee now.

Zapata

well those are exotics M5 I think there would be mob of people waiting to raid those companies if they ever decided to go fully automatic 6MT will be faster than the auto. I'd say 14.3.

by the way M5, glad your back

M5 Lite

Thanks Zapata.

Well, if those exotics ever started selling automatics, then I'd probably :angry: :angry:

Its just not right! Manual tranny + Sports car go together, like Milk and Cookies!

moomaster_99

A lot of exotics have sequential shifter options.....
A guy with an SMG is gonna whup your ass time and time again v. a 6spd manual. An auto in any car over 300 hp isn't a bad decision...because that car is probably already fast enough. I understand the appeal of shifting....it's just not everyone needs to do it when you're packing that much power.

M5 Lite

SMG is still a 6-speed. Its no where near an automatic tranny.

moomaster_99

Regardless of what you think...it is still an automatic...not an automatic in the traditional sense with a Torque Converter...but still an automatic....if you can leave it in a certain position and just drive without moving the shifter...then it is an automatic. The new Maserati Spyder has an option for a 6spd SS auto too..made by Ferrari.

Pull_T

As an enthusiast who says 300 hp (or 400 or 500) is never "fast enough", I choose the manual over auto and the Playstation shifting.

Red Rider

Manuals are a dying breed. 90% of cars sold in this country are auto. Even in Europe a higher percentage than ever are autos. It's the technology of Formula One leading the way. It's called progress. Nothing wrong with you diehards who like your manuals, but you are in a HUGE minority, people are voting through their purchases. In some cars, turbos for instance the auto can be quicker. My beloved Merkur XR4TI with auto regularly kicked the crap out of the manual version in our club meets because i'd get that 15 pounds of boost and not lose it. Not flaming manual guys, just tired of hearing the old " it's not a sports car if it's not a manual" thing. A Corvette IS a sports car, auto or not.

Beltfed

Funny a Vette driver said that, because the 6spd in the Vette is an $815 RPO.

With that said....the 01-02 regular Automatic Vettes with the optional 3.15 rear axel (2.73 is standard), is just as fast as the 00 6spd Vette (which come standard with 3.42s to this day)- so they haul ass. The Vette got a power boost in 2001.

Mr Hyde

Evryones missing the really horrible part of his story.

What were you doing taking your car to a gasp .........carwash???