Mike98SilVert

Exactly

Great idea!

Phanni

I attended the Pikes Peak hill climb this year. Sam Schmidt, a quadriplegic, had a special equipped C-7 Z06 (automatic) rigged for him to drive up the mountain. Because he had no way to shift the car into "drive", he had a passenger that did that task for him. Robbie Unser was the passenger.

Sam was injured in the year 2000, at Indy.
He signed his posters by holding the pen in his mouth.
What a great attitude tis guy has.

I have a handicapped plate on my vette (yes I'm entitled to have one, from numerous back injuries), however I only use the handicapped parking spaces on days when the pain of walking is just too much. My Vettes are both autos, not because I couldn't use a stick, but at my age and situation of life I simply prefer automatics. (I do still enjoy driving one of my buddies sticks once in awhile though.

C5R USA

I like your thinking process hypotheticals. I would certainly like to see peoples focus on "actually" driving then distracted with mobile devices and contemporary automotive offerings that have become an extension of a home entertainment system.

Manual transmissions are great and overall I "prefer" it but, that's my opinion. My C5 has a 6-speed and I love it but, I don't drive it everyday. The C4 I have is equipped with an automatic and that was one of the biggest reasons I bought it. Depends on the car, and what I plan to use it for when deciding on transmission choices. I look at this way, I could care less what people decide on what they prefer for transmission choices, it's their car, and their choice, and people have to have a sense a confidence when their driving. No sense in driving a manual because it's the thing to have, or peer pressure if you can't operate it correctly.

jackthelad

While we are at it, let's really get back to basics. Anyone ready for a non synchromesh 'box? When I was young I drove a lot of (older) trucks and vintage cars. Combine that kind of tranny with poor braking capabilities capabilities and you very quickly learn to focus on your driving and anticipate traffic. Probably why to this day, I get really high mileage out of brake pads.

Not4spd

There is no way I'm buying a manual for any daily driving duty. For anyone that laughs or can't understand, it's obvious you haven't driven in 7a, 8a, 9a, 4p, 5p, or 6p traffic on any highway or tollroads in the DFW metroplex. Before you say that's only the weekdays, then it's obvious you haven't driven on any of our highways or tollroads on a Saturday afternoon.

Patches

I have driven both manual and auto as dd over the past 30+ years - mostly manual. My current dd is a manual 7-speed C7 and the many times over the past 6 months I have gotten in SoCal bumper-to-bumper traffic for 2-3 hours, yes, I have made it home but I sometimes wonder how smart a choice it was. My previous dd Mini Cooper S with a paddle-shift 6-speed auto was almost the perfect thrifty-but-fun dd but I always wanted to dd a Vette and so the C7 and I refused to buy another auto Vette.

To each, his own, I don't judge anyone's dd choice as I am not them and I don't know what their commute is like.

rrwirsi

I drive a manual corvette because my wife cannot.

ArtGle

AT 67 yr 'young', and a motorhead most of my adult life, I've had so many manual transmission vehicles that I can't remember how many.
My first three Vettes were M/T.
Camaros, SS Nova, and more.

But "THIS" Corvette, THIS C5, caught my eye so dramatically, I didn't even LOOK at the transmission aspect. I just BOUGHT IT....

Been driving the HELL OUTTA IT SINCE.

Y'know what? I'm 'liking' the A/T.

dbgoodwin

Again guys, this isn't a this vs that thread, just really cool to see the guy not giving up what he wanted.

germanc5

Lol!

Rob 02

It would be nice to have the advantages of both without the disadvantages of either.
I miss the stick sometimes. I'm just not in a good area for it. I'm in a traffic area that takes the fun right out of shifting. If I move to the country I may regret the auto.

My reaction time is quicker coming out of a fish tail with an auto. You just let off the gas.

Glensgages

I bought an automatic because at age 56+, I know the days of me being able to competitively bracket-race (where consistency, not all-out performance is king) a car that needs to be loaded / unloaded from a trailer are dwindling:
when the day comes that I can't tow my Z28 anymore, I'll throw my brain-bucket, cooler, and a lawn chair into the C5, and take my chances with the young'uns

dbgoodwin

And this is how people wreck rear wheel drive cars

Pounder

I don't spin my tires but if I wanted to, they won't !!! I have AH and TC and for 99% of the time they are on !!!!

93 lt1 vette

I spend 45 mins everyday in bump to bumper traffic getting on a large military base. My 93 vette is an auto. My 04 is a 6 speed and it is my daily driver. Rowing the gears with bad knees and hip is still better than the auto.

o2bnkc

I couldn't have said it better myself. I've had my left knee replaced TWICE! (I wore the first one out) and there's no way I'd get another auto vette. My Peterbilt is an automatic, though. No fun shifting gears there.

Rob 02

I have a Marine buddy that is missing both legs. He does so well on the prosthetic legs that people tend to not notice his condition. My girlfriend didn't believe me when I told her about him. One day I asked him to pull up his pant leg and show her.

The thing is you don't have pain or feeling in a fake leg. As much pain or dysfunction people may have in their knee shin ankle or foot you don't want it amputated. You work with what you have.

Thank all of you Veterans for your heroic service.

leadfoot4

The first brand new car I owned, was a Chevelle SS454. I got a deal on it, because it was a "year end left-over". I didn't really pay close attention to the window sticker, and didn't test drive it, because it was sitting in the dealer's show room. I simply decided to buy it.

Well, it didn't have power steering, and the clutch pedal practically took both feet, to push in. It was my only car at the time, because it took all the money I had to purchase it. I kept it just under two years, finally trading it off for a car with power steering and an automatic transmission.

28 years later, with a few other cars in between, I bought my Corvette. Yes, my C-5 is a 6 speed manual, but it wasn't a DD at the time I bought it (I'm retired, now), so I sort of enjoyed rowing the gears. However, finding out how much trouble it is, to replace the clutch in one of these, should something go wrong, I shift it VERY carefully............

BlackandTan2004

Interesting thread. Mine is an Auto because ultimately my wife and I thought that was the best decision given her inability to drive a manual. This was also part of the motivation for me to initially look at C6's because I could kind of have the best of both worlds w/ paddle shift. C5 six speeds are super easy to drive (so I hear) and she could have easily learned, but I wasn't able to sell her on that idea. I have never owned a manual because the vast majority of vehicles I have had are late model half tons and none of which could be purchased in a manual configuration.

Fcar 98

I bought what i bought because it was what i wanted. I don't need to explain to anyone why i do what i do when it comes to my car.