Tom Martin

I have a 2012 Vette GS convert with all the factory bells and whistles but I'm bothered by the fact that my Dinan 3 BMW 335i Xdrive coupe accelerates harder then my Vette in a throttle plant in 6th gear. I guess the Bimmer has more torque at around 2000-2500 RPMs even though the Bimmer has maybe 360-370 HP and the Vette is supposed to have 435 HP. Is there anything simple and/or inexpensive that I can do to the Vette to get it to accelerate like the Bimmer?
Please don't tell me to get a supercharger. That's expensive in purchase price and the cost of installation.

MARSC6

Why are you worried about acceleration in 6th gear? That is the make EPA happy mileage gear.

timd38

My wife said that I can get a C7 to replace my Acura. Do I need two Corvettes? So I decided that an M3 would be a better choice. Can't wait for the snow to melt!

TripleAstyle123

start in 1st gear, then 2nd, then 3rd...... now compare. 6th gear is for gas mileage and I am sure the vette in 6th will turn less rpms at 70 than the bimmer, thus your thought on the torque curve is probably accurate.

TripleAstyle123

M3 over a c7? was it cheaper or something? The Corvette finally really updates its interior to compete and you still went M3 l

5knives

Racing in 6th gear....ha!

v26278

The C6 will not hit its factory rated top speed in 6th gear, it's too tall to push the air, you have to downshift to 5th and then you can hit 186 mph in 5th. 6th gear is strictly for gas milage and forget about any acceleration. The 335 responds very well to tuning, it will pull hard. Headers and a tune on your GS will add 30 HP and torque and put a smile on your face for a couple of grand, which I'm sure you spent for the Dinan setup. Do that, and downshift, or just downshift period, and the 335 wont leave the garage unless you need the back seat.

AORoads

All the above plus v, above. You are seriously comparing sixth or top gear pull of both cars? Have you looked at the trans gear ratios and rear end ratios to compare them?

hungryhippo

You should have bought an automatic if you dont want to downshift.

timd38

GM needs a dual clutch auto trans. The auto trans in the C7 over heats on the track after about 10 minutes and the car goes in limp mode.

Dale1990

Your BMW has considerably different gear ratios compared to the Vette. Based on this chart from a Bimmer forum, a better (although still not exact) comparison would be 5th gear in the Vette to 6th gear in the BMW.

Edit 1: Chart below.

Edit 2: Actually, if that chart is accurate, the BMW should be turning about 2500RPM at 60MPH so a manual GS with a 3.42 rear axle might have to be in 4th to level the field depending on the tire size (which I am too lazy to look up on Google).

cclive

6th gear in the Vette is a far higher gear than in the BMW. In fact, I'm not aware of any car that has a higher top gear than 6th in the Vette. The comparison is not valid.

BJ67

the vette has a .50 overdrive in 6th gear, the BMW is nowhere near that deep, the vette will not accelerate in 6th gear. MPG is why its there.

dentalfloss

Tom. You can not be serious. Are you listening to yourself. When you utilize a cars performance potential you utilize the engine's peak performance, meaning being in the correct gear at the correct hp/torque curve and not every car is the same. Do yourself a favor and take 6 th gear out of the equation. Listen to not only me but everybody else as well. HELLO!!!

BJ67

Throttle plant in 6th gear??? doesn't that tell you something like..... HELLO. Going from a roll in 6th gear other than maybe 140 mph on up is got to be nuts.

Ragtop 99

If you want more throttle response on the highway and are ok with running 2000 - 2500 rpm on the highway like your BMW, there are two options:
1) Don't upshift into 6th gear below 100 mph. This solution is free.
2) Put 4.10s (or higher if you find them) in the rear. That will bring your highway rpms up 20% and by the time you're doing 75 mph you can at least get to 2000 rpms. With 4.10s you're not going to race anybody in 6th gear, but the car will at least respond for basic passing needs. Additionally, the lower gears become more fun too.

Bill Dearborn

Although I would like to see a DCT in the Vette I doubt it needs one. The broad torque range provided by the engine means you just don't have to shift that often. The DCTs advantages are making smooth appropriately rev matched down shifts and very fast upshifts. In a drag race from a dead stop with launch control a DCT can get an advantage due to quick shifts but on a road course where you only use 3rd and 4th gears. Up or down shifting isn't anywhere near as much of a big dea other than you take a few tenths of a second longer on the upshift so power isn't flowing to the wheels during that time.

Bill

cclive

I think that DCTs seem very complicated and because of this, they may not hold up as well long term. Some cars with them will never know, like Ferraris, because most never are driven any significant number of miles. People expect an automatic transmission to go over 100,000 miles with no problems. If a complicated DCT requires an overhaul or big repair at 50,000, regular people will complain, while Ferrari drivers will brag about it. After all, the 12,000 mile regular service on a 599 Ferrari is about $15,000. I would like to know how much a trans overhaul would be on that DCT. I would also doubt that a dealer would be capable of doing it.

mikeCsix

Agreed, the A-6 in the '12's is a pretty quick shifter, about the only thing it needs is better cooling. A diff cooler may go a long way to helping alleviate heating issues exacerbated by the torque converter.
The tracks I visit I use 2-3-4.