1BADLS3

I respectfully say I don't give a crap what you think.

1991Z07

Are you looking in a mirror?

Head in the sand, not invented here syndrome?

Faster shifts have been THE defining technological upgrade in the past 10 years. F1 cars have been using paddle-shifted gear boxes since 1989 or 1990. Corvette Racing has been using them since 2004.

You HONESTLY think they went to a $28k transmission because it was "cool"? If you do, then you're no smarter than the last guy.

They went to a SM trans because the shifts are faster, they don't need to lift and the shock load on the drive train is reduced for endurance racing.

1BADLS3's prejudice was coming out...THINKING this new A8 was like every other auto trans he has had experience to date with. It isn't...not even close. It's gonna walk circles around the Manual 7-speed on road courses...just like the sequential does today.

The only difference is it won't cost more than 15% of the cost of an EMCO SMG box.

This ISN'T your grandfathers PowerGlide!

Welcome to PROGRESS in the 21st century!

ParisTNDude

I don't agree that "a good manual driver will be faster". If you watch videos of most road course drivers, they granny shift between gears unlike a drag racer who sometimes power shifts. In the automatic, there is no way to "granny shift", a click of the button and bamb, it's upshifted. I agree with some who say the mille-seconds probably won't make a difference.

I had to edit my post to say this: There are times when driving and shifting the paddles on my 6A that the shift paddle isn't convenient to shift, seeing that the paddles are on the steering wheel. That means the paddle could be at the 6 o'clock position and to get to it fast, is awkward. Putting the shifter on the floor like the ALMS car makes sense or on the column stationary.

I would also guess that fatigue with the manual could be a factor in endurance races. It takes a lot of energy to work a clutch, brake and gas pedal as often as is required. An auto would be less so.

vette6aut0x

It isn't what I think it is fact but I can't figure out why you just post up the manual will be faster with out any thing to back up your statement other than maybe you are clairvoyant or something . I gave you info why it will be faster but apparently that did not matter so just keep making statements you know nothing about. See post 5

P.S. I do have data about different transmissions because I do race and build race cars for a living real world real time and just don't pull information out of some where the sun doesn't shine.

lmarigold

Well said!

ChucksZ06

Not to enter a silly p--sing contest, but I would think the manual will be just fine at the ring. The corvette has a lot less shifts to make than most cars running the ring. The pro driver piloting the car will also negate the disadvantages the auto folks see in the manual. We are mostly looking at acceleration from higher speeds and the manual will have a few hp advantage in that area.

vette6aut0x

Tell me how you think that the manual will have a HP advantage over the auto? THIS IS NOT THE AUTOMATIC OF YESTERDAY. Jim Mero 2013 ZR1 at Nurburgring 23 up shifts. Same driver, same car with the new a8 and manual the difference in time between the two is around 200ms,300ms with the manual and 100ms with the a8 according to GM. With the a8 it should be 4.6 seconds faster one lap. At 250ms(if he can shift that fast which I doubt) per shift 23 manual up shifts the a8 is 3.45 seconds faster after one lap. Now , if you really want to know how important this is, an F1 Ferrari can shift at 30ms. Shifting the same number of times the F1 car cuts 6 seconds off the lap time by faster shifts alone.

No pi$$ing contest here my friend.

jumper5836

The only reason for auto is to allow less skilled drivers to be closer to the skilled drivers. It closes the gap but in reality it don't matter the skilled driver makes no mistakes and is just as fast with a MT.

racerns

Not sure yet which is going to be faster, but your logic is flawed. The improvement in shift times is not necessarily a 1:1 improvement in lap times.

Supermassive

This could not be further from the truth if you tried. Heel toe shifting can be taught to a child, so saying that requires some skill is silly. With current DCT's and now TC Autos you still have to select your gears for optimal engine braking and acceleration out of a turn, so saying you have to know when to shift is also irrelevant. The difference between a skilled driver and a not skilled driver lies entirely on experience and in some cases raw talent. Knowing your lines, braking markers, turn in points, how far to trail brake into a turn, when to gas it, where the bump is in the middle of a turn that will upset your suspension forcing a wider turn, etc. etc.

A manual transmission just requires the driver to remove one of their hands from the wheel in order to shift, which increases risk and decreases control. It's another distraction, anyone who has ever been to a racing school is taught about minimizing distractions so you can focus on the important things. The manual transmission is technically a relic, it is fun to row your gears, and I understand that as I have been driving manuals since my first car, but it's still the least efficient means to change gears in a car...period. Clinging to the thought that it's still relevant in an autosport setting is hilariously backward thinking.

jumper5836

Obviously your not skilled enough to even grasp this and have some type of tunnel vision thinking it's all shifting and concentrating on steering input and braking lines.
On paper technically you are right but when you can take advantage of the MT upsets it can make it an advantage. Driving manual may change the way you drive and professionals don't have the same trivial amateur issues your talking about. MT is not a relic it's a skill and an art that distinguishes a great driver from the rest.

96ss#80

Im Speculating… because I haven't seen the gear ratios yet. If the auto has 7 properly spaced ratios that will keep the engine in its power band, and 8th is a big overdrive for fuel efficiency???
"IF" that is the case, it will be the auto HANDS DOWN!!!!

racebum

impossible to answer without knowing how good that auto is

Lavender

1991Z07

Name one pro team that runs a full manual in ALMS/Grand-AM?

<chirp!chirp> crickets...

Every team runs either an SMG or dual-clutch style trans.

They do this for three reasons...less stress on the drivetrain, faster shifts and NO missed shifts!

Don't feel so butt-hurt...things change. This isn't your grandfathers automatic.

jumper5836

Right they do it because it is allowed and costs less to the people who pay because it reduces driver errors. But the side effect is that is brings less skilled drivers closer to the level of good drivers.

I believe these electronic computer assisted aids combined with cars having to much grip and aero make watching this sport boring. F1 is a good example of that.

Anyways I am not putting down auto or saying it is slower. As I all ready wrote I don't think there will be a difference between the two or not a big enough difference to matter. I'd have to look up the 911 pdk vs manual times but I don't think there was that big of a difference.

Ensoniq

This makes a lot of sense to me but what I don't understand is how much more drive train loss the auto will have.

If the rear wheel HP is lower in the auto, I'd think the question would be whether the faster shifts contributed enough to offset.

I have no idea but am looking forward to finding out.

el es tu

This isnt even a point that can be argued

Unless the gearing is hindered in the auto, or the parasitic loss is huge, then its going to be faster.

Porsche ditched manuals because their dct shifted faster. GM is claiming the new 8 speed shifts faster than the porsche dct...

On top of that, having paddles allows the driver to stay more focused, keep their hands on the wheel rather than having to move to a shift lever, and it allows one foot to operate the brake while the other operates the throttle.

The auto will be faster.

Mdm23

Whoever thinks the seven speed will be faster than the A8 on a road course or anywhere else is kidding themselves. Why can't we just be glad that GM is even giving people the chance to choose? None of you guys will ever set a Nurburgring lap time anyways.

vette6aut0x

Well then prove me wrong. I have done data when we raced. We had a 6spd in our race car (zo6 vette) and we took it out and installed the emco. Shaved1:5 seconds in our lap times same set up same motor. We looked at the graph and could see every time the car was up shifted and the MPH would drop. With the sequential the graph was almost straight line threw acceleration. It is not logic but fact. You do realize that in a manual trans when you lift from the gas ,engage the clutch shift the gear the car is loosing time and distance.