Eight-Speed Automatic is as Fast as Chevy Claims
It would appear the new eight-speed automatic transmission for the 2015 Corvette is as fast as Chevy claims it is.
The Internet has been buzzing about the thing after select media recently had an opportunity to test drive the new 2015 model lineup at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan.
Things like “downshifts are extremely quick,” as noted in a USA Today report, seems to be the general consensus from most who’ve been behind the wheel of the new model.
“Executing shifts in manual mode feels dual-clutch quick, for sure,” reports Autoblog. “For my money, though, and for the love of the 65-percent, the real test comes when you leave the lever in D. I actually did all but one of my laps of GM’s dizzying Milford Road Course in full auto mode, and found the programming and response time of the trans to be impeccable.”
AutoWeek writes, “We only caught the new transmission hunting once in about 12 laps on the difficult course, and that could have been our fault with sloppy pedal work — feathering the gas when we should be flooring it, or the other way around.”
Chevy says the new automatic C7 with the 8L90 trans will do 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds and the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds.
In addition to shifts that are faster than Porsche’s dual-clutch PDK transmission, the carmaker also claims the Corvette’s new eight-speed automatic improves fuel economy to better than 30 mpg on the highway, although it is likely to get an EPA rating of 29 on the highway.
We’ll deal with how yours truly missed that Milford invite later, but right now I’m just happy to hear that the thing lives up to all the hype.