Corvette eight speed automatic
08-20-2016, 04:19 PM
#21
Team Owner
If you want an auto buy an auto.
There has been some issues but there are 40,000 of them out there and ne of the most complicated mechanical parts of any car is the automatic transmission. As fas as I knoe none of them have failed to the point the car wont move anymore and spit parts out the bottom.
Even a 'good' one has its quirks, especially if you drive it very easy and look for problems. I still havent found a perfect auto trans. My wife's old 2015 Cherokee went through three new 9 speed auto transmissions in a year, not because they didnt feel right, because the car stopped moving.
If you plan on keeping the car past the 5 year/60K mile powertrain warranty you may want to change your mind. Your money, your call.
There has been some issues but there are 40,000 of them out there and ne of the most complicated mechanical parts of any car is the automatic transmission. As fas as I knoe none of them have failed to the point the car wont move anymore and spit parts out the bottom.
Even a 'good' one has its quirks, especially if you drive it very easy and look for problems. I still havent found a perfect auto trans. My wife's old 2015 Cherokee went through three new 9 speed auto transmissions in a year, not because they didnt feel right, because the car stopped moving.
If you plan on keeping the car past the 5 year/60K mile powertrain warranty you may want to change your mind. Your money, your call.
08-20-2016, 04:23 PM
#22
08-20-2016, 04:38 PM
#23
Race Director
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St. Jude Donor '16-'17,'22,'24
08-20-2016, 04:48 PM
#25
Team Owner
Roadbike56,
It's a 2015 Z06 with 7,700 miles. 100% stock and not abused. The car had never been on a track before and he was on his third lap cruising around Hallett Motor Speedway, cruising along easy, learning the track. He was not running the car hard, not even moderately hard. About how you would drive on the street on a nice curvy public highway.
He had had the flex plate replaced earlier, but had had no symptoms of a bad transmission until it puked it's guts.
It's a 2015 Z06 with 7,700 miles. 100% stock and not abused. The car had never been on a track before and he was on his third lap cruising around Hallett Motor Speedway, cruising along easy, learning the track. He was not running the car hard, not even moderately hard. About how you would drive on the street on a nice curvy public highway.
He had had the flex plate replaced earlier, but had had no symptoms of a bad transmission until it puked it's guts.
Last edited by JoesC5; 08-20-2016 at 04:52 PM.
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roadbike56 (08-20-2016)
08-20-2016, 04:48 PM
#26
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16,'18
If you are going to ask approval here, you might be in for an earful. My A8 has been great. Some have had serious problems. Recent changes to the TC might reduce the problems a little, but that remains to be seen.
Do you want a manual? Do you want an automatic with option to shift? I have owned sports cars with both, and, for my use (no track, daily driver, spirited weekends on occasion) really like the A8.
Do you want a manual? Do you want an automatic with option to shift? I have owned sports cars with both, and, for my use (no track, daily driver, spirited weekends on occasion) really like the A8.
4k miles on my A8. Shifting well so far.
Last edited by rmorin1249; 08-20-2016 at 04:49 PM.
08-20-2016, 05:19 PM
#27
Drifting
I wonder what the true reliability of the A8 is. So many posts both ggood and bad make it hard to sort out.
I have a 14 A6 that has been really excellent thru 25k miles, but would not have that same level of confidence in the A8, it almost feels like a crap shoot as to whether you get a good one or one with issues down the road.
I have a 14 A6 that has been really excellent thru 25k miles, but would not have that same level of confidence in the A8, it almost feels like a crap shoot as to whether you get a good one or one with issues down the road.
08-20-2016, 05:32 PM
#28
Looks like someone was punched in the mouth and lost his chiclets.
08-20-2016, 05:37 PM
#29
Drifting
A lot of that comes from fuel mileage and emission programming, they are made to get into the highest gear possible and stay there as long as possible. Its a solid design, only 'lipstick on a pig' was comparing it to a DCT.
The C7 A6 was really no better as far as low speed clunkiness, I drove a '14 auto for a year. But both the A8 and A6 work pretty well when you are on it hard. Right now I have a '16 GMC A6, '15 Audi, '16 Acura and the C7 in the family and the only auto that works what I would call 'perfect' is the Acura. And people complain about them because its only a 6 speed lol.
Who says the 10 speed wont have any more problems, remember the A8 was awesome according to everyone when it came out.
The C7 A6 was really no better as far as low speed clunkiness, I drove a '14 auto for a year. But both the A8 and A6 work pretty well when you are on it hard. Right now I have a '16 GMC A6, '15 Audi, '16 Acura and the C7 in the family and the only auto that works what I would call 'perfect' is the Acura. And people complain about them because its only a 6 speed lol.
Who says the 10 speed wont have any more problems, remember the A8 was awesome according to everyone when it came out.
08-20-2016, 05:50 PM
#30
Safety Car
Back to the OP, just a suggestion: Rent a C7 A8 for a day. National Car Rental has them, and I assume most others do too. If you like the feel of the A8 (like I did) then I would order it. If you don't then change your order. Personally, at low speed I find mine very smooth, and at high speed pretty wild.
[Last time I rented a car, National had a Black C7 with Kalahari interior WOW, what a combination--too bad my company frowns on trying to expense exotic rentals.]
[Last time I rented a car, National had a Black C7 with Kalahari interior WOW, what a combination--too bad my company frowns on trying to expense exotic rentals.]
Last edited by JonMN; 08-20-2016 at 05:52 PM.
08-20-2016, 06:24 PM
#31
Team Owner
man, the excuses some people come up with....to justify their purchase.
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bbcb (08-20-2016)
08-20-2016, 06:25 PM
#32
My A8 (March 2016 build Z06) is not clunky at all. I drive it often under a variety of conditions both in full auto and paddle shift mode and the shifts have all been fine.
08-20-2016, 06:39 PM
#33
Team Owner
I believe that GM designed the current A8 on their own, but Ford designed the new A10 for RWD applications and GM designed the new A10 for FWD/AWD applications.
If you're buying a GM truck, large SUV, Caddy RWD, Camaro, etc, better hope that Ford got it right.
If you're buying a GM truck, large SUV, Caddy RWD, Camaro, etc, better hope that Ford got it right.
Last edited by JoesC5; 08-20-2016 at 06:41 PM.
08-20-2016, 08:22 PM
#34
Melting Slicks
Unless it was your car and you know exactly what happened hard to say exactly what happened there. But as you well know anything can fail, since the car was taken apart who knows what happened.
But OK, thats one, more 2014 C7 engines failed than that and people are still buying C7s
But OK, thats one, more 2014 C7 engines failed than that and people are still buying C7s
08-20-2016, 08:29 PM
#35
Safety Car
To answer the OP's original question, no you will not regret it. My A8 Stingray is a rocketship, and I've owned 15 Corvettes (2 of which were autos and didn't last long). Drive a new one and you'll understand. 
08-20-2016, 08:32 PM
#36
Melting Slicks
The A8 has never banged that loud, but the 3-1 downshift can jerk the car a bit, just putting around it can upshift and downshift pretty harsh at times but nothing I would bring the car in under warranty for.
Whats normal and acceptable/unacceptable to others I dont know, either all the A8s I have driven were 'bad' or thats just the way they are. Either way its GMs problem for 5 years and 60K miles if it fails, and if they dont fix it right I'll trade it in. Not like there are no other cars to buy out there..
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BRussell (08-21-2016)
08-20-2016, 08:38 PM
#37
Team Owner
Unless it was your car and you know exactly what happened hard to say exactly what happened there. But as you well know anything can fail, since the car was taken apart who knows what happened.
But OK, thats one, more 2014 C7 engines failed than that and people are still buying C7s
But OK, thats one, more 2014 C7 engines failed than that and people are still buying C7s
The photo was taken by the dealer's tech that dropped the pan.
Last edited by JoesC5; 08-20-2016 at 08:39 PM.
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pdiddy972 (08-21-2016)
08-20-2016, 08:49 PM
#38
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St. Jude Donor '12
I now have 850 miles on my base 2016 coupe with a build date of 6/16 and knock on wood my A-8 is working great. I had to go with an automatic because if the wife puts her car in for service then she has to either drive my dodge truck or my c-7. I think the c-7 wins hands down. My wife still works while I am retired.
08-20-2016, 08:53 PM
#39
Melting Slicks
Not some info I picked off the web. The owner is a good friend of mine(for over 10 years) and he showed me the photo while we were having lunch one day. I asked him the details, and I believe he has no reason to lie to me.
The photo was taken by the dealer's tech that dropped the pan.
The photo was taken by the dealer's tech that dropped the pan.
There are 40 thousand of them out there in Corvettes alone, plus who knows how many in trucks. Since most 2016 full size trucks come with the A8 I imagine quite a few trucks are out there. And yes, people on the truck forums have the same complaints about the A8. Still very few compared to the number out there.
08-20-2016, 09:02 PM
#40
The A8 has never banged that loud, but the 3-1 downshift can jerk the car a bit, just putting around it can upshift and downshift pretty harsh at times but nothing I would bring the car in under warranty for.
Whats normal and acceptable/unacceptable to others I dont know, either all the A8s I have driven were 'bad' or thats just the way they are. Either way its GMs problem for 5 years and 60K miles if it fails, and if they dont fix it right I'll trade it in. Not like there are no other cars to buy out there..
My daughter and I just came back from a 45 mile drive since this was the first time in months that it was nice enough to take the top off. I mostly shifted manually (avoiding any V4 AFM operation) but did let it shift automatically when going through a couple of towns and on a couple of fast merges onto the interstate. There weren't any harsh shifts under light, moderate, or heavy acceleration in automatic mode. Smooth shifting with these clutch to clutch type automatics have been perfected years ago but maybe the software folks are, to quote the British, "too clever by half". Hopefully the engineering team gets a handle on this soon and it has probably been complicated by the real hardware issues that were identified in earlier production.
Last edited by NSC5; 08-20-2016 at 09:03 PM.