How often you been in a C4? I have both - the 81 is a manual - when I first bought it, my impression was man this thing is tight. The door is right up against my shoulder and no foot room. I have to wear thin walled shoes to keep from hitting the gas and break pedal at the same time.
The C4 on the other hand has a lot more space inside.
Now to the real point of this conversation - manual vs. auto - like I said my 81 is a manual - I have no issues with it except in stop and go traffic - it is NOT a car you want to be stuck in during rush hour trying to get across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge between Virginia and Maryland! That heavy spring loaded clutch is murder on my poor left knee! But give me an open road or the interstate where we have room to play and shifting becomes fun again.

 

Do the hyd clutch swap and call it a Honda clutch.

 

Autoweek Magazine recently commented on the Automatic vs. Standard shift question, saying this about automatics :
"What self respecting sports car enthusiast would buy such a thing? I can understand it only if a physical limitation prevents you from operating a conventional manual. Otherwise, just buy a minivan and be done with it, leaving the real driving to people who respect it enough to take the time to learn to do it properly."
August 14 issue, p.8

 

Whoever wrote that was a jerk. A biased jerk who seems uneducated. I know how to drive a manual. That's how I learned to drive, and my first five cars were all manuals. I love manual. Just because I drive an auto SUV and an auto Vette has nothing to do with my lack of knowledge on operating a manual or even my taste in cars. Mini van my butt.

 

That might apply to someone driving alone on a trip or taking the car to a track... but in the real world, people might want a car that's convenient for 'multi-purposes'.

If I were going out on a cruise with a girlfriend or taking short rides (most of the time), I'd rather drive an automatic.

If I were driving alone or taking a long roadtrip (once in a while), I'd rather drive a manual.

Depends on what I plan to use the car for but an automatic is a practical must have for me... if I had to sell one car, it'll be the manual.

 

(but with much stronger language!!!). It's coming down to the definition of what is a sports car. If you're Jeremy Clarkson then it's a Ferrari, a handful of other expensive exotica & maybe an Aston or two. That's fine with me, but I'm not Jeremy Clarkson. To me a sports car is a 2 seater with a bit of power that's capable of putting a big grin on my face, whether it's the latest Ferrari going at 150mph on a track somewhere, an old MGB on a country lane drifting around corners at 40mph, a C3 tanking along a leafy A road, etc. Whether it's manual, auto, FWD, RWD, etc is a matter of personal choice. Saying an auto isn't a real sports car smacks of snobbery to me

 

My 70 454 is an auto,the first vette i ever bought without a 4 speed and i never thought i would enjoy it as much as i do.

 

Sit in an earlier C4 and you'll see what I mean. After 1990 the interior on the C4 is much more inviting than prior to 1990. The '84 - '89 ones are TIGHT fits.

 

What makes it tighter? Did they close the width of the trans tunnel or make the doors thinner?

 

If it doesn't have a Hurst Shifter.....that's probably the problem.
Larry

 

I treat the vette like a sports car,that goe's really really fast straight. --- hence, the 4 speed is my choice.

 

What is the best bang for the buck as far as 5spds are concearned? I mean something that will stand 500+ and still be affordable.

 

What is affordable to you? I think the keisler TKO-500 is good for your torque range and the kit is about$3200.

 

That's a bit high for what I think I'm expecting. How about Tremecs and T5s?

 

I have been on both sides of this fence. All of my cars I had before my '70 were manuals/stick shifts. I have done a total of three 5spd sonversions, in various cars I have had, one of these was a tremec install.

If you don't want to read all my dribble basically I think:
AUTO - regularly driven on street
STICK - mainly highway driver/race track

On a racetrack (I don't mean dragstrip) there is no doubt I would want a manual, an auto would be completely useless, such a lack of control over where your engine is in the rev range and what gear you are in (unless you go fully manualised auto, but then it isn't really an auto anyway).

On the street however I find it is very easy to get caught out of gear unless I drive everywhere constantly ready to shift, which is anything but relaxing, an auto on the other hand you can be practically daydreaming yet at a moments notice a stomp of your right leg takes you from 3rd to 1st, a manual on the other hand if you are somewhat relaxed with both hands on the wheel takes considerably longer to get into the gear you want.

I personally get a lot more enjoyment driving the vette on the street with an auto and am glad I went for the auto.

I also find that the extra fuel consumption issue for me isn't really true (I don't do much highway driving). If a car is a manual I can't help but take the engine through the rev range up to near the redline before each and every shift because I like the feel of it, so I ended up using about the same amount of fuel as an auto anyway. With the '70 I am quite happy to lope along at 2000rpm, until the moment calls for 'a bit more'.

I even deceided to get an auto C4 when I was looking for one because of how much I found I enjoyed the C3 auto, and am glad I did.

And finally the constant fiddling with the clutch that seems to occur on stick shifts. All of my manual cars always needed something done to the clutch while I had them, leaking hydraulic system, stuffed master cylinder, stretched clutch cable, broken linkages, leaking slave cylinder seals, new pressure plates/clucth discs. In the two years and fair amount of driving the TH400 in my '70 hasn't given me one problem whatsoever, and it is the original trans, never rebuilt.

 

If you do a searh on this forum, I think there was a couple posts on installing a T5 a while back.

 

I know the T5 would be the cheapest of the 5spds...but the question of strength is up on that one. It seems the weaker of them all.

 

If you drove a car with sloppy linkage, or a shifter that's too tight, or various other issues, it will be a PITA to drive. If everything is in proper working order, nothing is more fun to drive. My '73 LS4 M22 is a pleasure to drive, even with the close ratio trans.. I had a '63 SWC with a powerglide, and as great as the car looked, it was sooooooboring to drive, hence, I sold it last year. My personal opinion are that Corvettes are meant to be fun cars to drive, and automatics make them boring.

 

I do agree it takes a bit of tuning to make a 30 year old shifter feel good again so I can see how many in theuninformed catagory would grow to dislike the manuals. It's hard to NOT enjoy a well maintained manual.

 

Yes and Yes

The T5 is a nice little transmission, but was not designed to handle much torque.

The TKO 600's we use to make the Keisler PerfectFit 5 speed conversion kits are rated for over 600 lb/ft or torque

If you give me a call or shoot me an e-mail, I'll tell all about the conversion kit, the price and the advantages it offers over the options.