you will pay more for a 6spd c4 than an auto.

even back in 2001, i paid about an extra 1500 for a 93 c4 vert with 6spd.

imho it sounds like you will be happier with the 6spd so find it.

do not settle.

all this said, if you want a bracket racer (dragstrip) than auto are always more consistent.

 

I live on the edge of the country, outside Akron, Ohio. It is a mile and a half to the expressway and then out into the country. No more city driving for me. Been done with that for a while due to an injury, so I don't work anymore. I am just a bored stay at home husband. If we are going to go downtown, we would take my wife's Cruze. If we are going for a just a drive to Amish country, we take the diesel pickup, and if we get the(a) Vette, we will sometimes take that.

My truck rides better than most cars. I swapped out the front swaybar and added a rear from Hellwig and put Bilsteins on it. Needless to say, it rides pretty nice and handles decent for such a big truck. Plus it can be fun. When you get it into the power band and the turbo starts coming on, it gets there in a hurry. But it is a big vehicle with a higher center of gravity, so no goofing around with it for me. It has to last another 20 yrs. I am 59 and am going to go camping as long as I am physically able.

I have a tuner on it and can add 100 hp at the touch of a touchscreen, but I don't. I limit it to 30 hp over. That way I don't lift the heads and blow a headgasket or hurt a very expensive transmission.

We live kinda central to a lot. To the east is Pa and up through Cook's Forest (makes a nice few hour drive), south and west is out to the country and through the hills of Ohio, down towards the foothills heading into the mountains of W. Va. Here in Ohio we have lots of places to enjoy driving a 6-speed car, well any car. We don't have year round nice weather, but when it is nice, we have some cool places to drive to.

 

I've already said in another thread.... There are auto and auto...


This c7 i would get it with an auto tranny. No stick can give me that sensation i think

Most likely 6speed manual on c4 is the way to go

That trans shooots out hard the gear is amazing (8l90)

 

I always prefer a manual for sports cars, but unfortunately I had to buy an auto when I bought my 95, due to a health condition that makes it too hard to drive a manual on a daily basis.

I would like to swap gears to wake mine up a bit. Speaking of which, I know I could do a search, but could someone facilitate my laziness and tell me what stock gears came on a 95 base coupe and what's recommended for a nice aggressive street car?

 

i think you couldn't swap tranny gear but you can swap valve body.

Also rear end gear you can swap

 

I also had a Z28 with an auto. Back in 80, the Z's weren't the fastest but it wasn't too much of a slouch. It was a cruising car. I traded it off on the '65. Those Z's with T-tops were dangerous. If you jacked up the front end, both doors opened on their own. Mine also popped the windshield. The neighbor kid's split the paint off in 1 big sheet across the roof.

There was a lot of body flex.

 

6 speed all the way, wouldn't even consider an auto. Don't think anyone is going to be commuting in LA traffic in a C4 so no reason to not get a 6 speed.

 

C4 is another story

 

You more than likely have 2.59 geared rear-end.Going to a 3.55 gear, which is my plan my for '92, would really wake your A4 Vette up.

 

What should happen swapping from 2.59 to 3.55, more acceleration, less top speed?

 

All cars flex to some degree, however, I don't think that C4's flex like the 79 through 81 Z28's did, specifically, and only the ones with T-tops. GM switched from the Hurst T-tops in 79.

you can see the difference here:

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182591

an anemic engine caused enough body torque to split the paint off from the roof on the neighbor kids car. There was not enough structural integrity left to avoid twisting.

a GM body shop manager told me to get rid of the car (he also said he would disavow that he said it). mine (80 Z-28) was in getting the windshield replaced as it popped loose and allowed water to get in the car. as I said if you jacked up the front end with the supplied bumper jack, the car bowed so much, both doors would open.

the body shop manager told me if the cars took a real hard hit on the front end, the windshield column would fold back into the passenger area.

I have not read about C-4's popping windshields or doors opening on their own. there is flex, that is why they braced the convertibles and there is the aftermarket braces for the coupes.

but how many C4's are stripping their paint off in one big sheet ?

 

The 6 speed manual cars get better highway mpg, have better acceleration, and actually cost more as the automatic transmission was included in the msrp. The ZF was an expensive line item option. Probably only about 25-30% of C4's made were manuals. These are the reasons I would get the ZF.

There are a couple of cons, but mostly the repair cost if you find a car with gear clash and wrecked syncros from a worn clutch or failed hydraulic system.

 

That may be what the guy who sold you the "tuner" said, but if you can add 15hp by changing the timing and injector pulse, I'd be surprised.

 

Better acceleration, top speed could go up a 2 or 3mph, go down 2 or 3mph, or stay the same, depending. Top speed in our cars is limited by horsepower, not rpm.

 

So, for what reason c4 with auto from factory has a 2.59 axle ratio, instead manual goes with 3.45?

At least As far as concern lt1 engine

 

He is talking about his Duramax Turbo diesel...so adding 100 hp is very common, very easy.

 

Because; the auto's top gear ratio (4th gear) is .75:1. For every revolution of the engine, the drive shaft turns 1.5 times.
The 6 speed's top gear ratio (6th gear) is .50:1 -meaning for every revolution of the engine, the drive shaft spins two revolutions.

.75 * 2.59=1.94:1, crankshaft to axle.
.50 * 3.45=1.725, crankshaft to axle.

The 6 speed has more ratios, a wider ratio spread, and thus can handle the lower rear axle ratio, yet still return better fuel economy in top gear.


.

 

CAFE (corporate fuel economy requirements) That's why all Vette 6speeds have that goofy "skip shift". Just upgrading to 3:08s (automatic performance axle option) makes a noticeable performance difference.

 

The sensation of playing a video game?

 

yep.

not only have the horsepower wars been on in the gasoline engine world, but since 2001 the Big 3 have been going toe to toe in the 2500HD/3500HD pickup world with their diesel engines.

along with the oem folks, the aftermarket has stepped up also

I don't know if it can be done with gasoline cars like the Vettes, Camaros, etc, but you can even load up to 5 different tunes into the ECM's and control them via a positional switch. There is a product called EFI Live that allows the creation of different tunes, then you tap into the wiring to the ECM and add a "DSP5" switch. You can change engine tunes on the fly, the same concept as the active suspension in the C4's allowed a change of handling characteristics via the positional switch on the console

this is an example for the LB7 engine

http://duramaxtuner.com/dsp5.html

diesels have come a long way in the last few years, just like gasoline engines have