Auto Paddle shift
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: When all is said and done... there is a hell of a lot more said than done. Riverside,Texas
St. Jude Donor '05 thru '26
Originally Posted by LS1LT1
It doesn't, it is superior in every way. 
You bet, almost makes an auto worth thinking about.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
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From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
Depends on your reason for buying an automatic. It wouldn't be worth the extra $1250 to me. If I were buying a 2006 C6, I'd probably go back to a manual tranny. However, some here don't seem to understand the question.
com·pare (kÃm pârÆ), v., -pared, -par·ing, n.
—v.t.
1. to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences: to compare two pieces of cloth; to compare the governments of two nations.
2. to consider or describe as similar; liken: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
3. Gram. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
—v.i.
4. to be worthy of comparison; be held equal: Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
5. to appear in a similar standing: His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
6. to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified: Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
7. to vie; rival.
8. to make a comparison: The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.
9. compare notes. See note (def. 25).
—n.
10. comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare.
com·pare (kÃm pârÆ), v., -pared, -par·ing, n.
—v.t.
1. to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences: to compare two pieces of cloth; to compare the governments of two nations.
2. to consider or describe as similar; liken: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
3. Gram. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
—v.i.
4. to be worthy of comparison; be held equal: Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
5. to appear in a similar standing: His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
6. to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified: Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
7. to vie; rival.
8. to make a comparison: The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.
9. compare notes. See note (def. 25).
—n.
10. comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,884
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From: Forked River N.J.
Originally Posted by glind46677
How does that compare to the old automatics???????????
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Team Owner
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From: FL
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St. Jude Donor '05 thru '11,'19,'22,'25
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Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
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Originally Posted by glind46677
How does that compare to the old automatics???????????
A bigger difference than where the controls to operate it are placed is that it has 6 speeds instead of the previous 4 speeds. This would be significant in a car with an engine lacking a broad torque curve. But since the LS2 does have a broad torque curve, the practical difference is small.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
Glad a couple of posters saw the word "Compare" in the original post. 
Both of those posts by Datawiz & Shopdog were very informative. Thanks for the info., guys. If I were planning to take a C6 to any track, I'd probably think seriously about the A6.
Both of those posts by Datawiz & Shopdog were very informative. Thanks for the info., guys. If I were planning to take a C6 to any track, I'd probably think seriously about the A6.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 27,253
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From: Short Hills, NJ
Originally Posted by shopdog
A bigger difference than where the controls to operate it are placed is that it has 6 speeds instead of the previous 4 speeds. This would be significant in a car with an engine lacking a broad torque curve. But since the LS2 does have a broad torque curve, the practical difference is small.
The A6 does have performance (and fuel economy) advantages over the A4 but it also cost more to get.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,253
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From: Sandy Eggo Calif.
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12, '16
Just to quote some of the article in April's MT-"Better-Automatically-Six speeds forward provides a better way to go"
"So first year C6 owners got the same old-and we mean old-four speed 4L65-E autobox. It worked well enough, and did have selectable shift modes. Unfortunately, they were limited to forward, reverse, and neutral."
"No longer is driving an automatic equipped Corvette a shiftless exercise in boredom. Even though the LS2 V-8 has loads of torque, there was a large rpm and power fall-off during up shifts with the old tranny. As the gear spacing is so much closer in the 6L80, the engine now always runs in the sweet spot. The transmission's first gear is lower than before, so the car launches harder and stays on boil through the ratios."
"Remember how much slower automatic equipped cars used to be than clutch-and-stick types? The 6L80-equipped Vette is just two tenths of a second slower to 60 mph than a six speed manual example. Impressive."
"So first year C6 owners got the same old-and we mean old-four speed 4L65-E autobox. It worked well enough, and did have selectable shift modes. Unfortunately, they were limited to forward, reverse, and neutral."
"No longer is driving an automatic equipped Corvette a shiftless exercise in boredom. Even though the LS2 V-8 has loads of torque, there was a large rpm and power fall-off during up shifts with the old tranny. As the gear spacing is so much closer in the 6L80, the engine now always runs in the sweet spot. The transmission's first gear is lower than before, so the car launches harder and stays on boil through the ratios."
"Remember how much slower automatic equipped cars used to be than clutch-and-stick types? The 6L80-equipped Vette is just two tenths of a second slower to 60 mph than a six speed manual example. Impressive."
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 94
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From: Gulf Coast Florida
Originally Posted by TommyV
"Remember how much slower automatic equipped cars used to be than clutch-and-stick types? The 6L80-equipped Vette is just two tenths of a second slower to 60 mph than a six speed manual example. Impressive."
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,057
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Broad torque or not, remaining more in the powerband is remaining more in the powerband no matter how you slice it, avoiding the 'dead spots' that the A4 was so well known for is another bonus.
The A6 does have performance (and fuel economy) advantages over the A4 but it also cost more to get.
The A6 does have performance (and fuel economy) advantages over the A4 but it also cost more to get.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 336
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Originally Posted by own2vettes
That's great and all, but does it translate into any any realworld performance gains? It seems as though the A4 and A6 cars are about the same in terms of performance specs/ fuel economy that I've seen on paper. If there are any other data that differ, I'd love to see them.
I can't offer any techincal data, just my impression of driving on curvey two lane roads and making the car hold 3rd gear and then when I want to spring it going to 4th, but being able to jump back to 3rd or even 2nd with out having to mash the breaks before/around tight corners but having the high revs being able to spring out of them. Its the ability to accelerate hard, keeping the revs high with out having the transmission upshift to give you the unwanted extra speed at the wrong time as you approach another corner is really great. You feel so much more in control. The shifting is not as immediate as a manual, though I have never driven the C6 manual or another corvette manual for that matter, (Prelude was the last manual I did drive, I think Honda makes good sticks), but you can get used to the second delay. That said my experiance with the 4 speed was limited to a lame test drive, but I am sure its awesome as well.