I love the personal connection the car gives me by way of the manual shifter. There's just something more powerful about having that kind of control that an automatic just can't give. I didn't buy my car to race down a straight, so I don't care about split seconds or missing shifts. I got it for the pure satisfaction of being an extension by way of my feet and right hand to be the human element in this mechanical system.

I subconsciously shift, so sitting in traffic when it does occur has never bothered me. The minimal amount of time pressing the clutch in stop and go is so out weighed by the gratification of manipulating that gear selector that I can't imagine having this car, or any other type of two door sporty model with out a manual.

 

I always "manually" shift in my '05 A4.

I also liked my Z06, but sometimes I think people forget that they have options, even in an automatic.

 

I have an M6 and love rowing through the gears. However after realizing what my car has evolved into (800rwhp blower setup) it would be a much harder decision now if I had to make it again. My car is also a daily and it can get a little annoying dealing with the cam and clutch in traffic.

Now I really only do highway straight line runs so I would think very hard about an auto to put the power down. If I had to make the decision again, I'd really sit down and figure out what I'm going to do with the car and decide off of that.

Neither is better than the other. Both manuals and autos have their place

 

I like the M6 in my C6. I probably will not always have a manual shift car. That said. Wife has a paddle shift X11 and I like the paddle shift automatic. It's probably the best of both. Shift if you want and let the car do it if you don't.

I could not care less if an automatic is faster done the track.

Just own what you enjoy. I enjoy manual gears. At least for now although I can see getting an auto in my next one.

 

Exactly, i guess they didn't read my post correctly.. I was asking for each members opinion on why they like having a A6 or M6. I wasn't trying to make a poll. I just don't get why people have to reply with a negative comment when its just better if they look at the post and hit the back button.

 

My first Corvette - a 1965 coupe w/a 350 HP 327 - was a four speed. I loved that car, but man, that mechanical clutch (not hydraulic) would just wear you out if you got stuck in traffic.

My second Corvette - a 1995 coupe w/a 300 HP LT1 - was the famed ZF six speed. What a vast improvement over my '65! That hydraulic clutch was SO much easier to control! But it still wasn't much fun if you happened to get stuck in traffic.

When my wife and I decided to sell the '95 and pick up a Grand Sport, we discussed manual vs automatic, and concluded that the automatic was a better all around choice for our kind of driving.

I don't race the car, and most of our trips are long cruises - the car is a way for us to have time together and enjoy the ride.

I don't miss the manual transmission, and having driven a manual for decades, the idea that I'm NOT as connected to the car sounds like horse hockey to me. Leaving my left foot with nothing to do really hasn't had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the car.

Several years ago, I spent 1100 miles in a manual C6 w/Z51. I have a buddy with a '99 C5 manual car, and I've driven it from Northern Illinois to Bowling Green (and back), plus we occasionally trade Corvettes, so I've had it as a daily driver at least a couple of times. They were both fun, but I actually found that neither was nearly as much fun to play with as my '95. I think the clutch action in the C4 is much better, and the ZF6 transmission was much easier to control. Given that experience with both the C5 and C6 manual cars, selecting the A6 was an even easier decision.

I've had my A6 for nearly a year now, and I can't wait for Spring - and I don't regret the decision to go that way at all. I certainly understand the attraction of the manual, but I also enjoy what I have (as I hope we all do).

Steven

 

I have changed gears many times since I started driving. My '06 C6 was a manual that I enjoyed for four years until a day trip to the big city. I changed gears what seemed to me 1000 times in heavy city traffic. That was the day I decided no more. Found an auto, and don't think I'll go back. Never is a long time, so I won't say that.

 

Because there are always dumb post like this.......



Never understood how someones choice of transmission makes them a *****. That's like saying anyone who drives a silver car is a *****.

 

I heard that!

Man o' man, we have been through this sooooo many times.

I would think that by now, folks would understand the difference between a manual gearbox, and an automatic.

One look at the shift **** explains it all...

 

Thanks for posting pics of your gear shift *****. Mine looks like this.....


And the 85 looks like this





ps take a look at the avatar of the second poster I quoted.

 

Correction, ****, not *****. Mine is the manly shift **** on the left.

I didn't see the avatar.

By the way, you are fooling no one by painting over your Jake.

We all know it originally looked like this...

 

Automatic for me, had enough sticks when I was kid, now we do it easy.

 

Very clever. I like your new thinking cap.

 

I stopped using that cap.
Not very warm in the winter, and the lubricant kept getting in my eye, just like the guy in the photo.

 

 

Daily driver, A6. Weekend fun car, M6. I drive an M6 but I'm sure you can have fun with the paddles (if you force yourself to use them). Muscle cars are manuals; sports cars are either auto or paddles. Can't go wrong with any Vette.

 

My personal thoughts and it's just me...fun cars are MT daily drivers are AT. Mine is 6MT and I like it.

 

Hey Roger, ya know what always gives me a laugh when ever I see an M6/A6 thread?

My son, who never learned how to drive a stick car, drives this.





He sent me this photo about 4 years ago, but couldn't tell me where it was taken.

When he visited his mother and I a couple of months ago, he said he wished he could drive my 'vette...go figure???

 

I've had both, and like them each for what they are. My A6 was tuned and shifted razor sharp. My current M6 Z is a hoot to drive, love both!!!

 

Well for me driving in traffic with a coffee and then the cell phone rings and your in the middle of shifting gears you drop your phone and spill your coffee