By the way, to the OP, my 2015 is Arctic White with Red interior!! God I love it. My Z06 will be the same with a black stinger stripe, white top and black wheels. It will be my birthday present to my me!!!!😁

 

Agreed.

 

Just wanted to chime in since last week I drove '15 M7 and A8 back-to back. Also been spending some time driving Cayman S with PDK and GTR with its wonderful paddle shift auto 6-speed.

Reason for all my testing and driving of the various cars and transmissions, trying to figure out what to buy!

My personal impressions, including the other 2 in case any are familiar:

PDK when in Sport or Sport + mode in '14 Cayman S-really quick and snappy, you feel the shifts, they make your body move inside the car as it just snaps crisply into gear. Did not try in softer settings as even for daily driving, I'm not personally interested in those settings.

GTR-track beast, ultra fast shifts, on par or better than PDK for aggressive and fast. This transmission makes a bunch of clatter noise, I don't care, but many " casual drivers" might. I would buy this car if I spent a lot of time at track. Was in 2 different ones at Road America yesterday, 1 bone stock, 1 modded, it simply dominated all including fully prepped race cars, Godzilla is a beast, but not as much fun on street, as this transmission and car love to be pushed. Not as harsh as above mentioned PDK in settings I used, but was shifting faster than I could ever ask for.

C7 Z51 manual-really good, kudos to GM for this improvement in my opinion. It's crisper and sharper than I remember previous Vette's. I seem to compare most manuals to an S2000 I had years ago, as I feel that gear box was damn near the ultimate manual. This gear box had me interested in a way no other American box has in the past.

C7 Z51 8speed auto-in lesser settings (less than 100 miles on car mind you), was good, better than I expected for its construction, but definitely a bit slower reacting than GTR and PDK. Seemed to get a bit quicker with more throttle and higher revs. When in Sport mode, felt quicker, I liked, and could live with, still not quite PDK or GTR but close enough, and much smoother with no noise. As revs got higher, quicker and closer to awesome it got. Remember, out of respect for a future owner, I did not go at this 100 mile car hard.
Now, track mode, loved it, quicker and on par with PDK. Little more snap to the shifts which I personally love.
I was 100% going manual on a C7 Z51 until I heard of 8 sp auto coming that would be improved from 6sp......so I was then 90/10 manual assuming it would be closer to GTR or PDK shifts, after driving I am now 90/10 8sp auto, liked it! I have never owned an automatic performance car, always manual, this may be my first. Just waiting to find out real story on CFZ aero package availability before ordering, which buys me some time to get to 100% on the auto...

 

Great feedback - and I agree..... have you been following me around from dealership to dealership testing the same cars...LOL

GTR - nice but no wow factor - nobody knows what it is and styling is now a little dated

Cayman - not a 911

Corvette - just a wow machine.... not as refined as porsche, not as edgy as GTR, but looks good, feels good, performs good goes a long way

 

Guys, I drove an A8 right after I drove a Porsche Cayman S with PDK. I was very impressed with the A8 transmission. I shifted at low speed and at high speed and in different modes. I thought it was very smooth. I was impressed, especially after driving the Cayman S.


Look, many hi-end exotic cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc) are going to this transmission. I think GM did a great job with this.

 

I'm sure they did and I'm really looking forward to driving one soon. I'm waiting on a Z06 with the A8 and didn't think twice about ordering the A8.

But after doing more research on actual DCT trannys, I'm a little surprised that GM just didn't seek an actual DCT via BorgWarner or Getrag which makes the Ferrari F1 DCT (and a host of others including BMW, Benz, Ford, etc) and will soon be supplying one for the Dodge Journey. The M7 is outsourced. Given those buying DCTs from Borg and Getrag suggest cost is not a significant factor.

They could still use the A8 in their car, truck and SUV applications where they have said a real DCT wouldn't function well.

Clearly GM has made the decision they want to develop their own high-end auto to supply all their own lines, and that's their choice. I just hope their choice of sticking with a torque converter transmission (they say is best for the heavy duty truck / SUV applications) does short change us. I've driven a couple 2013/2014 Ferraris and that DCT is intoxicating.

Best,
/Don

 

Glad to hear you like the A8. I would like to drive a DCT but haven't had a chance to.

 

My 2008 C6 was a 6 speed manual and I love working the clutch and shifting gears. I do not have anything against the auto just prefer the driving experience of the manual.

 

Thanks for your feedback on driving the new A8 tranny. Sounds like GM did a great job coming up with it.

 

Nice

 

my 2015 silverado will be here in a week with the exact same engine and A8 as the vette, except for the intake manifold. I can't wait to shift faster than Porsches.

I'll keep the corvette transmission in the corvette and the truck transmission in the truck.

 

That's a nice little jab..... To each their own

 

all in good fun. at the end of the day we all love corvettes and get what we want anyways.

 

GM will eventually have a DCT. They have a patent in the system for DCT internals. The A8 will find life in many GM products and that is why they brought it out now. People seem to forget that Corvette is not their main focus as a car company and any powertrain components introduced must have application in other vehicles to get the green light to production.

 

BINGO!
Very nice write-up. Appears the GM designers got it right. Not only can you shift this tranny manually but you have the prerogative of using it in total auto mode as well. Best of both worlds.

And it works just as they have said...faster than the PDK! Many reviewers have also said like you that it feels fast like a DCT tranny and now you have proven that in Track Mode. Excellent

If the dual cooling system in the Z06 works as expected/designed then that car will be a great deal of fun to drive with the A8.

Thank YOU!

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but you might be experiencing a bit of "confirmation bias." Plenty of other posts indicating potentially otherwise, and I don't even think his post necessarily warrants that response. Just sayin.

But I hope it will be awesome. I personally enjoyed driving the A8, just didn't think it was quite as fun as the manual at the end of the day. There's no question it will be fast. Cooling remains to be seen...

 

Some ppl are insecure, as well as fragile - intolerant of others having, much less expressing an opinion that differs from theirs.

 

Wow! Doesn't anybody have a life. I don't!

 

it's not the sixties anymore, which ratio axle sir?
308 336 355 373 411 456, man were those the days or what?

 

None of those have torque converters. They have clutches.