\Boost Monkey/

Your comments raised hairs because they are ignorant, incorrect, and just plain retarded.

JerriVette

BMW just announced they are moving away from DCT s and back to torque converter automatics...and stick shift manuals will have even less to do with their M brand in the future...

BMW stated in yesterday's article the evolution of torque converter automatics is now so good...DCT s are no longer superior or won't be by the time the next m generation vehicles hit the streets..

I thought that was a stunning announcement by the head of the M brand from BMW,

Who knew the corvette team lead the way I. Transmission technology.

I bet that A10 performance in the ZL1 has something to do with the M divisions discussion.

BMW of North america has a ZL1 for testing.

Rave

I don't live in a city and could care less about my C7 catering to family, friends, or kids. I bought it for me.

That's great you're happy with the A8. I'll stick with my M7.

ajrothm

The reason I bought an auto.... Its faster.... Plain and simple.... Its just FKN faster.

I'm not lazy, I don't have bad knees/joints, I don't care about convenience...., I don't care about having a stick in my hand to wobble around while I drive that makes the driving experience "more exciting", I don't need a "man pedal" to secure my masculinity.

I simply wanted the MOST performance I could get in a stock performance package... and the A8 is it. Ask GM...

Quicker 0-60, quicker 1/4 mile, likely faster top speed (although unproven), faster around most race tracks (Until they over heat... )..

Just a FASTER car..... Its just that simple.


If the M7 makes you stick guys feel more like "race car drivers" or gets you some cardio from rowing gears, more power to ya.... Can't go wrong with either trans, but this superiority complex stuff most of the manual guys are spewing is just ridiculous...

owc6

Wow!

Your green Stingray is beautiful.

RedC7AZ

3 reasons I opted for the auto over manual:

1) Shifting just got boring and laborious
2) Auto out-performs manual
3) Paddle shifters

It really was a no brainier.

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b4i4getit

JerriVette please send link for that article. That would indeed be a stunning announcement but I did hear that BMW did not exactly have a great DCT to begin with.

rbartick

The auto is faster out of the hole and much easier to launch at the strip. I'm not so sure about being faster from a roll. I ordered an M7 because mine is a weekend car and I found the M7 to be more fun and engaging. When I test drove an A8 I felt like I was driving my sports sedan.

ColoradoGS

I'm not JerriVette, but here's one link:

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/b...18-gvndyw.html

Note the slam on U.S. engineering at the end. Classy.

Rave

"Just a FASTER car..... Its just that simple."

Yep, the A8 is about 1/10 second faster or so in a 1/4 mile race. But for those of us that aren't that concerned about ultimate 1/4 mile track times, what difference does a 1/10 second make? If 1/4 mile times were my main concern I would have bought a Tesla P100D.

Michael A

Motor Trend did an interesting test at Willow Springs with two Camaro ZL1's, one automatic, and one manual. The manual beat the automatic with race driver Randy Pobst driving. The engineers were left scratching their heads.

Michael

dbirdhouse1

....is most deeply connected to a 7MT; there is no more intimate connection between the owner of a performance car and the ride than the connection made by a manual linked to the heart of the car...........auto's are easier and faster but far less fulfilling....those are my words grasshopper.......

RedC7AZ

Awesome, as soon as I get as good as Randy, I'll sell my A6 and get the M7.

JerriVette

http://jalopnik.com/bmw-m-boss-says-...ill-1794558556

B4igetit I hope this helps...and by the way I'm a big fan of pdk and dSG and DCT technology....but if the torque converter automatics can be made to perform better I'll follow suit...although I personally prefer driving a manual transmission...

Eventually I'll move up to a new technology....either the A10 or a dual clutch transmission whichever the corvette deems the better alternative ...or maybe I'll say f it...and just order another manual ...

Right now I'm having fun driving my z51 manual corvette with about 450 hp and 3200lbs...

ajrothm

I've raced two M7 cars on the street, one was stock, one had an AFE CAI.... Mine has a Haltech CAI... The races really depended on the starting speed/rpm... 50-60 roll, is 2nd gear for the M7, and 3rd for the A8, in this instance, the M7 does have a bit of an advantage on the hit, which I made up as soon as they went to make the 3rd gear shift....and my fast 3-4 shift easily put me ahead. However, the A8 dies on the 4-5 shift and the M7 is still pulling hard in 4th and keeps it close... That said, on even starts, I was able to put 3 cars on the stock M7 and 2 cars on the CAI car by 140 mph. The CAI car was using NLS and the stock M7 car was not. Now after 140 mph, who knows...maybe the M7 would be faster due to less parasitic power loss, it would make sense but...

Not a huge difference mind you between the M7 and A8 from a roll, and ofcourse driver skill plays a roll in the outcome, as does weight etc, but I was able to beat both M7 cars from "their" roll speeds. Just my experience, take it with a grain of salt.... From what I've seen, most of the "stick" guys have hell shifting these things efficiently, especially on the 2nd or 3rd pass when everything is hot.

FWIW, I raced my friend's C6 ZR1, its bone stock and made 530 rwhp, and going from a 65 mph roll, I jumped out on him and had about 3 cars by 125 mph...I started out with a 1 car pull, then every time he went to shift, he lost about 3/4s of a car length.... The first words out of my buddy's mouth after the race..."FKN automatic" as he shook his head in disgust... No doubt, the auto trans is what won that race, as he has more power, lighter car, and better aeros....No doubt he would have started to catch back up if we had kept going though.


Yes its only a tenth quicker with pro-drivers, on a good track... But the AVERAGE stick car driver will be doing good to run 11.20s in a stock M7.... Thats if it doesnt spin or wheel hop to death and break the diff. I'm at the track most weekends, I see what people are REALLY running with them, not just brochure times and magazine articles.

But I agree with you, if you are not drag racing, and not really even roll racing much, probably isn't that much measurable difference....At least not until the usual GM hydraulic system issues set in and make it hard to make consistent, clean, fast shifts with the M7...

I also agree in the fact that the M7 is probably "better" for hard core track use...maybe not faster, but likely more reliable...especially in regards to temp management.



Just to clarify, I am not a stick car hater, I do like them, particlularly on my mid year Vettes and old muscle cars but... I just don't understand the "superiority" mindset most stick car owners have towards lazy A8 owners.

Whatever floats your boat.... thats how I see it.

rbartick

3 cars from a roll sounds highly optimistic.

2fastnow

If you go by the resale bidding on older sports cars, the manual cars are more sought after. Automatics get less. Maybe that has changed in the modern world of used sport cars. I don't know.

ajrothm

2 car gap from his front to my rear bumper...Plus the lenght of my car.. = 3 cars... Using ricer math ofcourse.

This was on the stock M7 car vs my car with the Haltech CAI...

The other M7 car with the AFE was about 1 car length closer. Once again, this is going from my view in the rear view mirror, not calibrated drone footage.

As mentioned not a huge difference between the M7 to A8 in these races but.... A 2-3 car length win in a car that makes 20 less rwhp is saying something... and none of drivers were overly huge or anything so..not much difference in weight.

I just call them as I see em. Not trying to be faster then anyone with this turd...Just simply comparing cars.

rbartick

Doesn't the M7 have a steeper rear? I didn't compare the transmission ratios but I assume they are very different.

2fastnow

Now I see what you mean, great!