davepl

By far the best, most qualified, honest and noble man to occupy the position since Lincoln, most likely. And he was a lot more qualified than Lincoln, actually.

He managed to preside over 8 years of expanding civil rights and booming economics all while still being able to golf a lot, as noted. Oh yeah, and that was after saving the world from Fascism in his spare time.

The old joke on the golf course was "Excuse me, sir, but New York has just been bombed. The President is behind you and would like to play through."

theplatinumog

If you want something that can hold up on a road course on a really hot day, for more than 1 lap, there is still only 1 choice. Would you have elected a c6 with an auto? Why were all the z's in the c5 and c6 manuals? Many of these are STILL going to tracks regularly.

I am sorry you sit in traffic a lot. But that was one of my two reasons for possibly owning an auto. I drive, almost exclusively, for fun. So all 3 of my cars (soon to be 4) are manual trans. I ordered my m7 new because I appreciate having the option, so I voted with my money as well.

the BMW SMG is pretty solid, The Ferrari dual clutch, the pdk, ... You can't argue the vette shifts as well as them. Paddle materials, actuation, and shift times leave something to be desired.

I love your car collection. What is your road course car though? ...

davepl

It used to be the C6Z, but when I traded that on the C7Z convertible, I've only been 3-4 times (in the convertible) since. As the M3 is also a convertible, I have an S8 V10 that's my only practical road course vehicle and it's a heavy monster!

Put more simply, right now, "don't got one!"

theplatinumog

I like all Corvettes. That automatic is probably the reason why there is no viper now. Youe Z seems like an amazing street car. But an automatic convertible is just not the right tool for driving fast at HPDE's. Do you have a roll cage in it? Do they even let you run with the convertible top?

you had a c6 Z. You must see what I am talking about a little bit. I wish the c7 Z was FRC, manual only, and naturally aspirated. It lost a little bit of its track focus this generation. I'm glad the car exists the way you configured it, but it should not have been called a Z.

theplatinumog

I don't think I am special for driving a manual trans. Most A8 owners could drive an m7, they would just rather not. I get that

Big Lebowski

Yes, only one fun car in the cards right now. Based on that stable of cars and the Z as your daily driver, I’d get the A8 too. As I said, it’s pretty amazing this car can be enjoyed so thoroughly with either transmission.

DFoxrun

My 2015 Stingray has the M7 and that's what i personally wanted. All in preference i suppose, i just got real lucky purchasing from a dealer who had my dream car.
It was used with only 4016 miles on it, the right color with the M7.... I'm a Happy Guy !!!

davepl

When you say an automatic convertible isn't the "right tool for driving fast" be sure you say due to safety reasons... it's sure no slower on a road course than a coupe M7. Though on a hot day the "winning" will be limited to about 3 laps!

Do I wish my A8Z ragtop offered the safety of a C6Z coupe? You bet, but I don't miss anything else about that car, other than the VY color was nice and I like the LS7 as a platform... for boost!

theplatinumog

The roof is load bearing. I remember seeing a stiffness number compared to the c6z with and without the roof attached. It would be even more-so if the roof were fixed this generation. Is it enough that it would make you or I faster around a road course? Probably not. But when I see a convertible, I know it doesn't go to the track frequently. Same thing when I see an Auto.

geez, I bet an LS7 with boost is something to behold! If you are boosting, I assume we are drag racing. If we are drag racing, no question the automatic is the way to go. If you are going to be braking, shifting, turning and accelerating, as hard as you can for 30 minutes, the m7 is still the more popular choice.

davepl

According to the local track the C7 A-pillar will support the weight of the car. I don't know where they got that info, but that's what they looked at to decide I was OK to track the convertible on the road course.

But it doesn't matter if it's a coupe or a convertible, when I see a Corvette, I figured there's a 99.9% chance it has NEVER been to a track and NEVER will be.

Yet my trusty old A8Z convertible has been several times. So I could just as easily generalize the other direction.

My auto goes to the track, goes fast, and if it's under 85F out, will do it all day long. So if I were to generalize, I'd say M7 coupes never go to the track. You can see the problem.

theplatinumog

It's not quite as easy to generalize in the other direction. I was the only z51 and sat in 3 gs's for rides in the advanced and race prepared cars group last Thursday / Friday. All were manuals and they were all coupes. When I see a manual gs on the street, I think the probability that it will go to the track is way higher than a typical a8 convertible.

You cut my other quote about driving fast for HPDE's short. The HPDE part is important because safety IS a factor and anyone that was planning on tracking their vette frequently wouldn't consider a convertible *unless they felt like having a cage which I think is a great look. Most groups won't let convertibles run. Or at least have very strict rules concerning them.

The same generalization can be made about manuals. Most track guys wouldn't consider an automatic.

Coupe/manual must outnumber convertible/a8 cars 10:1 at the tracks around here.

theplatinumog

Come to think of it, I have never been in an a8 vette on track except the auto zo6 I rented at dream racing in Vegas. I would love a ride sometime

rb185afm

My wife’s car was at Thunder Hill with us. Her white car parked next to me is an A8. She overheated it on her first ever track day(I was very proud of her). But it did take till her third session. Only 75 degree heat! This was with heat wrapped exhaust around the trans cradle, Z06 cooling ducts, and a Borla X pipe. So.....cough.....cough....they have issues on the track, but when they work, they are dam fun! I am able to put the trans in limp mode within 1 lap on the 5 mile course and two laps of the 3 mile. The upcoming DTC should solve the auto heat issue and give us roadrace guys a cool option for crazy fast and consistent times. The current A8 just has to many heat issues for serious track duty.

theplatinumog

Dave, I am stoked you take your automatic convertible on track! Not many do, and you are definitely in the minority at road course events.

convertible, automatic.... chrome rims too? The trifecta

Big Lebowski

You will NOT learn to LOVE it, but you may learn to LIVE with it. In my A8, I would paddle shift 30% of the time...occasionally, I'd blip the gear down heading into a turn while in AUTO (and it would return to AUTO after 10 sec of no shifting).

0DEITIM

I work at DEI and we starting getting a call on the over heating issues as soon as the C7's starting hitting the tracks. We got a hold of a C7 and realized that the exhaust system runs right next to the catalytic converter and oil lines. This is causing oil temps to rise and put the C7's in "limp mode" . We designed and made a catalytic converter shield and oil line cover and this cured the issue of high oil temps causing the engine to enter in "limp" mode. Check them out at https://www.zip-corvette.com/14-19-c...at-shield.html and https://www.zip-corvette.com/14-16-o...at-shroud.html . Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

davepl

Not many convertibles, that's true. But I've been in I think 5 different Zs on a road course and they've all been A8s. My SM car was an A8 too of course. The two people I know with Zs own A8s (but neither tracks them, I'd guess).

The only M7 I've driven was the Stringray.

Yup, I could have gotten a white coupe M7 with black rims but my midlife crisis was 10 years ago: I bought a sport bike. So ten years after that I bought the Corvette I want to own and drive, not the Corvette I want to be seen owning.

I'm not so sure everyone can say that.

theplatinumog

Spring mountain doesn't count lol. Are you saying you think there are more automatics at a typical track day than manuals? That is just plain incorrect. Especially in the advanced groups / race prep'd / what ever your group calls their fastest run group.

Where do you live? I am in AZ driving at INDE motorsports park this weekend. Laguna Seca next weekend. Sonoma the following week, and back the Thunderhill the week after that. Would love to have you out anytime, if you are in Calif. We can walk around the paddock counting manuals vs autos in the fastest group.

davepl

Yup, that's what I'm saying at least amongst Corvettes. When I see C7s at the track (road course OR drag strip) I see mostly A8s.

That's completely opposite from the C6, where every track car I ever saw (including my own) was a stick.

I don't claim to have a large enough sample size to make any grandiose claims, so I'll just say "looks like both transmissions got to the track I guess".

I live in Seattle. I go to a lot of "club" HPDE days, like the Ferarri club, the Porsche club (oddly, never for the Corvette club, they may never run I don't know) because I can stay in front of noobs. If I were in the advanced classes I'd be too busy waving people by! I'm really intermediate. Which means I'm faster than the traditionally "fast" cars and slower than the Miatas

Speaking of clubs, the BEST is the "Corvette Night at the Drags" the Corvette club has. Not to be mean, but 100 waxers show up and run once or not at all and they get a dedicate lane, so by 7:30PM you can run hot laps all night if you're in a Vette. Maybe the road course days are like that too for all I know!

BTW, at the end of the day, I figure for the vast majority of amateur drivers the A8 would be a bit faster on a road course (it'd be in the right gear more often) but the M7 would be more fun. A pro driver would likely make them equal. And I think the Big Willow times are within 1 second, so I've got some evidence!

If they put a DCT in the ZR1 then I've really got a conundrum (in three years).

bigbob76

It seems obvious that there is an abundance of reasons for choosing one or the other. Counting the years I drove before I had a drivers license I drove vehicles with manual transmissions/transaxles for right about a half of a century. Now that I'm looking to buy another Corvette I would choose the A8 over the M7 if it was a choice between two C7s that had the same features and the same price. If the M7 car had better features or price I would go with that. If you're reading this you've probably realized I'm old enough that I don't give a crap what anybody else thinks of my choice, lol.