3 Z06ZR1

Why not leave it full auto? Using the paddles is slower than the M7. So why have the A8 and then not use like it was made to do. Full auto is the intended function of the A8. The paddles are an added feature kind of like **** on a boar.

I drive my A8 and it stays in "D"! Totally miss my M7 being 1500
miles away.

iclick

I'll bite. All cars I've owned in the past 37 years have been manuals, that is except my last one, a 2015 A8. Rather than bore everyone again with tales of woe and despair about TC issues, I'll briefly comment on the tranny's performance and my adaptation to it.

First, it did perform well and at any time you could tap the ideal gear for a given speed by simply hitting the throttle. Paddle shifting was, well...meh. It just wasn't the same and something vital was missing, so I now have a 2017 GS M7 and my emotional health has made a splendid recovery. The TC issues just sped up the move as well as sealed my fate: No more slushboxes, that is as long as they make them. Love that M7!

Thunder22

wait... what? the paddles are far faster than clutch/gearshift.

paddles are **** on a boar? wait... what? oh, your last sentence explains, it, you just leave the car in D. yet you miss your M7? I'm totally confused by your post, it makes no logical sense.

Put your A8 in manual and use the paddles, try it.

Dif

Starting in the late 70's, most cars I could afford back then were autos.
Simple transportation.
At one point I had a 67 Nova straight 6 cyl with 3 on the tree, no big deal and fun to drive.
As I was able to afford better cars they were all autos.
By the early 80's I was into the 67-69 Camaro's I would buy, fix and sell.
But I always kept the best one for my fun car and constantly upgraded it with parts from the one's I'd buy and sell.
Must have went through about 20 of them and they were all Manuals.
Sold the last one I had in 1996 to start my small machine shop.
Fast forward to 2009 and my 1st Corvette.
After researching what the Autos were like compared to the old days, I went with the A6 with paddles and never looked back.
When I bought the C7 I knew it would have the A8.
Depending on the situation it's in Full Auto or I'm using the paddles.

Sometimes it's in Full Auto or Full Manual, and other times I'll use the paddles when it's in Full Auto.
And with the Auto in Manual, I like being able to keep the trans in a certain gear if need be.
Other times it's fun to bang through the gears using the paddles.
And then there's WOT in Full Auto where it bangs off each gear at full RPM without hitting the Rev Limiter

NO, the Paddles will never be the same as driving a Manual with a clutch.
But my Personal Preference is the Auto because I like the flexibility it offers

Now, if these new Auto transmissions didn't have Paddles, I would have bought a Manual Transmission.
To each his own

FormerBiker

17 years commuting in my C5 MN6 in heavy So Cal traffic, got kind of old. C7 is the A8 and I'm glad I did it.

Avanti

Clutch and shift-lever here... yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

ONEBADZ

I just traded a 2011 GS with M7 trans for a 2016 Z06 with A8 about 3 weeks ago. Both cars are not my DD so I have only put about 300 miles on the Z. But I am getting used to the paddles. I do miss shifting with the clutch some on a good curvy 2 lane but am liking the A8 when in traffic. Got what I believe to be a really good deal on the Z. I am really enjoying the HP of the Z also. The car shifts much faster in auto than I ever could with the manual. The car is a beast when you get into it. I guess the jury is still out on the paddle shifting but I think trading the clutch for the supercharger was worth it in my case. I really love both cars.

Maxie2U

It is certainly personal preference. As for me, I much prefer paddle shifting

Deech Man

automatics


Absolutely untrue . I came from New York and I am now in Florida and most fast muscle cars in these states are turbo 350 or 400 auto’s. Look I have always owned manual vettes and I
Loved them but at this point in my life I went to a A8. I was a very good manual power shifter and I will tell you the auto’s shift faster. If you look at or read anything pertaining to manual and A8 0 to 60 and quarter mile times, the auto’s are quicker. The A8 Z06 are much quicker with A8’s especially at launch.

FunDriver

For me the most noticeable differences involve coordination (hill stops, shifting) and more physical involvement (clutch, moving shifter vs paddle). Also, of course, it's easier to "rack your pipes" at a stop light, etc. with a manual.

I like my A8 and have gradually gotten used to it enough that I no longer miss the manual in my C6.

SilverGhost

forget the eternal/infernal arguements on real manual vs a8 in manual mode; here is my first (in March 2018) impression of the manual paddle option of the A8.

1. It isn't really manual. you cannot upshift into a lower gear below 1500 rpm.
2. It isn't really manual. you cannot let it go all the way to 0mph in whatever gear you were in, it downshifts to 1 automatically.
3. It is a poor man's AFM disabler; keep it in manual, and there is no V8-V4 AFM russian roulette with your tranny or torque tube.
4. it is really a manual, it will let you redline when you really meant to upshift but forgot to pull the paddle.
5. it is really half a manual, you do have to upshift when in M mode.
6. it makes more space available in the drivers side foot well to move your feet around (due to 1 less pedal) when you are cruising on the interstate in cruise control and there isn't anything else for your feet to do, be it in manual or d, or M7 of a clutchmobile
7. i was happy to have it on the stingray's 600mile inaugural trip from the dealer's to home; cause I didn't have a Range AFM disabler then, and M kept it out of V4 mode.
8. I haven't used it since. unless I accidentally put the shift lever into M instead of D... then see #4 above. grrr.
9. i didn't use it on the A6 in the C6 either. and the A4 in the 2005 C6 didn't have it. Only back then did I feel left out, until I got it on my A6 on my 2010 GS. then I just thought, "is that all there is?"
10. Still do.

fumbling

I just had family over to see the Corvette, and they actually assumed I would let them and their 20something kids drive the Corvette, and when I told them it was a 7 speed manual, that saved me from the awkward but necessary conversation about the Corvette available for passenger rides but not available for driving by family members or their kids who don't even own cars.

David_Foxx

Two of my 4 Corvettes were manual. I enjoyed them, but as age creeps up on me, shifting is more difficult and on some days, painful (I have cervical disc issues). That was the sole reason for getting paddle shift auto. I also have it in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Manual is fun, especially when lining up at a track. Paddle shifting allows me to drive a car that I have loved since I was a teen, but I would choose a manual if it wasn't for my neck pain.

JGarland

Paddle-shifting.
​​​​​​
Way more fun.

RFZ

i had an auto corvette........once

JonMN

Disclaimer: I have had 4,5 and 6 speed manuals, learned to drive on a manual and even had the rarest find--a manual pickup. BUT I have never have had formal training in aggressive driving with a Manual.


My Sports car history went M4, M5, M6. My 911 C4S had a great 6 speed manual, but when I got tired of repairing the car (everything from the light switch to the engine went out) I went back to Audi. I really wanted another Vert, and the S5 Vert only came with a DCT.


The Audi DCT was really smooth. I actually left it in D since I "agreed" with the shift points. What I found interesting was that the HP and weight were just the same as my 911, but in daily driving it felt way quicker. The S5 was nice but a little boring, so I traded it on an A8 C7


With the A8 I had none of the reported problems in A, but just felt it was keeping the RPMs too low for my taste.


Manual shifting on A8 took a while for me to get used to, but now I am in M almost all the time. Where I clearly prefer it to my manuals is in "spirited" driving situations. I can react way quicker with the M8 than I could with a true manual. And the shifting is way more exciting once you pass 3K RPM. I think I am one of several that gained a new appreciation for M after drivers training at Spring Mountain.


Technically, I guess I am semi-auto mode . . . if coming to a stop the A8 downshifts so smoothly I just let it take over. On curves and corners I do the shifting.


So I do occasionally "miss a shift" but in general really prefer paddle shifting. Of course I would miss a shift with a manual off and on too, but the psychology is different. If you miss a shift with a manual you only have yourself to blame, but if you miss a shift with a paddle you blame the car.


A final tweak, which helped the feel, was in throttle response. I had a Vitesse for a while, but found the tip-in pretty annoying when driving slow in parking lots. I had problems with surging, which has been noted by a few others. Tried recalibrating but then just removed it. Just for fun (and because I am a little OCD) I tried the new version of Sprint Booster. PERSONALLY, I like it way better, but I would be the first to admit it's just a preference thing.

dashotgun

I have to say I have always a hd a manual as well. I bought my present car because it was a left over at a great price and had everything else as I would have ordered it. I have been pleasantly surprised with the A8 I put in the vitesse which really wakes up the gas pedal. I just drove the tail of the dragon and was paddle shifting it was a blast the A8 added to it instead of taking anything away here is me and ms dashotgun hauling *** down route 28

JonMN

^^^ Great photo!!!

roadbike56

OP,
I had a C5 with an A4. When searching for a C7, I couldn't wait to get into a paddle shifting car. I loved the C5, but the A4 transmission was just no fun.
While test driving C7s, for completeness, I drove a C7 with an M7. When the dealer told me to press the lever that says Rev Match and down shift, the grin on my face said everything. Right there I knew I wanted back into a manual. If the manual didn't have rev match, I would be paddle shifting my auto tranny.

Sellout

I was one of those guys who absolutely hated that the GTR wasn't available with a manual transmission back when I couldn't afford the damn thing anyway. Pretty much a die hard manual transmission guy.

Then I started noticing how much it bothered me when the transmission wasn't absolutely perfect. My S2000 had a great manual transmission. The next four manual transmission cars, including a C6Z06, were far from great.

So I test drove an M3 DCT and ended up buying one. That transmission was everything I had been missing. It was shifting gears before my brain could even register that I had finished pulling the paddle back. I didn't miss shifting gears myself at all. It was faster than I was, and sounded amazing when shifting at WOT, which is a part of the automotive experience that many discount. Your car should make the kind of noises that you enjoy. It was also able to be incredibly smooth in automatic mode, which was nice when driving home from the office in traffic and decompressing at the end of the day.

I owned my C6Z06 after that M3, and I found that there was really only one driving mode where I personally wanted and enjoyed the manual. That was when I was tooling around at 3-4/10 on public roads. Out for a sunday drive kind of thing. Every other time, including on track, I'd rather have the smooth auto mode or the incredibly quick shifts of a DCT in manual mode.

So now with the Grand Sport. I chose the A8 over the M7. First, 7 is just the WRONG number of forward gears for a manual. If it were a proper 6 speed, I might have considered another manual corvette. Second, I honestly missed the duality of the M3 DCT. Now the A8 is FAR from that, but it's also behind an engine with a wide enough torque curve that it doesn't matter if I shift it a little too early because of the delay when pulling the paddles, and it has that performance shift mode that is so much better than the M3 DCT for autocrossing that I honestly don't care that the paddles don't cause it to shift instantly on the street. It also causes an awesome whip crack sound on WOT shifts near redline that makes me smile each and every time.

So yeah. I'm a convert who looks forward to the day when all sports cars have DCTs