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87 Porsche 924s - Stick
90 Porsche 944s2 Cabrio - Stick
84 Porsche 928s - Auto
92 C4 - Auto
94 C4 - Stick
02 C5 Vert - Auto
14 Z51 - Stick
Auto has its benefits - as does a manual - either one is fine with me as you can see from the short list of toy sports cars I've owned... Ill say this - if you drive your Vette to work, etc - then an Auto makes ALOT more sense cause driving stick in daily traffic just sucks... I think there is a bit more of a "fun factor" with stick, more of a "feeling" of connecting with the car...but again that's me. I have to admit I hate approaching really steep hills with a manual - just an old fear of always rolling backwards (even though I know hill-assist is there).
Just a thought - with an auto Vette there are means of allowing you to "pretend" to manually shift (paddle shifting) - but with a manual Vette they dont offer you a way to "pretend" to shift automatically...(just something to think about)...
I think the reason you will see more manual votes here than what the real world numbers are is because this site is a Vette enthusiast site and they are more likely to prefer the manual. Many purists would never consider an auto in a Vette.
I have had automatic transmissions my whole life and I'm absolutely fine with them but I had to have a manual for my Vette.
I drive both a C5 automatic and a C7Z manual and enjoy the benefits each transmission has to offer. However, if I was offered only one last drive, it would be the M7 through back road twisties with the Borla X-pipe barking through every ARM downshift.
It doesn't make any difference to me. I look at other options on the car. If it has the options I want, color, etc., I'll buy it. Manual or Automatic. Either is fine with me. What if I were to order one? I would go with the manual because it is less expensive. Why pay more when I'm good either way.
When I bought the one I have now a dealer had just what I wanted based on the key options I had to have. Never asked if it was auto or manual. The salesman drove it over to my house and I gave him a check. We went outside and put I myself inside car and just started driving.
Last edited by joemessman; Jan 13, 2019 at 11:41 PM.
I drive both a C5 automatic and a C7Z manual and enjoy the benefits each transmission has to offer. However, if I was offered only one last drive, it would be the M7 through back road twisties with the Borla X-pipe barking through every ARM downshift.
Humm. I thought the cars were ordered by dealers so how do they decide what to get? please let me know..
They decide based on what they think will sell. If the car is not spoken for by a purchaser when the dealer orders it, it falls on them to sell it to someone walking in their doors. Option a manual, you are cutting your pool of potential upsales to someone looking to drop coin on an impulse buy considerably more than you are by ordering with an automatic, and hoping you get in someone that wants a manual if you go with the former. While manual drivers can be talked into an auto for the right concessions, I tend to find that there is far smaller chance of talking auto-preferring drivers into a manual. I vastly prefer a manual, my daily driver Fusion is a manual, but I got a good deal on an auto so that's what I'm starting in.
That said, as someone above stated, members of this forum are in no way representative of Corvette owners as a whole. Doesn't surprise me there is close to a 50/50 split here, but it also doesn't surprise me the take rate seems to be only in the neighborhood of 15-20% over the general history of the car.
Correct me if I'm wrong about the timing, but I was told that 33% of C6's were manual. This was in 2005 just before the Z06 came out, which of course was M6 only, so that percentage then probably increased a little. The drop to 22-25% came with the C7, starting in 2015. So I conclude that it began attracting a somewhat different buyer mix than the earlier generations, probably as intended by GM.
I prefer an automatic. Easier and actually a faster shifter w/ better MPG's. That being said, on the C7 (except for the 2014), I would advise buyers to go w/ the manual. My experience w/ the A8 (and my buddy's 2015 3LT A8) has not been good.
Although I agree with the faster shifting comment, I just wondered why the Zo6 A8 has a gas-guzzler tax if the mpg is better than the M7.
Last edited by nmerhaut; Jan 14, 2019 at 10:14 AM.
Manual for sure. Love my M7, but unfortunately they’re a dying breed. I was disappointed to read today that the new 2020 GT500 will only be available in a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission by Tremec. I surmise that the rumors about the C8 only being available in an auto is now more likely as this appears to be the trend. Evidently every millisecond counts...
Manual for sure. Love my M7, but unfortunately they’re a dying breed. I was disappointed to read today that the new 2020 GT500 will only be available in a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission by Tremec. I surmise that the rumors about the C8 only being available in an auto is now more likely as this appears to be the trend. Evidently every millisecond counts...
Yep, it's a shame. Looks like us old dogs are just going to have to learn some new tricks. It's so much about performance these days, and like it or not, for performance auto's where it's at.
I would have rather gotten a manual but this is the only Z06 they had and the price was
right so I bought it. Every sports car, performance car, whatever you want to call them
that I have owned has had a manual. Was funny the day I bought it and hopped in it
to leave I was trying to push a clutch pedal, was weird. Don't really care but I suppose
now I get to listen to the "oh that's not a real car" crap. Gee, I am paying CAR insurance,
making CAR payments, etc. Always wanted a car with paddle shift. Haven't had a chance
to use it yet because WINTER!!!, grrrr.
Honest question - does anyone know what the % is for auto vs manual Vette purchases since 2014? What is the breakdown year over year? Im not so concerned with auto vs manual - but Im curious to see if the % of manual purchases has been decreasing over the years??
Honest question - does anyone know what the % is for auto vs manual Vette purchases since 2014? What is the breakdown year over year? Im not so concerned with auto vs manual - but Im curious to see if the % of manual purchases has been decreasing over the years??
I was wondering the same thing.... the enthusiast die-hards who paid full MSRP (or more) early on might have a higher percentage of manual purchasers than 2018. I would also assume those early adopters checked more option check boxes than the later years as well, so less 3LT's, less PDR's, less suede, etc, for 2018.
It doesn't make any difference to me. I look at other options on the car. If it has the options I want, color, etc., I'll buy it. Manual or Automatic. Either is fine with me. What if I were to order one? I would go with the manual because it is less expensive. Why pay more when I'm good either way.
When I bought the one I have now a dealer had just what I wanted based on the key options I had to have. Never asked if it was auto or manual. The salesman drove it over to my house and I gave him a check. We went outside and put I myself inside car and just started driving.
wow- you sure are easy to please when it comes to transmissions.
Honest question - does anyone know what the % is for auto vs manual Vette purchases since 2014? What is the breakdown year over year? Im not so concerned with auto vs manual - but Im curious to see if the % of manual purchases has been decreasing over the years??
I don't have the exact breakdown for every year, but I'll say that anyone who wants a manual will get one when it's initially available. Water will find its level in subsequent years. What this means is that the M7 percentile for the C7 is larger if we had this conversation in January 2016 vs January 2019. But you can probably get year by year numbers on other related Corvette websites. I did make a related post about it a few months back, and I do have production numbers for the first two years of C7's timeline (2014-2015). This includes a 50% MT production rate for the Z06 brand in its first year.
