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St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12'-'13-'14-'15
Got the A8 2015 Stingray after hearing how awesome this A8 was and how much FASTER it was than the M7. After two blown transmissions and being tired of unpredictable shifts....especially the banging into first when rolling to a stop I went for the 2016 M7 Z.
I threw around the idea of getting the A8 Grand Sport when my wife wanted a 2017 to replace her H/C 2010 Convertible but Yve was NOT having it. She drove both the SR and the Z and said Automatics are for girls and old people.........just saying, that is what SHE said.
So we got the 2017 M7 Grand Sport and she loved it, BUT after five months and occasionally driving my M7 modded Z, she decided the GS did not have enough power for her. Again I tried to get her to get and A8 but she FLATLY refused Soooooo now she has her new 2017 M7 Z and is a happy as a pig in ****.
M7 is slower, M7 is antiquated transmission technology, M7 is cheaper and more dependable. It comes down to preference but for my money and pure driving experience I will not have an A8. Your situation, budget and preference may vary.
I went with the A8 on my '16 Z06 because while I really like rowing my own gears for pure enjoyment, I like to drag race and I was tired of going through clutches in my frustrating quest to find the perfect street/strip clutch in my previous C6 Z06 (never did find one).
In my opinion the A8 is a decent to good transmission on the street and comes alive as a very quick gearbox at the dragstrip.
However, much to my chagrin my local drag strip will be closing and now I'm stuck with a car I would otherwise have ordered with a M7 if drag racing wasn't a big part of its use case.
I miss having a 3rd pedal and the personal enjoyment it brings me during non-dragstrip driving and have considered selling the car because of it.
As far as A8 vs. other autos that I've experienced, the ZF 8HP auto in my BMW is a much more enjoyable transmission experience on the street for me.
[QUOTE=DAVE396LT1;1594716249]And I chose the A8 because I'm under 50.
If you want the fastest Vette, get the fastest Vette: The LT4-A8. There is no other.
Well, I'm 64.......
Seems like the rationale I used in choosing the A8. I have always had manuals, but now there seems to be too much traffic everywhere I go except an occasional jaunt to SE Utah to enjoy "engaged" driving. Spend a lot of effort trying to not get run into. Letting the Z06 shift for itself in that setting? No matter now it does it, it's quite fine.
So I will casually drive to the track, Utah Motorsports Campus outside of SLC, and let the A8 do the shifts faster than I can. My goal is to not get passed by any stock car that cost less than 500K
We will see if the overheating issue has been resolved in 2017 models.
In all of the "overheating" discussions I have read I don't recall it being described what I encountered in driving several high performance cars at Exotics Racing in Las Vegas. If you rent laps in any of their cars; Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, Porsches, Aston Martin, Z06s, Audis, Jaguars-they only let you run 5 laps before you do a cool down lap and then go again. You know they wouldn't do that if they didn't need to, 'cause its time and money.
Last edited by desmophile; 05-12-2017 at 01:41 PM.
I got an A8 because a Manual transmission is like a rotary telephone. Sure, they still work. Some might even enjoy the "feel" of using them. But there is better technology available.
These forums are awesome! There is nothing better than knowledgeable Corvette owners having quarrels on this age old question. I will throw this out just to stir the pot I live in NC on the coast (when not deployed). We have a rather large Corvette Club along with outlining clubs we meet up with for events such as shows or track days. We (as Corvette owners) love reading the brochure. When we say the automatic is faster, yes that is TRUE..but we are talking about .3 tenths of a second. And that is ONLY under optimum conditions tested by performance professionals. WE ALL KNOW that driver experience on 2 close cars will always determine the outcome of a race...I prove this all the time when Corvette buddy's say their automatic will outrun mine. Error #1 - I have track time. Their once a year run embarrasses them every time, and makes them apologize. Error # 2. I have a CAI and MT ET SS Drag Tires. I am off the line and halfway down the strip by the time they figured out what happened. By the time I shift to second, my GoPro can see them completely in the rear. By the time I go to third, 3 to 4 car lengths, then finally 4th where they are usually 7 car lengths back. And for those neigh-sayers - I have EVERY GoPro video of all 33 races. Same outcome.
My 2 Cents - If you can read the brochure - Great. The automatic states it will be .3 Tenths faster. That's brochure talk. HOWEVER...if you are sitting at home or go to your Corvette meeting stating YOUR automatic is faster (BUT are too scared to prove it) - Shame on you. Out of the 100's of Corvettes in my area, most owners will never place their car on the strip, do AutoX, or other road course race events. It's a shame to own one of the most elite performance cars in history and only drive it to a CARS and COFFEE once a month - glad I'm not that guy.
Last edited by jabeasley1; 05-13-2017 at 02:06 AM.
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12'-'13-'14-'15
Originally Posted by jabeasley1
These forums are awesome! There is nothing better than knowledgeable Corvette owners having quarrels on this age old question. I will throw this out just to stir the pot I live in NC on the coast (when not deployed). We have a rather large Corvette Club along with outlining clubs we meet up with for events such as shows or track days. We (as Corvette owners) love reading the brochure. When we say the automatic is faster, yes that is TRUE..but we are talking about .3 tenths of a second. And that is ONLY under optimum conditions tested by performance professionals. WE ALL KNOW that driver experience on 2 close cars will always determine the outcome of a race...I prove this all the time when Corvette buddy's say their automatic will outrun mine. Error #1 - I have track time. Their once a year run embarrasses them every time, and makes them apologize. Error # 2. I have a CAI and MT ET SS Drag Tires. I am off the line and halfway down the strip by the time they figured out what happened. By the time I shift to second, my GoPro can see them completely in the rear. By the time I go to third, 3 to 4 car lengths, then finally 4th where they are usually 7 car lengths back. And for those neigh-sayers - I have EVERY GoPro video of all 33 races. Same outcome.
My 2 Cents - If you can read the brochure - Great. The automatic states it will be .3 Tenths faster. That's brochure talk. HOWEVER...if you are sitting at home or go to your Corvette meeting stating YOUR automatic is faster (BUT are too scared to prove it) - Shame on you. Out of the 100's of Corvettes in my area, most owners will never place their car on the strip, do AutoX, or other road course race events. It's a shame to own one of the most elite performance cars in history and only drive it to a CARS and COFFEE once a month - glad I'm not that guy.
From ZO6 Fast list- M7 cars
3rd fastest stock/stock tire
1st stock/non stock tire
1st bolt on/any tire
Had manual transmission Corvettes (14) my whole life. Really did not want to deal with 7 speeds and 4 gates. My A8 has been great with none of the issues I've read about here.
It's a shame to own one of the most elite performance cars in history and only drive it to a CARS and COFFEE once a month - glad I'm not that guy.
You realize you are describing more than 90 percent (yes its my wild guess and I dont have any stats of backing that up) of Corvette owners in the US right?
I'm repeating myself from other posts, but I love my 14 M7 w/Z51. I just ordered an 18 Z06 & since my reflexes aren't what they were 45 years ago, & w/650 hp I opted for the M8. I am keeping the 14, mounting all season tires, & using it as a daily driver, winter trip car, weather permitting, so I will still enjoy pulling gears when I feel the need. As far as which is faster, M7 or A8, I can guarantee you the A8 is much faster, (if I am the driver of comparable cars).
I love these forums and it helps pass the nights by while I am deployed so I apologize if I ramble. I do realize that MOST corvette owners will never see a Track, AutoX, or Road Course. I also cannot deny that ALL corvettes are beautiful in their own way so I understand why people often buy them for the looks and just pure enjoyment of automobile entertainment. BUT...people often forget they are designed to be performance cars. I'm not knocking a person for buying one of America's sexiest vehicles and using it how they see fit. It's their money, their life, their property. I am just saying don't forget it is designed for much more than the weekend trip to the mall.
One funny story that brings it in perspective for ME. I am part of a Corvette Club on the East Coast. Their is only one other guy who ones a C7Z. Great guy and one of my best corvette friends, a retired Marine. As we are the only two with Z's in the local area, we often tend to naturally attract together talking about our cars, accessories, etc. So he comes to one of the last meetings raising cane about how he has to replace his front tires at 7,000 miles because his $110,000 3LZ with every additional option come from the factory with a track alignment. He was in complete SHOCK that a performance car would have a track alignment. At that moment, he had the entire club laughing at this disbelief. We own performance corvettes, not a 4 door suburban. You are absolutely correct about corvette owners never seeing performance time with their cars, and that's okay. I don't expect anyone to tell me what to do with my C7Z either. I just like to remind people that seeing a lion in a zoo eating meat is completely different from seeing a lion in the wild ravaging prey he just chased down. They are both lions but on 2 completely different levels.
A8 for me, trans tune and it is just the way I want it. The stock train tune not so much, tune made me a believer. Mine is a daily driver so that had a lot to do with my inital choice, plus girlfriend can't drive stick worth a crap. Then there is the fact I eat clutches, I knew if I went m7 I would be spending a mint on clutches. 15k miles, 5k supercharged, zero issues.
I went with manual as I've never had it on a sports car.
Now & since I've got the car I've been buying stuff all around and waiting for them to arrive and put that power to the ground lets see how it will perform
I think you would love either. All my Corvettes until the 16 have been manual. The first one was a 4 speed because I am not old enough to have bought a new Corvette with a 3 speed. More recent examples have had ZF6s, or T56s or T-6060s. Since we could now buy the best model with an A8 I wanted to try it.
I love it. Haven't had a lick of a problem yet. Don't know about the V4-V8 shift harshness because I always drive it in M, so it never uses V4. I suppose I could miss using my left leg and right arm to shift, but it seems healthy enough to use either the little finger on my left hand to downshift or the little finger on my right hand to upshift. Oh, and using the little finger rather than a leg, foot, arm and hand is quite a bit faster than the latter also.
But get what you think you will like. Hopefully it will not be the last Corvette you will buy. The best of all worlds is to have both. When I feel a need to heal/toe and/or double clutch I drive my Fortieth. And that gives me my "shift" fix.
A8 failed to be a good transmission with the Harsh Shift, overheating issue(solved), and torque converter issue(solved). It is a torque converter based automatic, not a DCT, so the harsh shifting software problem really disappointed me, plus the lag from paddles to actual shifting of transmission.
So I moved on to a manual. It is my first manual car really. Clutch is heavy tho. But I enjoined it more than the auto and no complaints at all. Everything is controlled by the driver. Never mind the auto revmatch and No lift shift feature. Fantastic.
If I really want to be picky maybe they should do more cooling on the trans, and a little shorter gear ratio.
If you want the fastest Vette, get the fastest Vette: The LT4-A8. There is no other.
If you rent laps in any of their cars; Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, Porsches, Aston Martin, Z06s, Audis, Jaguars-they only let you run 5 laps before you do a cool down lap and then go again. You know they wouldn't do that if they didn't need to, 'cause its time and money.
You're supposed to do cool down laps in any car after you've tracked it intensely.
Tadge himself said that you should choose the M7 over the A8 if you intend to track the car:
05-11-2017, 06:48 PM
I live in NC on the coast (when not deployed). We have a rather large Corvette Club along with outlining clubs we meet up with for events such as shows or track days. We (as Corvette owners) love reading the brochure. When we say the automatic is faster, yes that is TRUE..but we are talking about .3 tenths of a second. And that is ONLY under optimum conditions tested by performance professionals. WE ALL KNOW that driver experience on 2 close cars will always determine the outcome of a race...I prove this all the time when Corvette buddy's say their automatic will outrun mine. Error #1 - I have track time. Their once a year run embarrasses them every time, and makes them apologize. Error # 2. I have a CAI and MT ET SS Drag Tires. I am off the line and halfway down the strip by the time they figured out what happened. By the time I shift to second, my GoPro can see them completely in the rear. By the time I go to third, 3 to 4 car lengths, then finally 4th where they are usually 7 car lengths back. And for those neigh-sayers - I have EVERY GoPro video of all 33 races. Same outcome. 
