bigwoolyg

kapow!

Skullbussa

You may assume as such.

Ultimately there will be a Corvette model with a DCT. GM is developing such a transmission.

And when the DCT-enabled Corvette is available, lord knows what that will do to the market for the slushbox Corvettes.

Corvettinator

Yes! You could blog your experiences in real-time here on CF! And let the ECU do the hard stuff!

Michael A

Increased performance? Really? We don't know yet if there will be increased performance, but even if there was, it would be small. Are you competing?

Michael

Skullbussa

jd,

The problem is that the DCT is a best-of-both-worlds approach. Leave it in "Auto" mode and it will satisfy the waxers. Shove it to manual mode and it will make the track junkies very happy.

The fixed/removable roof thing can be handled simply: make it an option. BMW gives the option of Carbon Fiber Roof vs. Sunroof; this makes everybody happy.

I think the people who are defending a torque-converter traditional automatic in the Z06 1) have absolutely no clue what a DCT actually is and 2) have very little understanding of what the competition is doing lately.

Let's be honest, the reason this transmission is going into the car is for no other reason than cost. It is inferior to a DCT in every other possible way.

McGirk94LT1

I certainly don't disagree a DCT is superior to a torque converter auto, however...

You keep saying cost, which, is fairly easy to gather you mean higher profit for GM at XXX dollars. Did you stop to consider that it might instead mean the Z06 might cost GM, and thus the consumer less? Higher percent profits are nice, but more people opting for a $2000 option vs less opting for a $3500 option in the first place is usually a better business practice(other then the "money is no object" tier).

Secondly, can you name one car with a DCT and 600+lb-ft besides the Veyron, 918, LaFerrari, or P1, all million dollar cars? I sure can't. I think Benz's practice of keeping the 5 speed for its power house motors vs the 7 speed DCT for everything else says something.

C6Sixspeed

Maybe you should read this post from someone who provides something more than just an opinion:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1585894798-post22.html

Guibo

I don't see the great disparity in reasons for why the CGT/Koenigseggs have removable roofs, but somehow a C7 shouldn't. Even if there were a reason, your question of which cars designed for track use was answered. (We could add the CLK-GTR and Maserati MC12 to that list, the former having been derived from an actual FIA GT racecar.)
The argument is not whether the C7 chassis can derive rigidity from a fixed roof. It's about whether such a difference is going to be so significant as to be
1) felt by potential customers, and
2) a deterrent to them buying it.


The link to the Viper article also doesn't say to what degree those people track their cars. Once a week? Once a year? And whether they could feel (or measure by lap times) the difference between a C7 targa with the roof in or a C7 with a fixed roof.

The Highlander

for me... lack of removable roof will also mean less in cabin noises.... rigidity helps a lot in this. If the rood has better rigidity so will the hatch and it will make less noises... one of the things I REALLY liked about the C5Z. No hatch lots of noise less than a C6Z. Specially when going over a curb.

QUIKAG

I've skimmed several of your posts, but haven't wasted too much time on them. For a track-focused Vette, a DCT would be nice, but for 95% of the real Corvette owners and drivers (do you even own a Corvette by the way?), a regular automatic is great.

I don't know if you read, but at WOT the new 8L90E automatic that's going on the Z06 and will proliferate across the line-up and into the trucks, etc. in one form or another will upshift FASTER than Porsche's PDK. You have the best of both worlds!

What do I mean? I've actually driven Porsche PDK and in stop and go traffic, you can feel the computer engaging and disengaging the clutch at low speeds. Going through the parking lot and in stop and go, the PDK is actually a little lurchy. I was shocked when I drove a buddy's wife Panamera Turbo ($130k car) with PDK and it was lurching a little bit at lower speeds. I didn't like that.

So, a normal torque converter automatic completely updated as in the new 8L90, you get the best of both worlds, butter smooth stop and go, cruising through parking lot, but then in attack/full combat mode, the thing can bang off upshifts faster than a PDK.

Factor in the unit cost of the 8L90 versus another manufacturers DCT and it's a no brainer for GM to go with a bulletproof 8L90 that can do it all.

And even if it doesn't double downshift quite as fast the newest PDK from P-car or F-car land, it won't matter because the LT4 engine will pull like a freight train in gear and won't need the extra milliseconds the DCT would offer over the 8L90.

So, sit back down and either go back to "advanced technology wunderbar land" or buy a Corvette and enjoy the water.

bob53

and amen...

It amazes me how much people whine over perceived transgressions in the rules of what defines a corvette or in this case a Z06. The reasons that the C5 and C6 Z were FRC had nothing to do with tradition and more had to do with circumstances (C5) or material science (C6). I've had targa top vettes and FRCs and miss the targa top - the option of the targa top is a selling point of the new Z06. For the purists, I guess you can pay someone a grand to weld the top frame in place... Knock yourself out. The real differences between your car and one with the targa latched in place is going to be within the intra-driver lap-to-lap variability.

As for the auto, again I think its great. Not for me, but it increases the appeal of the Z car, increases the chances more will be ordered, and thus increases the chances GM will keep making the Z06 and by extension the corvette. How is that not good for all buyers? GM is going to make business decisions for the majority, not the few who track their cars and not for the other minority who think they can dictate who can purchase this car based upon some crazy race car driver fantasy.

Speednet

Your name isn't Dan, is it?