dmhines

Unless you are doing No-Lift Power Shifts with the M7 the A8 will be much faster in a straight line .. even if the A8 driver is eating a cheeseburger while racing the M7 the M7 will never come close.

As far as resale .. I think for a private sale the M7 would be easier to sell .. for a trade-in sale .. the A8 will of course bring more money since the MSRP was higher.

furiousox

For me 3 pedals will always be more fun more of the time, because we spend maybe 0.5% of our time driving actually trying to go as fast as possible. 3 pedals involve the driver more - turn off auto rev-match and heel-toe 3 times coming to a 90 degree turn at an intersection...this is about the most fun you can have with a stick shift car with a great soundtrack on a minute-by-minute basis imo

Now if you are getting the Z06 only to attend airstrip / drag / track events than A8 may be better / more efficient

furiousox

Yep...not to mention that A8 launch is just downright nasty

SBC_and_a_stick

GMPP second radiator only fits on M7 cars. Think about that if you want to track your car. That said I'd get the M7 even if it ran hotter than the auto. The M7 is both fun and can lap longer/pull less timing at the track with GMPP second rad.

5thGear

I really think both A8 and M7 are awesome and you will not regret either choice.

I keep hearing from the guys who own A8 that they have the faster car (At least repeating what GM brochures says). I do believe A8 is slightly faster on a quarter mile if left in D (not using paddle shift) but not so on a road course or at least maybe they are even.

My 2015 Z51 A8 would not down shift at the rpm range I wanted to allow me to pull harder out of a turn. Denied shifts were frustrating since it was killing the momentum but I learned to manage it. On the positive side, down shifts were smooth which allowed me to down shift in the turn.

I believe during down shifting and pulling hard out of a turn, the M7 might have an advantage. I don't know if the A8 Z06 programming is different from A8 Z51.

Some pro drivers had a faster lap times on an M7. At the end, there is no massive difference as to which one is faster. In most cases it's negligible and driver skill is the real advantage. I have friends turning the same lap times in Z06 A8 and M7.
My 2016 Z06 should arrive around New Year period and its M7

3 Z06ZR1

Just try a M7 with your A8 from a 50 roil down!
Reading too many magazines!
A8 has the advantage in 1st gear with the 10.99 over all ratio.
That is gone doing 50 mph were the driver dependent M7 can this show down.

3 Z06ZR1

The A8's advantage with the low 1st is gone from a 50 mph roll race.

2019 ZR1

Don't forget you also can drive your A8 like a M7 pretty much.

larryfs

So you can pretend you have a clutch with your left foot.

dmhines

I agree from a roll the M7 should start walking away since I assume like any other car there is less HP loss through a manual drive train than a automatic. But with newer Auto transmissions and locking torque converters not sure if that is still 100% true.

2019 ZR1

Sort of like you pretend to have a d!%K.

hawkgfr

Well, those that say that don't really "get" the manual to be fair...


Yea the a8 is great and shifts like lightening but in the end....the CAR did it all......



Its like when I did the Petty driving experience a couple times at Charlotte motor speedway...During the Ride Along Experience you run 32 second laps and get to about 180 and its a rush. When you do the experience you are in the car alone and you run about 40 second flat laps with a top speed of 160 ish...that is a way bigger rush..


I can tell you that driving is better than riding. My A8 Stingray will do 4.0 flat 0 to 60's all day long...4.5 with a stick is a lot more fun and when you're alone on the road you can't really tell the 4.0 is faster as far as how it feels. The accomplishment factor is also la lot less in the automatic, at least after the fist handful of times you're in the automatic.



My Next Vette will be a stick if there is one..

Thomasmoto

There are several posts on this topic, you may just want to search through them, but to directly answer your question I have, and do own both, but sold my M7 and got the A8. It was a huge difference for me.

hootowlc7

Sure it's huge. One car you are shifting and the other one it shifts for you. You don't need both to figure that out.

Thomasmoto

That's not what I meant. I was referring to the performance due to the torque converter and gearing in the transmissions. Especially at the drag strip the A8 cars give substantially better performance. So here we go again. It's just my opinion and that is what the OP was asking for. Especially from those of us that have actually owned both.

georgehitch18

Could you tell me why? other than the A8 being faster...

badhabit_wb

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...a8-for-m7.html

That's the same reason I almost got the a8. I've been lucky with pt and exercise I've been able to enjoy mine.

dcher

Having driven manuals my whole life. I spent the past four years in GTRs and really got used to the automatic and the use of paddle shifters. I like the fact that in traffic I can be in automatic mode and not have to worry about shifting. Regarding the A8 in my Z, it is every bit as good, if not better than my GTR transmission. I truly enjoy paddle shifting my car as in the GTR.

zhopper05

I am in my 50's. I got the M7; I think it's more fun to drive.

2highpsi

Agreed, but it took a bit to get used to dropping all the way to 1st gear at 50 mph when the opportunity presents itself (not to mention the violent accel that follows). I think I like the 75-80mph roll better that only requires a drop to second gear...

The A8 is amazing from a standing start, but I'm smiling right now thinking about my work commute tomorrow in my M7.