Skid Row Joe

Chalk up another C8 manual transmission buyer here...

Skid Row Joe

^^^

Si, by your logic; only wishy-washy non-C7-Corvette owners, and C8-Dreamers' fantasies count....:

Skid Row Joe

That's the point. They're interested in actual NEW GM CAR BUYERS....not some machinations from the confirmed non-Corvette owners.

Tyler_RN_EMT

Smartest comment I've seen on here in a long time. Well done.

-Tyler

Skid Row Joe

Me too!

Anyone with that Internet handle, must know what they're talking about! !

Foosh

I've always suspected that GM's decision to not offer a manual in the C8 may have been made for them, and that it boils down to cost or availability or both. If you want to employ a high torque V8 engine, then your manual choices are limited. The ZF Porsche manual transaxles can't handle more than 400 ft. lbs of torque. Tremecs can, and have always been used in high TQ V8, manual FEs , but they don't have a manual transaxle version.

It's probable that GM could not make a financial case good enough to entice either Tremec or ZF into developing a transaxle capable of handling 500+ ft lbs of torque reliably.

RapidC84B

Now that's a really good point... well done. I had completely forgotten that the C5/6/7 rear mounted transmission is not the same as the pending transaxle. In the transaxle do the trans and rear gear share the same fluid?

Makes complete sense that there is no profitable business case for a high power manual transaxle given the current take rates we've all discussed.

CJ Willys

no, they only read the smart ones

Skid Row Joe

That truly would be a shame as to why a manual may not be offered....

Michael A

By your logic, anyone with keys to a C7 is smarter than someone with multiple engineering degrees and multiple years of automotive engineering experience.

Maybe you can break it down even further. If you don't have a Z06, then you can't comment on Z06s. If you don't have a ZR1, you can comment about ZR1s. If you don't have a Z51, you can't comment on Z51s. If you don't have the base car, you can't comment on base cars. If you don't have a 1LT, then you can't commend about 1LT. Where does this insanity end exactly?

Last I checked, there is no exam qualifying anyone to purchase a Corvette, and the only prerequisites are a driver's license and a pile of money. Owning a car means nothing about the level of knowledge of the car. Zip.

Foosh

Yes, in a transaxle the diff and trans are integrated, presumably sharing the same fluids.

road pilot

If they are doing their job....NO!

If yes......YOUR FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

vndkshn

Disagree. They are interested in why people did NOT buy the car. Especially when they see those people going to competitors products at similar (or even higher) price points.

Otherwise, why bother going ME at all?

Foosh

Agree, any smart company wants to hear opinions about why the product is either liked or disliked and what people want. The majority of customers for any product aren't rocket scientists or engineers and make buying decisions for a veritable plethora of both rational and irrational reasons.

Anyone participating in a car forum is more interested in things automotive than the public at large, thus they are opinions that should be heard by a car company even if not terribly well thought out.

Skid Row Joe

Disagree. I think they already know why a large number of people are not buying their new Corvettes. They cannot pay for them. Noisemakers don't buy cars. If they cannot afford a new entry level supercar, i.e. C7, what makes you think they can afford a C8??

Sorry, but people that can't afford your product, aren't much use to GM...

range96

Wouldn't you be more knowledgable about something you actually use? Owners spend a lot more time with their cars than the engineers. Owning a particular car gives you more experience with it. I prefer mechanics who work on Corvettes most of the time instead of Impalas and Silverados regardless how good they are when I visit the service department, don't you?

And this is the reason I decided to buy a ZR1 for now. Love that high, instant torque!

Disagree. Manufacturers examine what is being liked and disliked by people who actually purchase their product. It is not easy to guess who might want to buy your product. It is easier to find out why people bought your product. Focus your interest on people who actually have interest in your product.

I agree. No matter what GM does with the C8 if you can't afford it you don't buy one. If you CAN afford it it could be a million reasons why you wouldn't buy one, GM can't address all those reasons...

Aaron91RS

10+ years ago I posted on the then active camaro forum that GM should actually have people on these forums that's sole job is to interact with members for not only complaints but to feel out ideas and they should do this NOW to get ahead of the curve. Well a decade later they do have a dedicated account and they usually just direct you off the board to a black hole but at least it's something. A shame they didn't take my free advice then, and still don't with the other thing, because I am sure they paid someone a 6 figure salary to come up with forum account idea. The problem is they have to listen to some of the absolute dumbest ideas on this board that just don't work in the real world all told by people who have no concept of running a business within a budget. (i.e. they will make both the c7 and c8 at the same time. The c8 is really a Cadillac. The c8 will start at 150K and on and on) or the "they'll lose my business if they don't make a manual with option x, y and z."

I'd love to give them more advice that actually takes in to account how a business works, but no one asked and no one will listen.

vndkshn

Ah, the Corvette snobbery comes out.

True stories that indicate you are wrong:

1.). When I bought my heavy duty truck, I went to all three. Chevy contacted me checking on my purchase process and I told them I selected another truck. Someone from Chevy Corp called a couple of days later asking me to provide feedback on why I selected one $75k truck over another. I spent probably 30 minutes on the phone with them. I look at the newer HD Chevy trucks and they have incorporated a lot of what I gave feedback about, so they must have heard the same feedback from others who didn’t buy.

2.). When my wife wanted a new/sporty SUV, we again hit a wide range of makes and models. We did not select a GM product, got a call from the dealers (this time we heard from
Chevy, GMC, Buick, Caddy, Dodge, and BMW dealers). Later got calls from Chevy Corp, Caddy Corp, and Dodge Corp, asking why I selected one vehicle north of $50k over another.

If they only listened to people who buy, why make any changes at all? The person already bought a vehicle despite things they didn’t like. The manufacturers definitely care about why money left their dealers and went to a competitor. To think otherwise is naive.

range96

^^^
You're 'lucky' to get the follow-up calls. I have purchased many new cars and once I no longer was in the market the other considered makers didn't care.

So, what truck and SUV did you end up buying?

vndkshn

And that’s the point. Despite what you guys think, GM does care why someone did not buy their vehicle. Sure, they know a percentage are just because the “buyer” was just window shopping and dreaming. But they know real deals are lost too.

Sorry, missed your question at the end. They didn’t know I had purchased something else until the sales person called to see if I was ready to come and sign the dotted line. I told them then I had already bought something else and what.

Ironically, I’ve stayed in contact with one of the Chevy sales guys. I’ve talked to him several times about buying a C7 (Z06 or ZR1, but I want to order to get it the way I want and they don’t have an available allocation for a ZR1 right now) and about the C8. I’ve told him my reasons for not pulling the trigger on the C7 and reservations about the C8, as well as things that really draw me to both cars.

Keep in mind, Chevy knows their current demographic in terms of average age and they want to change that. They are going to consider the opinions of others as well.