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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 12:44 AM
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Default Transmission idiosyncracies

I'm a few weeks in with my new ERay, and the transmission is the most interesting (aka idiosyncratic) aspect of the car so far. I'm curious if my experience is typical. A few specifics:
- It has a squidgy little whine (sounds a little like a Polaroid camera when it ejects a picture, for anyone who remembers that sound) when changing gears, not all the time, and mostly (but not solely) on downshifts. I'm generally not an OCD type of person, so I'm not actively listening for it, but it happens quite often and it's loud enough to get my attention.
- It seems to want to be treated with kid gloves when it's cold, or it does things like stay at high revs way past the completion of even mild acceleration. It's generally much better behaved after it's been driven for 10 minutes or so, so I just baby it for a while after first starting.
- The in-flight switch over from stealth mode to NA-engine active can give the transmission fits for a few seconds. Nothing major, just over-revving or feels like it's slipping for a second or two.

None of these are really problems, just things that I notice while driving, while the rest of the car seems to be bulletproof so far., and I've been driving a manual transmission for the last 28 years and haven't had to think about stuff like this. In the end I plan to keep a full warranty on the car as long as I'm driving it, so I'm just going to drive it however I want and let the transmission do what it's going to do. On the plus side, the last Chevy automatic I drove was in a 1986 Z28, and that thing was a complete piece of junk (would consistently shift early and bog the engine like crazy), so this is a welcome improvement ;-)
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 06:35 AM
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As with any C8, I say keep up some kind of power train warranty because a new dct trans will cost you $20k
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 07:09 AM
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MicFil01, everything is fine and normal. The whine will diminish after a while but never completely.
The shift points will settle in as it completes it 'Learn' modes. Enjoy the car.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 12:15 PM
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Only thing I can add is that my ERAY so far in 1300 miles has done great. No sounds, no slips, engagement good from park or neutral.

If you can replicate the issue at the dealer service center, might be the best thing to do if this is not your daily driver and you can leave it if they need to investigate.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 12:34 PM
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Are you sure you’re not hearing noise from when it goes into 4Cylinder mode ? The exhaust makes a noise every time It does.

Like all Corvettes it’s best to get them up to normal operating temperature before having some spirited driving.
Anyway best of luck with it.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 12:45 PM
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The chirp is at shift points, I've watched it for correlation. I'll pay attention to AFM transitions, haven't noticed anything specific there. None of this is worth taking to the dealer (since there's nothing truly wrong), I was just curious if others were seeing/hearing the same sorts of things. No big deal, I'll just drive it and see what happens over time. Pretty impressed with the car overall so far, but I need to get it out of daily-drive traffic and on some TX backroads to see what it can really do.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 02:24 PM
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Go visit SH130.. then you can appreciate the acceleration from 55 to 85 very nicely.

The 41-mile (66 km) section of the toll road between SH 45 and I-10 has a posted speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h), the highest posted speed limit in the Americas.

Now you notice the wording is POSTED Speed. There are states with no posted limits and at night in the summers you can enjoy 100MPH on those roads. Montana and Nevada generally posted no speed limits on highways, limiting drivers to only whatever was safe for conditions.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by micfil01
The chirp is at shift points, I've watched it for correlation. I'll pay attention to AFM transitions, haven't noticed anything specific there. None of this is worth taking to the dealer (since there's nothing truly wrong), I was just curious if others were seeing/hearing the same sorts of things. No big deal, I'll just drive it and see what happens over time. Pretty impressed with the car overall so far, but I need to get it out of daily-drive traffic and on some TX backroads to see what it can really do.
My 23 seems to go into 4Cyl mode at shift points . Example it shifts into 7th and immediately goes into 4 Cyl mode instead of shifting to 8th gear. I find this puzzling. Oh well like you say, not a big deal and nothing to worry about.
41,000 miles without a problem.

I’m in the DFW area.

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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 04:31 PM
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Originally Posted by wayback
My 23 seems to go into 4Cyl mode at shift points . Example it shifts into 7th and immediately goes into 4 Cyl mode instead of shifting to 8th gear. I find this puzzling. Oh well like you say, not a big deal and nothing to worry about.
41,000 miles without a problem.

I’m in the DFW area.
My 23 has 7000 miles. You're winning, and I mean that in a good way
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by McBeef
My 23 has 7000 miles. You're winning, and I mean that in a good way
LOL
My wife likes me to drive so we take my car most of the time. That’s fine wid me.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by micfil01
I'm a few weeks in with my new ERay, and the transmission is the most interesting (aka idiosyncratic) aspect of the car so far. I'm curious if my experience is typical. A few specifics:
- It has a squidgy little whine (sounds a little like a Polaroid camera when it ejects a picture, for anyone who remembers that sound) when changing gears, not all the time, and mostly (but not solely) on downshifts. I'm generally not an OCD type of person, so I'm not actively listening for it, but it happens quite often and it's loud enough to get my attention.
- It seems to want to be treated with kid gloves when it's cold, or it does things like stay at high revs way past the completion of even mild acceleration. It's generally much better behaved after it's been driven for 10 minutes or so, so I just baby it for a while after first starting.
- The in-flight switch over from stealth mode to NA-engine active can give the transmission fits for a few seconds. Nothing major, just over-revving or feels like it's slipping for a second or two.

None of these are really problems, just things that I notice while driving, while the rest of the car seems to be bulletproof so far., and I've been driving a manual transmission for the last 28 years and haven't had to think about stuff like this. In the end I plan to keep a full warranty on the car as long as I'm driving it, so I'm just going to drive it however I want and let the transmission do what it's going to do. On the plus side, the last Chevy automatic I drove was in a 1986 Z28, and that thing was a complete piece of junk (would consistently shift early and bog the engine like crazy), so this is a welcome improvement ;-)
I had no unusual shifting noise in my 2020 C8 Z51 for 4 years and have not in 11 months driving my E-Ray. It's a coupe, roof always on and windows up. In fact it's the quietest of my recent Vettes I've had (on my 7th.) Prior to my C8 had a C7 Grand Sport where the tire and road noise were sufficiently loud I played the sound system 98% of the time, pretty load. In fact even in my E-Ray it starts playing >1500 songs in Shuffle Mode I have in a Flash Drive so drown out most tire and road noise. In fact compared to my C6 Z51 the NPP is not nearly as loud except at WOT. Folks with HTC's say it's good so if you have the roof off (or down in a HTC) perhaps you hear more.)

That said I have tried to listen for the V4 sound others note and with sound system off, windows down, the only way I can tell it's in V4 is by looking at the Dash ICON. I only drive in two modes as I did my 2020 C8, Z-Mode Power set to Track and MY Mode set to Sport. NPP in both set to max, Track Mode. My 2020 C8 was the first DD I have had since my first car I built when in high school in 1959 that didn't have a clutch! I drove the 2020 C8 in Manual Mode for a month getting over my standard shifts. But when accelerating and turning from a stop sign at the end of our rural road merging into ~70 mph traffic I hit Rev Limiter a few times as the upshift paddle is out of position. Z-Mode shifts just before the 6600 Redline. Some don't like the somewhat higher shift speeds in Z-Mode but in my case it shifts exactly as I was my Grand Sport 7 speed. No unusual noise when shifting. In fact what I enjoy is the automatic downshifting with aggressive braking to the 25 mph limit road I live on. I call it Rev Match Music!

I don't recall issues as I was breaking it in but as I said I was using Manual Mode so a paddle pull was attached to every shift.


Suggest Trying a Few Shift Modes. Also when the tire and road noise gets to you, turn up the sound system volume as I do!

Last edited by JerryU; Jan 29, 2025 at 05:43 PM.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Ron_Attleboro_MA
MicFil01, everything is fine and normal. The whine will diminish after a while but never completely.
The shift points will settle in as it completes it 'Learn' modes. Enjoy the car.
in the good old days we liked the loud whine of an M22 4 speed 😎
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 07:22 PM
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Worrying about these transmissions should be a thing of the past. Really GM.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by fpcopo
in the good old days we liked the loud whine of an M22 4 speed 😎
Yep but that was because of straight cut spur gears! No such gears in the DCT. They are all helical cut gears that are quiet. There is nothing in the Transaxle that should click. There are Synchro's for all 8 gears. They could make a clicking sound as the shift forks are moved with hydraulic actuators. I recall the pretty loud "clicks" in my Tremec 7 steed standard trans in my C7 Grand Sport as they clicked into place.

BUT I don't hear them in my E-Ray. Part of the reason is the steps GM used to make the engine noise that is within a foot of your ear insulated from the cabin. They selected the glass partition thickness 3 times that of the windshield. Tadge had said they learned that when stripping a Ferrari mid-engine car. As he noted Ferrari does not use anything that ads weight unless needed!


Nothing in the DCT that should make externally heard "clicks."

Last edited by JerryU; Jan 29, 2025 at 07:53 PM.
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Old Jan 29, 2025 | 08:32 PM
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Originally Posted by micfil01
I'm a few weeks in with my new ERay, and the transmission is the most interesting (aka idiosyncratic) aspect of the car so far. I'm curious if my experience is typical. A few specifics:
- It has a squidgy little whine (sounds a little like a Polaroid camera when it ejects a picture, for anyone who remembers that sound) when changing gears, not all the time, and mostly (but not solely) on downshifts. I'm generally not an OCD type of person, so I'm not actively listening for it, but it happens quite often and it's loud enough to get my attention.
- It seems to want to be treated with kid gloves when it's cold, or it does things like stay at high revs way past the completion of even mild acceleration. It's generally much better behaved after it's been driven for 10 minutes or so, so I just baby it for a while after first starting.
- The in-flight switch over from stealth mode to NA-engine active can give the transmission fits for a few seconds. Nothing major, just over-revving or feels like it's slipping for a second or two.

None of these are really problems, just things that I notice while driving, while the rest of the car seems to be bulletproof so far., and I've been driving a manual transmission for the last 28 years and haven't had to think about stuff like this. In the end I plan to keep a full warranty on the car as long as I'm driving it, so I'm just going to drive it however I want and let the transmission do what it's going to do. On the plus side, the last Chevy automatic I drove was in a 1986 Z28, and that thing was a complete piece of junk (would consistently shift early and bog the engine like crazy), so this is a welcome improvement ;-)
completely normal, remember that engine and tranny is right behind your ear. I have the same thing going on with my 24 and the engineers checked it and all it is is driveline noise.
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Old Jan 30, 2025 | 03:08 AM
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I was the same for the first few months. Listening to every sound for a sign of trouble, and trying to learn what the trans wanted to operate smooth.
Now with almost two years and 8000 miles, I just let it rip. Drive it like you want and the trans will handle it.

I hardly ever put it in Track mode, I think those hard shifts are not the best for the trans.
If I want to drive aggressive, I drop into Sport mode. Or in my Z mode (the trans is set to less than hard shift.)
Thats how I roll. I don't baby it, but I don't beat it.
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Old Jan 30, 2025 | 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by C5racecar
I was the same for the first few months. Listening to every sound for a sign of trouble, and trying to learn what the trans wanted to operate smooth.
Now with almost two years and 8000 miles, I just let it rip. Drive it like you want and the trans will handle it.

I hardly ever put it in Track mode, I think those hard shifts are not the best for the trans.
If I want to drive aggressive, I drop into Sport mode. Or in my Z mode (the trans is set to less than hard shift.)
Thats how I roll. I don't baby it, but I don't beat it.
Hmm, I'm the opposite. I use Track (actually Z-Mode Power/Trans set to Track.) One of my most fun uses is when it automatically downshifts two (or more) gears in the blink of an eye. I do that often when leaving the highway in front of the rural road I live on with often heavy traffic going ~70 mph. So folks don't have to slow significantly for me (espeically the many RV's coming from Myrtle Beach who can't) as I slow to ~30 mph. I apply the brakes aggressively and hear each gear Rev Match! Did that for 4 years with my 2020 C8 and now 11 months with my E-Ray. Not one issue with the DCT.


In fact having it shift quicky may be better for the DCT than shifting slower! I'm remined of watching LENCO Techs at NHRA National Events rebuild their very high hp capable transmissions. I like to visit places like zMax Dragway in NC on a Friday or Saturday NOT the very busy Sunday. I spend most of my time watching Dragster and Funny cars rebuild engines between qualifying runs etc. One fun place I will watch for some time is the where LENCO Techs rebuild transmissions racers bring for them to repair. Cars like ProMod with ~3000 hp and other high hp cars bring them to be rebuilt. Recall asking a Tech how those "Bullet Proof" transmissions fail. He said "Some folks don't pull the engagement lever for a gear hard enough! The clutches used to engage each gear section are beefy and designed to engage very quickly. BUT they don't like slipping!

Last edited by JerryU; Jan 30, 2025 at 08:28 AM.
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Old Feb 4, 2025 | 05:43 AM
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Originally Posted by JerryU
Hmm, I'm the opposite. I use Track (actually Z-Mode Power/Trans set to Track.) One of my most fun uses is when it automatically downshifts two (or more) gears in the blink of an eye. I do that often when leaving the highway in front of the rural road I live on with often heavy traffic going ~70 mph. So folks don't have to slow significantly for me (espeically the many RV's coming from Myrtle Beach who can't) as I slow to ~30 mph. I apply the brakes aggressively and hear each gear Rev Match! Did that for 4 years with my 2020 C8 and now 11 months with my E-Ray. Not one issue with the DCT.
Yes, The DCT should be made to take that. I like the sound of track mode also, but I usually don't drive that hard enough to really utilize it. I like to be smooth.
I do agree, the faster you let the clutches engage, = less wear, in theory.
The other cool thing about track mode. It shifts so hard that it sounds like a turbo backfire.
Any way you drive it, floor it, cruise it, these cars are a ton of fun.
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Old Feb 4, 2025 | 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by C5racecar
Yes, The DCT should be made to take that. I like the sound of track mode also, but I usually don't drive that hard enough to really utilize it. I like to be smooth.
I do agree, the faster you let the clutches engage, = less wear, in theory.
The other cool thing about track mode. It shifts so hard that it sounds like a turbo backfire.
Any way you drive it, floor it, cruise it, these cars are a ton of fun.
Yep, been driving aggressively where safe since I started! Was aggressively shifting and taking off with my standard shift Tremec C6 Z51, C7 Z51, C7 Grand Sport. Was for 4 years with my 2020 C8 and now for 11 months my E-Ray with my DCT working perfectly. Live in a rural area so many places to do it safely and maintain my 65 years driving without having an accident with another car!

Been a "gearhead" since ~13. Built my 1st car when 16/17 (spent every dime I made working part time from when I was 15.)


Work prevented more than modding my many cars until I retired in 2000 (well semi, have a part time Internet Business.) Built this '34 Ford with an 8.2 Liter BB crate engine. Still winning trophies at Car Shows.


My 2020 C8 Z51 1st DD without a standard Trans. Turn 19 when I get in my Vettes. Don't Track but aggressive where safe. Have maintained my 65 record of no accidents with other cars.


Love my E-Ray! So does my dog Remi'!



Last edited by JerryU; Feb 4, 2025 at 07:43 AM.
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