Quote:
Originally Posted by TWG1
Had both. Tracked both. First a ZL1 A10, then a ZLE M6.
The A10 is faster; no question. It is also remarkable in its ability to find the right gear 95% of the time.
It also runs much hotter- the whole car; not just trans temps. Oil, water, trans all run hotter. I suspect diff as well since it shares a cooling circuit with the trans, but theres no guage to verify. My oil temps were regularly 290+ on the A10.
For a high-use track car, I prefer the M6 for 2 reasons:
1. Heat; as mentioned. My A10 would eat cats. Went through 4 in 1yr of tracking it. Also, when the trans gets over ~240, shifting gets really wonky, even before it codes. I fully overheated it twice to the point of a black flag for smoke. (Aug & Oct at Barber & Road ATL)
It runs hotter if its overfilled. And getting the level right is tough, because its really hard to get it to 220* to check the level on the street.
2. Maintenance. Changing the fluid every 15hrs is a lot. And as mentioned, its a PITA and the dealers do a crap job of setting the level.
The A10 also gets 1mpg less on the track if you care. I could get it down below 3.5mpg for a 20 min session. My ZLE M6 is usually better than 4.5mpg. My two theories: it runs higher avg RPM, and it runs richer the hotter it gets to cool itself down.
I still marvel at the A10. Such an awesome piece of tech. But a converter trans still has drawbacks on track, even in 2022.
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This feedback is a little surprising to me. I can't compare the A10 to the M6 directly, but my good track buddy has an M6 ZLE and I have an A10 ZLE. I haven't had any temp issues, and when we compare PDR data, my A10 is what I would consider a pretty negligible amount hotter than his M6 on the same days. I track in 90+ degree weather here in Texas and can't say that heat has been a problem.
Now, I noticed you had a ZL1 A10, and not the
1LE. I would imagine the extra cooling that comes with the 1LE package could make that difference. I certainly haven't gone through any cats in the last 1.5 years I've been tracking the car.
It's also worth noting that the torque converter is only used for 1st gear, and is locked in place for all other gears, meaning the converter is not contributing to any extra heat past 1st gear.
For me, tracking about once a month every month means I'm swapping fluids once a year. You could be tracking much more than me of course, but for me this is more than acceptable.
We're obviously running different tracks, too, so that should be taken into account. I mainly run a 1.7 and 3.1 mile course here in DFW Texas. We're likely at different driving skills I'm sure, but I'll say I won our time trials last season, so I'm definitely getting after it out there. I do NOT say that to brag, just trying to give perspective that I'm not just putting around.
Anyway, just giving some of my input. I did a lot of research before deciding on the A10, and I definitely don't regret it. It seems like most running M6 are using rev-matching and NLS at which point I feel I'd be pretty close to driving an auto anyway as that is doing most of the technical aspects of driving a manual for you. That's just my opinion, don't come at me, lol.
I haven't actually driven both so my perspective is fairly limited, but my closest track buddy is M6 like I said, and we are constantly comparing data.
I also saw someone mention that there are too many gears to manually paddle shift yourself. This is not true, I exclusively use the paddle shifters on our local track, and they work very well. Now when I head up to Hallett, OK, I let it shift itself last time I was out and it was perfect. But for our local track, I don't like the gears it puts me in sometimes, so I stick with manually shifting.
Upshifts are lightning-fast regardless. The downshifts are a little more "lethargic", and this is my only complaint, though it's not a big complaint. They are still quick, and quicker than an M6 shift, but not as quick as a true dual clutch transmission for example. But just like learning when to shift in an M6, you'll learn where you want to shift in the A10 if you're not in auto mode.