[GretchenGotGrowl]

Originally Posted by MikeyCamaro

I think some context is in order. I took the OP as being addressed to those who know they want an automatic over a manual: those people won't be disappointed. I didn't assume it meant "if you wanted a manual, get the A8 instead: you won't be disappointed".

I think you're making more assumptions than the OP. I drove nothing but M6 cars for decades, the most notable being a 1999 Corvette Z51 hardtop and a 2005 Corvette not to mention many "lesser" vehicles like the new Beetle when it came out, Honda Accord, and other manuals. I drag raced the Vettes and was told by many that I was a master of the stick: able to shift fast enough that the front end didn't even drop between shifts. Qualifications aside (don't care if anyone believes those), I enjoyed those cars and certainly think I qualify as "knowing how to drive" a manual. Still, I do not want one! With the advancement in automatics in recent years, I don't feel I need one to justify the "fun" and "involvement" and the daily use of a manual just doesn't justify or override the benefits of the automatic.

Now, that's me. Plenty of people would disagree. But I certainly don't fit in your blanket statements!

Mike

Just ignore him. He's just trying to justify his decision and then projecting those emotions on others.

Originally Posted by kdu

I have to say, after watching the Z06 video and seeing the corvette fire off those WOT shifts I actually want to check out the A8. I guess based on my earlier question neither transmission is ruled out so it comes down to personal preference. What I'm also curious about is how the A8 transmission performs in regular day-to-day driving. For example, my Accord has a tendency to rubber band after shifting in stop and go traffic. Very annoying. For those that have put some miles on their automatics, how does it fair? Any annoying idiosyncrasies?

Also, on a completely unrelated note. M2 pricing was revealed and it's pretty much the cost of a loaded 2SS Camaro. Going to make this decision a bit more complicated.

I've had mine since early June and no issues. There were some idiosyncrasies with the eDiff for about the first 1000 miles. It seemed to lock and unlock at weird times when it was cold. That went away (still happens in my 2011 F150, so I was glad it went away in the Vette), and everything seems to work together flawlessly.

[huggercamaro21]

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369

Context is important. When you make a blanket statement - like you won't be disappointed with the A8 - you're gonna hear from the people that will be disappointed with the A8.

I would go further. "If you are in the market for a great automatic that can shift insanely fast, yet be very smooth while just piddling around, then you wont be disappointed. If you are in the market for a manual and you want to be 'connected' to the car all the time, then the A8 is not for you."

[SpeedIsLife]

There have always been the "you're only really driving the car when it's a XYZ" mindset people...

I'm sure there are more than a few people back "in the day" that said you weren't "really connected and driving the car" when power steering and power brakes came around.

There are plenty of people who feel just as 'connected' with the car when driving an automatic. If you feel disconnected from the car because it's an auto..then that is YOUR truth, and your situation, not a universal fact.

[SuperSound]

Originally Posted by SpeedIsLife

There have always been the "you're only really driving the car when it's a XYZ" mindset people...

I'm sure there are more than a few people back "in the day" that said you weren't "really connected and driving the car" when power steering and power brakes came around.

There are plenty of people who feel just as 'connected' with the car when driving an automatic. If you feel disconnected from the car because it's an auto..then that is YOUR truth, and your situation, not a universal fact.

Exactly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[Curr]

Originally Posted by huggercamaro21

I would go further. "If you are in the market for a great automatic that can shift insanely fast, yet be very smooth while just piddling around, then you wont be disappointed. If you are in the market for a manual and you want to be 'connected' to the car all the time, then the A8 is not for you."

/thread

[Boilermaker128]

Is bump starting the manual possible? Or a thing of the past?

[DenverTaco07]

Originally Posted by Boilermaker128

Is bump starting the manual possible? Or a thing of the past?

by the powers of google:

A modern gasoline engine contains an electronic ignition system which precisely times the electrical pulse to the spark plug. The advantage of such a device is that it can deliver a full power electrical pulse to the spark plugs even when the alternator is turning very slowly (as in push starting a motor). The out-dated method of a mechanically timed ignition system is that is cannot deliver a full electrical pulse at very low engine revolutions per minute (RPM). This may affect the ease of push starting an engine to life

actually don't know what that is saying.

[pkincy]

I talked to a buddy that bought my 98 1LE 402 M6 track car today. He uses it to instruct in Pac NW. He also has recently bought a new ATS-V with A8. He loves the tranny. He says there is no reason to paddle shift it. Apparently the computer is quick enough to learn how he is driving the car. Very quickly after he gets in the twisties (hasn't had it on the track yet due to rain) it starts to hold the lower gears and shift at higher rpms and be in exactly the right gear at exactly the right time. Once he slows down and gets into town it will recognize he is now wanting much more of a subtle shifting mode and start shifting at low rpm and allowing the motor to lug a bit. He told me it is nearly like it can read his mind and his mood. Other than learning the paddles he hasn't felt a need to use them at all yet. Sounds like the best of all worlds. Also the Caddy has enough room that they have built in huge coolers so hopefully it won't suffer from the high oil temps the new Z06 is experiencing.

[ccflgearhead]

Originally Posted by MikeyCamaro

The ZF A8 in the Challenger is near instantaneous on both up and downshifts and it's not a DCT so I don't see why this one couldn't be just as fast since the specs for the shift times seem comparable. I noticed that the Corvette A8 seemed to have quite a bit of shift lag from paddle tap to actual shift in this video (skip to 4:15). I don't think it's quite a full second but probably 500 to 750ms:

https://youtu.be/eoBrAydXK28

Using the paddles in my Challenger, it's instantaneous, or at least if there's any delay, it's undetectable and is probably close to the ~160ms spec. I think your shift spec for your A8 is close to the same so I don't understand why there would be such a delay in initiating the shift??? I would suspect tuning (maybe TQ management) could correct that?

Mike

I agree , our srt challenger has near instantaneous shifts and "barks" the active exhaust at the same time, downshifts are the same too. I believe dodge spec'd the shifts at 120ms. Love the trans in the car. I have watched quite few vids and you can see and hear the delay on gm A8 transmissions. Think gm should be able to do the same as dodge. My '10 SS A6 which is supercharged and tuned has fast shifts, but that's a different animal altogether.

[camaro1&6]

Originally Posted by GMapologists

And posts like yours are exactly why another Camaro owner like ME has to come in and give unbiased, educated, and accurate advice instead of fan boy garbage.



You should be embarrassed to try to censor a fellow Camaro owner who has the right to share information and solicit information, like everyone else.
I made my polite and unbiased statement on this subject, and every Camaro owner should agree with it:
Everyone wanting a "paddle shifting experience" from the A8 needs to personally test the A8 and M6 before making their decision, especially those coming from a manual transmission and/or wanting a DCT experience when compared to a proper DCT/PDK.

you just have nothing better to do than start trouble and be annoying , You and your buddy seem to do nothing but go around and search out threads and be negative & ignorant to people . GO play with you stick maybe that will keep you busy.... you most likely don't even have a c6 .

[LesserO2Evils]

You could paint your car hot pink, and have a giant, glittery dong as a hood ornament, and it STILL would not be more gay than this argument....
I totally understand people that want to feel "in tune with..." their car and want to manually shift. But, now owning this A8 and driving the PISS out of it(break-in, be damned), I can completely testify
to its reliability, accuracy, and performance. Pretty sure 1/4 mile times are doing the very same.

[ScratchAce]

Originally Posted by LesserO2Evils

You could paint your car hot pink, and have a giant, glittery dong as a hood ornament, and it STILL would not be more gay than this argument....

Lol!

[kdu]

OK! I went back to my dealer and test drove a 2SS A8 today. Actually, had my wife drive it too. Here is the exact car I drove . I have some pics as well, but too lazy to upload.

This is my second Camaro test drive, the first was a 2SS 6M. Here is the abbreviated review focusing on the A8 transmission only. I loved it! This is going to be a very difficult decision. Basically, the transmission is very good. It shifts fast as hell when you get on it and the dual mode exhaust sounded absolutely amazing on upshifts. I managed to get the car into Performance Driving Mode (spelling). It flashed a message on the dash and the car began holding revs and downshifting by itself. I didn't exactly get to enjoy that mode for long because traffic was horrible. It was pretty fun while it lasted.

Now the paddles. Yes, there is a rather annoying delay. It's really "long" when you're just driving casually. Downshifts take a noticeable amount of time. However, when I was driving the car more aggressively I did notice the response improve. Also, I noticed that when slowing down and hitting the paddle to downshift the car reacted faster vs trying to downshift without breaking. The only car I've driven recently that I can compare this to is the M4. When using the paddles there is no comparison. There is absolutely a perceivable delay in the Camaro that I find annoying. The M4 had a much quicker response time to the paddles. Both are excellent when left to their own devices. Having said all of this, the car is so much fun when left in drive that I don't even think it will bother me. Again, I was dead set on the 6M because I wanted an engaging experience.

I wanted my wife to drive it too and while she hardly even got onto the accelerator she said the car was easy to drive and was fun. She also drove it mostly in tour because the steering was too hard for her to turn in sport and track.

I also had a brief price conversation. I will mostly likely order the car because it's unlikely I will be able to get the combinations of options I want otherwise. The car I priced out was $47,075 which included destination. The dealer is willing to sell it to me for $44,146 plus taxes and fees AND I would be able to get any incentives at the time of delivery. Hope this is helpful!

[cbr1100xx]

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369

Yes, it is an opinion. But this is a fact:

The A8 will outsell the M6, and it will do so because of necessity. Most Americans cannot operate a clutch. If every American knew how to operate a clutch, there would be a serious reduction in A8 sales and a serious increase in M6 sales

I've driven manuals for 25 yrs. I'm getting an A8 simply b/c of this: I want to rest my left leg when I'm driving. I'm a distance runner and at 35-45 miles per week, I don't want the extra workout in my left leg anymore. I want to put it on the dead pedal and rest it when I'm driving.

Is the manual more fun? Yes it can be for sure. Is it also less fun? Yes, when you don't feel like clutching, which is me more often than not.

But with a torque monster V8 like the Camaro and new fast shifting automatics, I'll have plenty of fun anyway while resting my leg for the next run. I personally find shifting little 4 bangers more fitting to squeeze the power out of them......something the Camaro doesn't need.

But I understand the appeal of manuals for sure. But I definitely see the appeal of automatics too.