WHY THE NEW CORVETTE DOESN'T OFFER A MANUAL TRANSMISSION

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gmauthority.com

Chevrolet Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter: Why The C8 Doesn’t Get A Manual

Packaging is just part of the problem.
gmauthority.com gmauthority.com

“Nobody buys them and no one’s willing to make them at a loss for us,” [Juechter, Cheif Engineer] adds, laughing. “It’s hard enough to find someone to make a bespoke, high-volume [automatic], you know, because the vast majority of people choose the automatic. We used to offer the Z06, ZR1 only in manual transmission, and as soon as we made the automatic available, [it was] 70, 80 percent of the volume.”
 
Its alright my next car will be a Porsche if they are still offering a manual.
 
Black 03 Z06 said:
Its alright my next car will be a Porsche if they are still offering a manual.
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MSRP starts at $130,600 for a 911 Carerra S with a manual transmission. Spec'd out nicely, you're looking at $200,000.

If you want a Porsche that can keep up with the new Corvette, you're going to want a 911 GT3 which starts at $184,00.

That's a lot of dough for a third pedal.
 
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You are missing the point. It is what I want and if I am spending "Corvette" money I have no issue paying "Porsche" money to get that. Sorry, if I want an automatic I will buy a half ton.
 
It's like all other cars that are going to automatic only. The #1 reason is because this generation can't drive manual and people buy automatics, women prefer automatic and immigrants prefer auto. It make business sense for them less things to worry about and more money in their pocket. They aren't in it to please their ALL their customers but to make money. Remember It's always about the money.
 
The Corvette also has the unfortunate situation that they are using bespoke transmissions in the C8. No transmission manufacturer is going to sign a contract where they will lose money if they design and build says transmission. Porsche can do it because they've been building them for a long, long time and it's shared over many platforms.

No one wanted to see the C8 without the manual transmission, but no one is going to work for free either.
 
Before I ordered my Corvette, I was working out a deal to trade my Ford Raptor on a Shelby GT350R, MSRP on both was near identical making the decision to buy the Vette quite easy. Yes I wanted the Tremec transmission but I've never driven a proper DCT so time to try one out before I form my opinion. Bottom line for me is I'm a performance junkie and if the DCT is much faster then a car costing way more $$$ then RIP third pedal. I own 5 motorcycles when I need my manual fix
 
There have been companies building manual transmissions for monster horsepower mid and rear engine cars since the 1950's. Please don't tell me a manual could not have been offered in the C8.

Here is a link to just one...https://www.hewland.com
 
Although I am not getting a C8 anytime soon, I have given this auto/manual thing some thought. Initially I thought no manual...wow. Then I began to think about my own driving. I’m alright as a driver but not anything special. Some days I find I just can’t seem to hit the marks shifting and as a result don’t get everything out of the car that I could. These DCT autos are not the automatic transmissions my dad had in his 1974 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon. These transmissions will outperform the best driver rowing through the gears. So for me I am evolving towards the automatic tranny. I am old, fat, and lazy. The auto will help me get more smiles per litre, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
 
Black 03 Z06 said:
There have been companies building manual transmissions for monster horsepower mid and rear engine cars since the 1950's. Please don't tell me a manual could not have been offered in the C8.

Here is a link to just one...https://www.hewland.com
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I imagine if GM could take an existing transmission and shoe-horned it into the Corvette, they would have. Cars like this have high reliability and drivability requirements need and a transmission built just for it. I'm sure Porsche wouldn't let GM buy their transmissions to put in the new Corvette.

GM needed to find a company to build a new, bespoke transaxle and package to work in their new car. No company is going to invest in the R&D and then not get their money back as GM doesn't sell very many manual transmission Corvettes. We're talking a maximum of 8,000 a year. That is nothing in the auto industry. It would probably cost a few hundred thousand to design one, even if they built it off an existing design, but then they would make, what, $1,000 back on each transmission they built? It doesn't add up.

I can't imagine the people behind the C8 Corvette intended to not have a manual transmission in it. People don't design a sports car if they're not interested in sports cars.
 
Cariboocreek said:
Although I am not getting a C8 anytime soon, I have given this auto/manual thing some thought. Initially I thought no manual...wow. Then I began to think about my own driving. I’m alright as a driver but not anything special. Some days I find I just can’t seem to hit the marks shifting and as a result don’t get everything out of the car that I could. These DCT autos are not the automatic transmissions my dad had in his 1974 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon. These transmissions will outperform the best driver rowing through the gears. So for me I am evolving towards the automatic tranny. I am old, fat, and lazy. The auto will help me get more smiles per litre, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
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Learning how to and then 'hitting the marks' makes up a part of the smile of driving a manual. Another part of the smile is the additional attachment we have to the ride. I agree... The auto out shifts the manual transmission ... So what... I sacrifice 0.1 of a second in a 0 to 60 run... My bumper is at his door. Not the end of the world at this stage in my aggressive driving.... And I like the fact that my coffee is in the cup holder when I'm punching the go pedal; not in my right hand. Just lets me feel like part of the car instead of a passenger.. JMHO and I honestly respect everyone else's opinions as well.
 
I would like to note: I'm just playing devil's advocate. I respect everyone's opinion and do not think that there are any lesser than my own.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy driving with three pedals and a stick to row about. At the end of the day, I'm a performance junkie and look forward to owning and tracking a car with a DCT. If I got a C7, I would be very tempted to get the 8-speed paddle-shift transmission. My reason is one that is never mentioned:

Left-foot braking.

Left foot braking can shave literal tenths of a second off your lap time. It's purely because of the time it takes to move your foot from one pedal to the other. Take all other factors out of the equation and the difference is significant.

That being said, I represent the 1% of the population hat share this perspective.

I'm also OCD and get frustrated when I don't get the perfect shift or rev-match on the downshift. 😂😂
 
For my wife and I, half the enjoyment of owning our six speed Corvette is the stick shift. It's about driving the car. We have our truck and Olds LSS for family use. It keeps a person humble. Mess up a shift a little and you try a little harder next time to do it right. Our car will probably do us the rest of our days, so it doesn't matter what GM does. I wonder how long before they start building the Corvettes in China as well.
 
Keith Tedford said:
For my wife and I, half the enjoyment of owning our six speed Corvette is the stick shift. It's about driving the car. We have our truck and Olds LSS for family use. It keeps a person humble. Mess up a shift a little and you try a little harder next time to do it right. Our car will probably do us the rest of our days, so it doesn't matter what GM does. I wonder how long before they start building the Corvettes in China as well.
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No cars sold in Canada are currently made in China, so probably a very, very, very long time. 😛😛😛
 
If we are talking about how the Corvette team should have built the Corvette the way a person personally wanted, I never take my roof off so they could have welded the roof on and got rid of the hump in the passenger compartment to really open it up because outside of coolant, there's nothing that needs to travel between the front and rear of the car. Then, there would be a lot of strength to cut a hole in the floor for the shifter and room for a third pedal, but that's my opinion and most likely, a shared opinion of probably less than 0.1% of Corvette drivers. However, I drive for the enjoyment, the sound, and experience and part of that is the illusion of having manual control over the power, the transmission and ability to separate the power from the transmission using both legs and both hands to drive....and sometimes, one brain. That's what I enjoy for myself. I don't care about what car is the fastest and if I did care, I would just buy an autonomous car as a computer can drive much faster than I can.
However, when the C8 came out, I thought, well, I should see what the DCT is all about before I write the C8 off. But then I saw a Toyota Supra, and it was nice, as it accelerated past me. It revved and burped with each shift and although fun (Please don't take this the wrong way for people who enjoy DCT's) all the driver did was push the gas pedal. Maybe they pulled back on a paddle to shift the gears. I don't know, it hit me that pulling a paddle doesn't really require much involvement compared to pushing the clutch and pulling the shifter into the next gear, so I've pretty much decided as awesome as the C8 is, for me it doesn't offer the driving experience that I am looking for so I am pretty much limited to moving up to a C7.
Also, I take the numbers suggested about the take rate for the manual transmission on the C7 with a grain of salt. It was 50% when introduced in 2014 and dwindled to less that 20% by 2019. To assume that less than 20% of C8 buyers would opt for the manual is false logic. My guess is the trend would continue with a lot of manuals sold at the start, and the numbers would dwindle throughout it's production run. GM could have developed a manual transmission if they wanted to. The shocking news is they actually have a manual transmission in the C8 already, however, it's just controlled with a computer as opposed to a third pedal and shift lever. Anyway, it's up to GM to decide what they want to do and they didn't want to spend the R&D for a manual. It's disappointing but they have a company to run. Even without me buying one, they'll sell all the C8's they make. C'est La Vie.
 
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