I drove a C6 with the A6, and when you put it into sport shift mode it was pretty quick. I was however very disappointed in the paddle shift function because the car seemed to shift slower than any recent automatic I can remember. It seemed even slower than my 04 GP Comp G with TAP shift. They are supposedly fixing this in 08.

 

The Toyota/Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, and Mercedes fanboys would all react the same way, I'm sure. I really enjoy my bimmer, but even with the 300-hp 3.0 twin-turbo "Engine of the Year" it does not come close to feeling like the LS1 GTO I had (especially with the semi-custom DiabloSport tune to fix the "torque management" crap). I stopped to talk to a guy in a new 335i coupe at the car wash the other day (I was in my Silverado) to get his impressions and he started with the "you should see the video of one of these leaving a new Corvette in the dust" and I decided, OK, never mind, I know how where this conversation is heading.

 

Z28x, I'm only quoting you because you brought up the point about the 5 speed being a GM unit, but this goes for everyone:

Why does GM build a transmission that most of its current cars can't use, but sells it to competing manufacturers in the marketplace, that will further enforce the perception that GM is always behind the competition? I understand BMW or whichever company is using the transmissions obviously buys them off GM, but why would GM incur all of the R&D resources just to sell them, but not use them in its own cars? GM is only setting itself back in terms of people's perceptions in the marketplace.

 

I believe I remember reading that BMW wanted exclusive use of the 5 speed auto from Hydramatic for a few years. I'm sure that BMW paid a hefty sum for this and it gave GM a guinea pig to help test it before it went into the CTS and other vehicles.

 

you have to remember that for a while GM had no RWD cars other than the Camaro and Vette. GM's 5 speed couldn't handle the LS1 torque and there is no way GM would give a V6 Camaro more gears than the V8. BMW is RWD only.

Holden used the 5 speed in its RWD cars though.

 

It's sad that GM won't do that.

The Mercedes SL series comes with the 7-speed, but the top dog AMG version comes with the 5-speed.

I can see not wanting to be outclassed by an "inferior" car, but really... it's not like they'd sell fewer V8's just because the V6 had more gears.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. It still bothers me though, should've made it handle the torque of an LS1 and at least maybe come to terms with using it in the Vette only, thus giving BMW somewhat exclusive rights to it. The Vette is GM's image car.

 

Yes, it's a halo car, all right. But after driving the A6 back to back with the M6, the A6 was sorely lacking in '07. Lagging up and downshifts, and failure to "blip" the throttle on a downshift. Mostly software problems, and maybe they improved it for '08. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the M6 in my Vette.

 

Dude, I drove the 335i. Its got nothing on my near stock 2002 Z28, and I am 100% confident that a LS2 Corvette would whip up on my Z28

 

Good question....

 

My guess: BMW paid GM a significant sum of money for this, and GM didn't have their own cars to put the transmission into. Putting a 5-speed auto into a V6 Camaro would not have made sense if the 5-speed was more expensive, especially if it would have meant giving up some of the exclusivity payment from BMW.

Remember that this transmission is built in France, so even if mfg costs were equal to the 4L60 (seems unlikely), there would have been increased transit costs, plus costs to re-engineer the V6 Camaro for it.

Until the CTS, the only premium V6 RWD model GM sold in the U.S. was the Catera. I think the lack of a decent engine or transmission for the Catera mostly just indicates GM's commitment (or lack thereof) to the Catera.