Actually a lot of the newer ones are using clutchless manuals, which is the same as an auto.

And I hear ya about an all around car. When I think straighline performance the only number that matter to me is the 0-100-0 time. And track time on the Nürburgring tells the rest of the story.

But if you want a great all around car, you might want to consider getting that motor a bit farther back

Jeremy

 

My loyalty to GM products and the fact that the only other thing I can afford would be a C-5 limit me to a front engine set up and the C-5 wont really work either cause I have 2 sons that have to cruise with me sometimes

 

Oh, I see. Any car with an automatic is a drag-only car. Thanks for the heads-up!

I better tell my grandma to keep her Bonneville on the drag strip where it belongs.

-Chris

 

My buddy drives his on the highway. Why is it physically impossible for an automatic to run on the highway? And who said it had to be a 400 with a 3500 stall converter. 2004Rs, 4L60s, and 4L80s are being built to take a lot of abuse these days.

-Chris

 

Does an 8 speed 700R-4 Count?
Seriously? I would rather have an automatic, one handed, the other on a lady or a drink or my cell phone.. Are they quicker, you bet your bottom an automatic is faster.. Some of you are like "? an 8 speed automatic?" Yep sure thing.. There was one post that was really correct, it's real good to keep your engine in the rpm ranges that make the most power, is a 700r-4 shift points a little to spread out.. sure they are, but does the first gear pull really hard you bet.. So what's all this talk about an 8 speed??? Gear Vendors overdrive unit.. It splits all your gears.. Go from 1st to 1st OD, then 2nd to 2nd OD, 3rd to 3rd OD, 4th to 4th OD..

http://www.gearvendors.com/hrgm4s.html

With the OD unit, you could put a 4.10 rear and it would be the exact same at 4th OD as it would 4th in a 700r-4... They handle unbelievable power, warranty and it's totally automatic.. once installed your done.. supposed to cost 2500

 

I dont necessarily disagree with you, but you sure are an *******. I'm sure it comes naturally for you though

 

I sometimes wish I had an auto. I never power-shift and the on-off-on nature of the blower during shifts must be losing time/power. Being able to just mash the throttle and steer whilst retaining boost pressure should easily shave tenths off any blast down the quarter.

 

Uhmm Chris that was rediculous.

I drive my car, 99.99% of the time, on the street. Not the track. Like most of the guys do on here.

I take the occasional winding roads, and with an automatic, I think I would rather take my duallie around the bends than a F-Body. Auto's have their place. But to bash on M6 cars is rediculous. Race a high HP M6 car from a roll, in your high HP auto, from a highway roll. That should wipe that **** eating grin off of your face in a hurry. Thats when that lower drivetrain loss, weight loss, and lack-of-launch all come into play.

To put it frankly, id rather have the car with less drivetrain loss, that IS faster, but is track-handicapped. Especially if its funner to drive, for the other 99.99% of the time I drive my car. Track #'s are nothing to me. Theres a reason I dont go to the track.

 

IMO, it boils down to this... manuals are a heck of a lot more fun to drive.. this is coming from somene with an auto

i beat myself every day for not knowing how to drive stick at the time i was shopping for a car

heck, i learned stick on my nephews wrangler.. and i dare say it was more fun to drive that 5 speed manual than to drive my v6 camaro.. and it was a complete dog.. it's just the fact that you are in control

 

The moral of the story:

Autos can run as fast or faster with around ~100rwhp less than most manual tranny fbodies (I am talking forced induction setups based on the link I provided).

Also, tranny preference is just that... preference. Lets not turn this thread ugly.

 

Depends on the setup, my th400 t76 car is faster on the highway now then when it was 6spd. Not to mention it's 10x more fun to drive as an auto compared to when it was stick. I'm really serious when I say that and I was terrified of going to a th400 from my t56.

2.75 gears make for a very fun car. Think of it this way, everytime you shift you slow down. With my setup from a roll I can run 60-120 in 2nd gear and it makes the same power the whole time. High average horsepower (time spent in power) is what makes cars fast. Stalled auto's are very good at this.

People always bring up the corners, well that depends a lot on where you live and how much power you make. Once you get to a certain power level taking corners in an enjoyable manner becomes a challange due to having too much power to really utilize. I live in las vegas and there are no twisty roads here so handling is pointless.

In the end it really comes down to picking one aspect to concentrate on, if you try to do everything it will most likely suck at everything.

 

Well maybe when constantly variable ratio transmissions become strong and reliable enough to be put in high horsepower cars we can have a whole new set of arguements.

It should definately be the best though, in theory