What kind of preformance? Straight line from a dead stop, an auto is hard to beat. Road racing, a stick is the ony way to go. In drag racing some guys will not give up their manuals and that's fine. The only thing is, it's harder on the car and it's far and few between when it comes to someone that can really shift like a true professional. And if you are really good with a stick (1/4 mile) it's even harder on the drivetrain parts. With that said though, a stick is a lot more fun and gets better gas mileage, if your not worried about 1/4 mile times.

 

An auto is generally as quick as an M6 car that has 50 to 100 RWHP more in the 1/4, do a search there was an extensive thread about it. The worst thing to me about an auto is having to compromise on the converter. The best converter for the track feels too loose on the street, and the converter that feels best on the street is too tight to run best at the track so you have to pick something inbetween that gives up a little in both areas. I have an auto with a 4000 vigilante, and I hate the 4000 stall, it screams when you're on it, but feels too loose during normal driving. I'm having a hard time deciding between a smaller converter, or putting in a variable stall speed device (clutch) .

 

I'm not going to doubt your words, but in my 9 yrs of LS1 experience I have never been beat on the street by an Automatic LS1 Stock for Stock. Believe me I raced plenty of them on the street too, the first couple yrs before any mods were around was pretty wild. The Track is a different story, the faster car is not always the winner a better R/T by a slightly slower car can still equal a win. But like you said it can all be attributed to driver Error. Win or Lose it's all about having fun. A stalled auto is hard to beat but can never be as well rounded as a M6 with gears But thats My Opinion and that is what the original poster was looking for.

 

i will admit, m6's have an advantage from a roll, because u can INSTANTLY downshift.
from a dig, i think the advantage shifts to a4's, esp. with a stall converter.
Plus, a4s have less gears to go thru, and have deeper gears.

1/4 mile, go with an a4
road race/auto X - m6
fun factor - m6
ease of driving - a4
if u have a m6, and god forbid u ever have to let some1 drive u somewhere in your car - good luck

 

Contrary to popular belief you can Manually downshift an Auto from a roll.
1st gear can be had depending on MPH, RPM, and your final drive ratio.
It can get a little tricky esp if you still want the computer to control upshifts normally. But it can be done and it can surprise alot of unknowing M6 Drivers

Being a Veteran M6 Driver I would already be in the choice gear during Races from a roll. So all I would have to do is let the clutch out and then upshift accordingly.

 

i can drive a m6 like noneother, but i wanted to get an automatic for a change of pace.
Could u PM me about the downshifting an a4 and such?

 

I dont think you can sum it up any better than that.

 

Manuals sound better too.

 

How do they sound better?

 

And that's just it ..... it's been in MY "experience" at the track, that I've never lost to another (stock) F-body, in particular M6 (at least, not that I remember?!?! ) Another good (bad) example I saw was a C5 Z06 running a 13.2 on a day I was running 13.4 ..... clearly, DRIVER ERROR!!

So yeah, on average, an A4 is much "easier" to drive (and drive quickly) but an M6 certainly is more FUN . Of course it is .

..... although, in terms of A4's being "easier", for some reason, my Dad has run some REALLY screwed up times with my car ... like high 14's, high 15's, and once I think even a 20?!? (I guess it shifted into 2nd too soon, and ran out the track all the way in 2nd?? ) ..... so my point is, it's still possible to screw up with an A4 as well .

 

but a lot rarer lol

 

Are you trying to eak out every last fraction of a tenth in the 1/4 mile, or are you trying to enjoy your car?

It's just a joy to row gears. No two ways about it. M6 all the way. You get so used to it that you'll actually go into "auto-pilot" mode in traffic. You don't think about it. Your feet and legs just shift.

You other M6-ers feel me on that?