CJREDLINE said:
Wonder how much more power and TQ is lost through an auto ? I mean compared to the manual tranny ? Also does the shifter area look alot different on the Auto ? I know there will be the selector slide. I just wonder if it looks as good as a manual on the interior.
None. The GM engineers said 0-60 times are faster with the automatic then the manual. Here are a couple post that had discussions with the engineers from the Solstic forum.
Please see attached post:
First Post :
I spoke with the engineer at the Solstice Meet when looking at the Mean GXP on display. I asked him some questions in regards to the performance peramiters of the GXP. Specifically, concerning the difference between the automatic GXP and the 5-speed. I asked him if the 5-speed would be able to keep up with the automatic, and also what could we expect in regards to times to 60mph. He said that the GXP automatic on a good run could hit 5.2 and on a really good run 5.1. He said that the 5-speed could hit 5.4 or on some good runs 5.3, due to the loss in shifting the 5-speed. At the time I didn't know anything about this extra additional part or "piece" that would enhance performance that was announced by frankc on July 17th. It's possible that the engineer may have known about this performance enhancement. I don't know? This engineer was involved in the development on the engine. Thought this might be helpful to the future GXP owners. This was the same gentleman that addressed the group and answered questions at the Banquet.
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#1 On my local GXP list at MSRP
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Second post :
You had a very interesting conversation with the enginner. Wish I could
have been there but I was at Salt Lake ALMS race with the C6R's where
it was 107 deg-hot!
BUT, I had come to a conclustion to buy the automatic based on the fact
that modern automatics can shift faster than you can and you can get
immediate quick acceleration with the quick downshift of an automatic.
The engineer that you talked to confirms my guess that the auto was
as fast and in this case faster than the stick.
But then I had a conversation with a GM powertrain engineer very
familar with the auto in the Solstice and was told in no uncertain terms
I should buy the stick, so I changed my order. But I did not get a chance
to have the engineer outline the complete details of the reasons to change.
I suspect as the previous post has noted that the characteristics of the
auto deaden the throttle response somewhat and that was the reason for
the suggestion I received. Where the auto shines is the modern ones, if
programmed with higher pressures etc, will shift faster than you can with
a stick. If you like drag racing over road race response, it appears the auto
may be better.