[rayallen]

Beautiful car. I note the manual shift. How many Americans will buy that?

[VladM]

I like the classic style of the original models.

[Medium FormatPro]

Probably aerodynamics. The top speed is around 200 now, and the old one sure wasn't meant for that. Of course, 200 isn't exactly useful day to day, you might be willing to give up 70mph for a better look.

Some third party companies are already making kits that will make the new one look a bit more retro - but at a substantial cost. One would lose a considerable amount of value in the car. Also a notable 25%++ loss in performance with third party parts for the sake of appearance

[Medium FormatPro]

note the manual shift. How many Americans will buy that

Take a look at the dealer specs and also the reselling ones for any corvette. The corvettes with non manual transmissions don't sell all too well and also don't demand the higher prices that the used ones get with manuals

[DanWeso]

Beautiful car. I note the manual shift. How many Americans will buy that?

I would not buy one if it did not have a manual shift. It’s all part of the driving experience.

[bullitt_60]

Beautiful car. I note the manual shift. How many Americans will buy that?

It has been a few years since I have seen a figure, but it is typically 50% sold are manuals.

[bullitt_60]

From what I've seen, it looks good, but does it go? I'm not talking about straight-line stuff. Anything with a big V8 can do straight-line stuff. But does it go round corners? The only Corvette I've ever been in or driven was, from my unreliable memory, a 1970 or thereabouts 454. This was in 1973. My impressions were that it made a lovely noise, it was quite quick, it wasn't responsive (it was like a truck) and it was a pig to corner. However, I have a friend who had a much later model, C6 perhaps?, that was a really good car. I really hope that this one is good.

Even though I'm a devoted Saab driver, I'm not an American car basher.

Richard.

Yes, GM started to make handling a priority with the C5 in '97. Some models of C6 are among the quickest cars in the world. They are not easy at the limit however.

[Pheo]

This is the first modern vette I've seen which I've thought wow I'd buy that

If I was in the US and therefore didn't have corners on the roads / European fuel prices!

I would say those older designs, although lovely, wouldn't pass crash and padestrian saftey regulations

[Ratmagiclady]

I'm personally really tired of the whole retro design craze... Actually I was over it a long time ago.

The new car is very modern, and very, very good looking. It should make one hell of a race car too.

I like it. Fastbackey!

It's been a while since they seem to have had a really different look, or one I was really 'ooh' about.

Looks like the gas mileage isn't supposed to be obscene, either. (Presumably unless you really step on the gas. )


Actually I generally approve of the retro designs: otherwise it seems most new cars still don't realy have anything more distinctive about them. I was kind of hoping the new Dodge Dart would be more so. But maybe they could make a retro Duster for a coupe or something. That'd be pretty spiff. And I think very doable: little car, big trunk, it'd be cute.


I definitely have trouble seeing anyone wanting to buy a Corvette that's not a standard, but then again I've never driven a car with paddle shifters. Though I presume some people like em. (I suppose they might be a bit of prudence if I for some reason wanted a car with that much horsepower, in case of sudden arthritic flareups. Wouldn't want to drop the clutch and end up in a tree or something. )

[Medium FormatPro]

It has been a few years since I have seen a figure, but it is typically 50% sold are manuals.

Throughout america actually a majority of vehicles are in fact automatics - or variations of such. But for true sports cars & also performance models the stats are considerably different.

And for those that either live throughout Europe or even are able to travel to there... A majority of vehicles do have standard transmissions. As a matter of fact it is a rather major pain to try to find rental places that even have automatics beyond very limited availability

[gofour3]

Throughout america actually a majority of vehicles are in fact automatics - or variations of such. But for true sports cars & also performance models the stats are considerably different.

And for those that either live throughout Europe or even are able to travel to there... A majority of vehicles do have standard transmissions. As a matter of fact it is a rather major pain to try to find rental places that even have automatics beyond very limited availability

Canada is the same way with automatics. It's too hard to drink your morning Tim's and text while driving a manual transmission!

Phil.

[lesmore49]

Canada is the same way with automatics. It's too hard to drink your morning Tim's and text while driving a manual transmission!

Phil.

Unfortunately the case that many...most...cars and light trucks in Canada are automatics. I've had vehicles since 1965 and driven commercial trucks, cars...all sorts, motorcycles and drove and had nothing but standard transmissions until I was around 31 or so.

I find standards give you more control, particularly in snow or on ice, especially around curves and downhill...ie; engine braking in vehicles with standards are much better, unless the automatic equipped engine has a engine retarder or engine brake....but that's invariably only in diesel highway tractors, although some HD pickups with diesels have them now.

As you say...juggling you morning Tim's...while attempting to downshift your 6 speed ZF....while in a corner...with heavy snow cover might present problems.

Good thing about standards...a lot of car thieves don't know how to shift a manual...so avoid standards.

The other thing is motorcycles still use standard....although I'm amazed that Harley Davidson hasn't come up with an automatic for their Harley cruisers.

[monochrome]

Probably aerodynamics. The top speed is around 200 now, and the old one sure wasn't meant for that. Of course, 200 isn't exactly useful day to day, you might be willing to give up 70mph for a better look.

At 130 or so a stock '63 began to experience nose lift. Look at the "splitter" on a GranSport.

[gofour3]

Unfortunately the case that many...most...cars and light trucks in Canada are automatics. I've had vehicles since 1965 and driven commercial trucks, cars...all sorts, motorcycles and drove and had nothing but standard transmissions until I was around 31 or so.

I find standards give you more control, particularly in snow or on ice, especially around curves and downhill...ie; engine braking in vehicles with standards are much better, unless the automatic equipped engine has a engine retarder or engine brake....but that's invariably only in diesel highway tractors, although some HD pickups with diesels have them now.

As you say...juggling you morning Tim's...while attempting to downshift your 6 speed ZF....while in a corner...with heavy snow cover might present problems.

Good thing about standards...a lot of car thieves don't know how to shift a manual...so avoid standards.

The other thing is motorcycles still use standard....although I'm amazed that Harley Davidson hasn't come up with an automatic for their Harley cruisers.

Yep I agree with you about standards, I've also only driven them for the last 20 years.

Also as previously mentioned knowing how to drive a standard in Europe is a must.

Phil.

[RichardS]

Unfortunately the case that many...most...cars and light trucks in Canada are automatics. I've had vehicles since 1965 and driven commercial trucks, cars...all sorts, motorcycles and drove and had nothing but standard transmissions until I was around 31 or so.

I find standards give you more control, particularly in snow or on ice, especially around curves and downhill...ie; engine braking in vehicles with standards are much better, unless the automatic equipped engine has a engine retarder or engine brake....but that's invariably only in diesel highway tractors, although some HD pickups with diesels have them now.

As you say...juggling you morning Tim's...while attempting to downshift your 6 speed ZF....while in a corner...with heavy snow cover might present problems.

Good thing about standards...a lot of car thieves don't know how to shift a manual...so avoid standards.

The other thing is motorcycles still use standard....although I'm amazed that Harley Davidson hasn't come up with an automatic for their Harley cruisers.

I've had a couple of automatics, but they were company cars and I didn't have much choice. Though, come to think of it, I did have a manual Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo company car in the mid 1980s. It was sort-of OK, but it had a bad habit of changing lanes instantly if it ran over something as big as, say, a 20c coin while under full acceleration. Torque-steer on steroids.

My father decided to stop driving late last year at the age of 88. He was still driving a manual Saab 9-3 turbo. "I'm not old enough to drive an automatic."

It's in my genes

Apart from enjoying driving a manual, one of the benefits for me is that older Saab 900 Aero (SPG) manuals have gone up in price in Oz over the last few years. The current used car price of the one I'm selling is three times as high as it was around 8 years ago. I think it's the only one for sale in the country. That wasn't the reason I hung out for a year trying to find a manual 9-3 V6 Aero (2006 to 2009), but it doesn't hurt to think that I have a rare car.

Perhaps the reason why manual Corvettes are more desirable than autos is that the type of person who buys a Corvette is more likely to be interested in driving rather than posing and the manual gearbox is a given.

I'm not going to comment on the dilemma caused by dual-clutch boxes. As for juggling your early-morning Tim's ... Cup Holders. You know they make sense. No more asking your wife to hold your cup while you change gear. Solution!

Richard.