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First drive: Corvette Stingray Automatic
Would you really want the mighty new Corvette without a stick? Pat Devereux finds out
Pat Devereux
28 August 2014
So, what's new?
Following the industry trend - driven by ever lower emissions and greater performance - Chevy has slotted a new eight-speed automatic transmission in place of the old six-cog auto changer into the Stingray (and its heavy V8 trucks).
But shunning the same trend to use a ZF gearbox and just run their own shift program, like half a dozen carmakers, GM has actually designed and built this unit - codenamed GM 8L90 - itself. And it's a pretty tidy piece of kit, too. Despite having two more gears in the stack, the new box is several kilos lighter than the outgoing unit.
But I'll bet its change times aren't a patch on the best double clutch boxes...
Well, bet away. But you will lose almost every time. The GM box, which was benchmarked against the Porsche 911's PDK, doesn't just match that industry leading unit's swapping times - it also beats some of them. Plus it shaves another tenth off the 0-60mph time and quarter mile.
That's impressive - how does it drive?
The GM engineers have done their homework on this one. While you can swap the gears yourself with the paddles, if you just leave it in drive with the clever Performance Traction Management (PTM) engaged, it does a fine job of adding and subtracting gears itself according to the conditions.
Full Review: First drive: Corvette Stingray Automatic - BBC Top Gear
Would you really want the mighty new Corvette without a stick? Pat Devereux finds out
Pat Devereux
28 August 2014
So, what's new?
Following the industry trend - driven by ever lower emissions and greater performance - Chevy has slotted a new eight-speed automatic transmission in place of the old six-cog auto changer into the Stingray (and its heavy V8 trucks).
But shunning the same trend to use a ZF gearbox and just run their own shift program, like half a dozen carmakers, GM has actually designed and built this unit - codenamed GM 8L90 - itself. And it's a pretty tidy piece of kit, too. Despite having two more gears in the stack, the new box is several kilos lighter than the outgoing unit.
But I'll bet its change times aren't a patch on the best double clutch boxes...
Well, bet away. But you will lose almost every time. The GM box, which was benchmarked against the Porsche 911's PDK, doesn't just match that industry leading unit's swapping times - it also beats some of them. Plus it shaves another tenth off the 0-60mph time and quarter mile.
That's impressive - how does it drive?
The GM engineers have done their homework on this one. While you can swap the gears yourself with the paddles, if you just leave it in drive with the clever Performance Traction Management (PTM) engaged, it does a fine job of adding and subtracting gears itself according to the conditions.
Full Review: First drive: Corvette Stingray Automatic - BBC Top Gear
