Originally Posted by sonic370 (Post 1443780)

Well this ain't your grandpa's slush box PERIOD...
Has anyone driven the mustang or camero AT. how do they compare?
i'll stick my neck out say they don't, close but not quite....

imho it comes down to personal choice were all z owners here
so we all win...............

iv'e owned both but it was the paddles that sold me just had to have them!!

Originally Posted by wstar (Post 1442510)

Don't know the status of the GT-R or other PDK/DSG-type transmissions on the automatic downshifts. However, on our 7AT it's really more of a help than a hinderance. If you're actively managing your downshifts you'll be hitting that button way before the TCM does it for you. The TCM downshifts at a pathetically low RPM just to prevent a long-period loss of lockup (or for that matter, engine shutoff eventually) due to low RPMs. If you're not actively managing downshifts (e.g. coming down to a red light in normal everyday street traffic), just let it do its thing and it'll keep you in the right gear for a very mild and fuel-efficient takeoff when traffic starts moving again :)

Originally Posted by wstar (Post 1444118)

Really the reason I stand up and advocate the 7AT so much is because otherwise it gets **** on a lot just out of the general "sportscars aren't autos" mindset, and it's a fine choice :). So that aside keep in mind they're both fine options, the car rocks with either one, and there's a long list of minor perfectionist quibbles people will make about both of them. I wouldn't let that list stand in the way of a decision though: just pick what you're gonna be happier driving :).

Originally Posted by ImportConvert (Post 1444202)

Just read...traction control is not defeatable with a7? NO burnout possible?

Originally Posted by Triple's (Post 1444220)

Thats impossible!!! You need to test drive one and STOP reading BS

You need only to turn off the VDC and floor it!!

Originally Posted by ImportConvert (Post 1444222)

It was an auto magazine review. I'm on my phone or I would link it. I took it as credible being as it was an automag test drive feature. But its total bs?
(I don't feel ok doing burn outs on a test drive. I don't even do them in my car, but to NOT be able to would grit at me.)

Originally Posted by wstar (Post 1439946)

In particular, aside from (beginner-mode, imho) tracking my 7AT, I also come from a background of driving a stick (6-speed LS1, in a '99 Trans Am actually) for about a decade before I switched to the 7AT. My shifting necessity/habits haven't changed at all: I drive my 7AT in M-mode always, so I'm always picking my gear like I was used to doing driving manual.

To me, the main downside of crappy/traditional autos is just not being able to tell the car what gear you want to be in. The car *cannot know* what the appropriate gear is. A traditional auto only really has 3 inputs to its gear selection algorithm: RPM, Accel Pedal Position, and Current Speed. None of those account for all of the other factors that go into a manual gearing decision, most of which have to do with seeing/knowing what's on the road in front of you and knowing what you plan to do about it.

With an AT like our 7AT though, that factor's gone. You get to control the gearing all the time. And in that rare sacrilegious moment when you decide you just have to eat a burger in the car while driving somewhere, or let some chick drive your drunk *** home, you can flip it to D and act like a grandma.

All in all, I love the 7AT. As jnaut said: get a cooler on it before doing anything serious. Also, ignore the fact that the Service Manual says the fluid doesn't need to be replaced for life. I'd replace it every 20K miles or so on the street, or more often tracking.

It's not perfect, it's not a DSG/PDK -type thing, but for the price range it's a damn fine compromise and performs well IMHO.