Chevy L99 Auto vs. Dodge 5 spd "Auto-Stick"

[ChevyBoiSS]

Ok, my friend has a Daytona R/T Charger with the 5.7L HEMI engine and Dodges 5 speed "Auto-Stick" transmission. You can throw the shifter in the last Drive and it has slots to the left and right to shift either up or down using their tiptronic technology (Tap-Shift)

This is extremely fun since its right there on there on the shifter sort of like a traditional manual just w/o the clutch. I was under the impression this was how Chevy was going to do theirs... (I ADMIT IVE NEVER DRIVEN A CAR WITH SHIFTERS ON THE STEERING WHEEL)

But anyone dissapointed?? Anyone like Dodges setup better than Chevy's??

(Please dont want the Sarcastic Responses alot of people get around here, im a new poster but a long time reader.)

[Nexus6]

No one has really driven them yet.you may want to ask some corvette owners.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Personally, I prefer the Camaro's style.

I drove a CTS and a G8 GT with the Charger's style shifter...and it just felt..."heavy" to me. Not crisp in any sense of the word, imo. I have yet to drive a paddle-shifter vehicle, but I sat in a 'Vette and played with that version (which is slightly different than Camaro's) and the driver engagement seemed more sporty to me.

[headpunter]

yeah the gear shifting with the selector in the center doesnt seem as fun as the steering wheel mounted shifters from my experience.

[Dan]

When it comes to transmissions, Dodge always loses.

[jtallen123]

I've driven both, granted the one with paddles behind the wheel was a Honda Fit I test drove. I must say if I was interested in an automatic I'd want the shifting options properly placed behind the steering wheel. I'm a big racing game fan, so maybe that influences things too. Just my 2 non-inflation adjusted cents.

[DGthe3]

I've driven an Aura with the wheel mounted shifters. It threw me off with the push/pull. I up shifted with the right and then tried to down shift with the left but it up shifted again.

[ChevyBoiSS]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Personally, I prefer the Camaro's style.

I drove a CTS and a G8 GT with the Charger's style shifter...and it just felt..."heavy" to me. Not crisp in any sense of the word, imo. I have yet to drive a paddle-shifter vehicle, but I sat in a 'Vette and played with that version (which is slightly different than Camaro's) and the driver engagement seemed more sporty to me.

Yeah and i also noticed their is a bit of a delay between shifting like almost a full second.. i guess this is do to the computer actually initating the gear shift not directly from the console itself. Maybe the camaro wont have this delay?

[MajorTom]

Originally Posted by ChevyBoiSS

Yeah and i also noticed their is a bit of a delay between shifting like almost a full second.. i guess this is do to the computer actually initating the gear shift not directly from the console itself. Maybe the camaro wont have this delay?

There is a slight delay and it's quite the bummer. People thinking the auto is going to be as fast as an F1 gearbox are going to be disappointed.

My brother has a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP with the paddle shifters without any aftermarket tuning and there's a noticeable delay between the tap and the shift.

[ChevyBoiSS]

Originally Posted by MajorTom

There is a slight delay and it's quite the bummer. People thinking the auto is going to be as fast as an F1 gearbox are going to be disappointed.

My brother has a Pontiac Grand Prix GXP with the paddle shifters without any aftermarket tuning and there's a noticeable delay between the tap and the shift.

Yeah i wonder if people buying the automatic realize that.. And the rumors before about the auto being faster i knew it couldnt be true but still im not going to cry about 22 horsepower which im not going to be able to tell the difference in city driving anyway.

[MajorTom]

Originally Posted by ChevyBoiSS

Yeah i wonder if people buying the automatic realize that.. And the rumors before about the auto being faster i knew it couldnt be true but still im not going to cry about 22 horsepower which im not going to be able to tell the difference in city driving anyway.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the 22 hp either.

And I had no trouble believing the auto would be faster. I know it's usually manuals that are faster, but over at the GTO board, most of the fastest guys are autos. Granted they're usually modded cars, but still faster. The list of fastest stock times I believe was lead by a very experienced manual driver. The car was notoriously difficult to launch well so that accounts for the auto being faster in that case.


Although I will say I'm at least a little happy that they're projecting faster times for the manual because that's what I intend to get.

[Mblock66]

My subaru legacy GT has both. It has steering wheel shifters and you can also shift down on the stick. They both do the same thing but it is just which you like better. When I want to go into sport mode I NEVER use the steering wheel shifters. I 100% of the time use the stick. The reason is that during a turn it is impossible to use the shifting properly.

I am not talking about a 90 degree turn where you should already be in the correct gear until you come out of the turn. I mean any slight turn of the wheel. You are concentrating on the turn angle and if a grear change is needed you need to change your hand positioning too much and it really hard to do. With the stick you still steer as you would and bang up or down to change the gear. It is just so much more natural.

Its kinda hard to explain but picture yourself in the 10 and 2 position racing around a right turn ( so now your hands are like 12 and 4) and your arms are slightly twisted and try to imagine holding that position while pressing a button or pulling it. Its really not comfortable and to me even safe.

[CHVY4LF]

It has both pros and cons, it felt and shifted good on the wheel as in a corvette and i never liked dodge due to the fact that it will only downshift if it wants to. but the downside i have found is that during a turn it is nearly impossible to make a shift while the wheel is turned

[Tal]

Well the 6L80 is shared by the Corvette and supposedly GM has improved it's auto downshift times by 70% and upshifts by 50% which if the same improvements are shared with the Camaro should be much more tolerable than the slow manumatics of GM's past. If this is the case I'll give the auto a good look, if it's not I'll take a manual and deal with traffic the same way I always have. But more OT, I prefer the Camaro style paddle shifters over an autostick but either is better than than the wierd push/pull GM's done in past steering wheel shifters IMO.