Starting off the weekend on a high note, Edmunds reports that a healthy percentage of Chevrolet Corvette Stingray customers are opting for the seven-speed manual transmission, and an even higher number are checking the "Z51 Performance Package" box on the order sheet. This is glorious news, and you should be excited—after all, we're all trying to Save the Manuals, right? Right?
Apparently, a solid 40 percent of Vette buyers are skipping the optional six-speed automatic—soon to be an eight-speeder—and 55 percent are opting for the Z51 kit. We can understand the Z51's appeal, since at $2800, it's a steal: It includes an electronic limited-slip differential, tighter gearing for the manual transmission, bigger brakes, special wheels and tires, a rear spoiler, dry-sump engine lubrication, and additional cooling for the brakes, diff, and transmission.
It helps that ordering the Z51 pack is a prerequisite for selecting GM's excellent Magnetic Ride Control and Performance Traction Management system, but this shows customers are really buying into the Vette's substantial performance credibility. Or at least want to look like they are. As for the manual take rate, while the manual-auto mix is often more evenly matched in performance cars, Chevrolet's 40-percent claim is impressive nonetheless. In most non-performance cars that offer a manual, buyers opting for the stick amount to a paltry 10 percent at best.
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Still, there are beacons of hope for manual-transmission fans, even if they're purely in the performance-car realm. BMW's M5 and M6 are offered with a manual in the U.S.—and nowhere else—purely due to the racket American customers made when BMW wanted to go full-automatic. Chevrolet has seen the light and will add a manual to the SS sedan's option sheet for 2016. And Ford's ST Fiesta and Focus models are manual-only, as they should be. The manual's still kickin', folks.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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