6MT vs. Auto (track times)
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From elsewhere on the net.D_Nyholm said:
Top NA ET's - Stock:
1)13.10 @ 107.3 MPH
2)13.1 @ 106.34 MPH
3)13.136 @ 105.76 MPH
4)13.198 @ 104.15 MPH
5)13.248 105.99 MPH
6)13.28 @ 104.4 MPH
7)13.390 @ 104.54 MPH
8)13.3 @ 104.00 MPH
9)13.393 @ 105.10 MPH
10)13.488 @ 104.75 MPH
These are all M6s, but keep in mind some of these are freaks of nature. On average an M6 will do between 13.4 and 13.8, an A4 between 13.5 and 13.9.
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I've only been driving my '05 manual a couple of weeks, and I certainly don't have any track times to share, but I can tell you I'm convinced that in a side-by-side, manual-versus-automatic comparison of two otherwise identical, right-out-of-the-box '05 GTOs, the automatic would have the edge for most drivers.
Pontiac's own literature on the GTO shows an advantage of one-tenth of a second for the auto in 0-60 times, and that edge holds through the quarter-mile. I'm assuming those times are from an expert test driver, so we can generally presume that none of us could do any better in coaxing our manual-equipped GTOs to faster times.
The automotive press has given the automatic GTO a little flak for having an old-fashioned four-speed transmission, but the auto GTO doesn't appear to care that it's being criticized: It blasts to 60 faster that just about any German or Japanese seven-speed, paddle-shifted auto-manual out there.
I got a manual simply because I like the additional involvement it affords. That being said, it's taken me a few days to be as proficient with this six-speed as I'd like, and I still have more learning to do. I had a six-speed '01 Corvette before the GTO, and a six-speed '94 Z28 before that. I think the criticism some auto writers have leveled at this manual is generally fair. It really is a bit notchy, and notchiness is the enemy of smoothness, which is essential in keeping up a head of steam while accelerating. But it's not beyond mastery, and every day that passes I feel like I'm making more seamless shifts.
I've grown to really like this transmission. It's genuinely fun. And I've gotta tell ya--leaving the palm of your hand on the shifter while driving provides a "magic fingers" pulsation that's so spine-tingling, it almost feels lascivious! That alone would convince me to choose the manual over the auto.
Pontiac's own literature on the GTO shows an advantage of one-tenth of a second for the auto in 0-60 times, and that edge holds through the quarter-mile. I'm assuming those times are from an expert test driver, so we can generally presume that none of us could do any better in coaxing our manual-equipped GTOs to faster times.
The automotive press has given the automatic GTO a little flak for having an old-fashioned four-speed transmission, but the auto GTO doesn't appear to care that it's being criticized: It blasts to 60 faster that just about any German or Japanese seven-speed, paddle-shifted auto-manual out there.
I got a manual simply because I like the additional involvement it affords. That being said, it's taken me a few days to be as proficient with this six-speed as I'd like, and I still have more learning to do. I had a six-speed '01 Corvette before the GTO, and a six-speed '94 Z28 before that. I think the criticism some auto writers have leveled at this manual is generally fair. It really is a bit notchy, and notchiness is the enemy of smoothness, which is essential in keeping up a head of steam while accelerating. But it's not beyond mastery, and every day that passes I feel like I'm making more seamless shifts.
I've grown to really like this transmission. It's genuinely fun. And I've gotta tell ya--leaving the palm of your hand on the shifter while driving provides a "magic fingers" pulsation that's so spine-tingling, it almost feels lascivious! That alone would convince me to choose the manual over the auto.
Well, a friend of mine is looking at getting the auto (his wife can't drive stick). Of course, I want him to get the manual. If there was a perfomance difference, I could probably sway him to get the manual, but it doesn't seem that way. He is selling his 93 Camaro with a 383 stroker that runs 12.3 @118 on street tires (of course it is a 6MT). Oh well, the auto will still be a blast, and a hell of a lot more fun to drive than the camaro!!! 
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