Pontiac Solstice Forum - View Single Post - What will the performance difference be between the 5 Speed and the Automatic?

But so far no one answered the question. There have been lots of slams about buying an automatic.

By the way I have been driving standard transmissions for the last thirty-four years and drive one (88 Fireo GT 5 speed) to work everyday. I also have a 5 speed in my truck and put a 10,000# trailer with it. I think I know how to drive a standard transmission. How many of you have lost the clutch linkage and had to shift without the clutch? I had that happen on 2 cars. The first car was a 64 NOVA SS with bored out 283 and 4 speed. Broke the clutch cross shaft 4 times, because it had a racing clutch. The other car was a 65 Corvair Corsa Convertible that I broke the clutch cable. Drove the cars home by starting in first gear and power shifting. How many of you have shifted without using clutch?

There are several reasons why I may go with and automatic. The first one is that my wife prefers to drive an automatic. Yes, she can drive a standard buy prefers to drive an automatic. Second, I work at a place that requires 100% ID check at the entrance. This can take anywhere from 1-2 minutes to longer then ½ hour. On a daily basis this gets tedious. Third is traffic.

Did you know that this transmission (Hydra-matic 5L40-E) has a feature call Drive Shift Control (DSC)? This feature is available on the Cadillac. “The CTS adds the Driver Shift Control DSC) feature, which allows the driver to manually select gears using the shift lever in a special console gate position.” I don’t know if it is available on these cars.

I am still looking at getting an assessment of what the differences might be.

Thanks

	ILVMYGT Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Port Orchard WA	But so far no one answered the question. There have been lots of slams about buying an automatic. By the way I have been driving standard transmissions for the last thirty-four years and drive one (88 Fireo GT 5 speed) to work everyday. I also have a 5 speed in my truck and put a 10,000# trailer with it. I think I know how to drive a standard transmission. How many of you have lost the clutch linkage and had to shift without the clutch? I had that happen on 2 cars. The first car was a 64 NOVA SS with bored out 283 and 4 speed. Broke the clutch cross shaft 4 times, because it had a racing clutch. The other car was a 65 Corvair Corsa Convertible that I broke the clutch cable. Drove the cars home by starting in first gear and power shifting. How many of you have shifted without using clutch? There are several reasons why I may go with and automatic. The first one is that my wife prefers to drive an automatic. Yes, she can drive a standard buy prefers to drive an automatic. Second, I work at a place that requires 100% ID check at the entrance. This can take anywhere from 1-2 minutes to longer then ½ hour. On a daily basis this gets tedious. Third is traffic. Did you know that this transmission (Hydra-matic 5L40-E) has a feature call Drive Shift Control (DSC)? This feature is available on the Cadillac. “The CTS adds the Driver Shift Control DSC) feature, which allows the driver to manually select gears using the shift lever in a special console gate position.” I don’t know if it is available on these cars. I am still looking at getting an assessment of what the differences might be. Thanks