[evanescent03]

Anyone using the 8spd at the track? before my m3 with DCT I had only used manual trannies at the track. The DCT was awesome too though. Since I'm going to daily driving the car so much I'm thinking of going 8AT. the auto is pretty impressive at keeping the power steady. My biggest concern would be the car having cooling issues as I hear some autos suffer from.

anyone use these or know anyone who does?

thanks!

[evanescent03]

so I did some more searching .. I see some people commented negatively about the car shifting at unwanted times (driving through a turn & upshift) and about having a hard time determining what gear the trans was in (quiet car, shifts so smooth they may go unnoticed..?)

the first problem, not holding gears, I think should be partially fixed by putting he car in the manual shift setting and taking that control back. I think I've heard it still shifts if you are bouncing off redline but maybe I'd just avoid doing that.

it seems like after doing a few laps and keeping it in manual you should probably know what gear you're in for different sections so that may not be a HUGE issue but with a manual you DEFINITELY know what gear you just put it in.

these issues seem to pop up in some of the big YouTube reviews but seem to be non-issues for other people. maybe I should get the manual to solve these problems, but the smooth/quick shifts of the auto is still alluring. that and I have to wear big ol' boots to work and shifting is much less fun with size 13 boots :-/

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by evanescent03

Anyone using the 8spd at the track? before my m3 with DCT I had only used manual trannies at the track. The DCT was awesome too though. Since I'm going to daily driving the car so much I'm thinking of going 8AT. the auto is pretty impressive at keeping the power steady. My biggest concern would be the car having cooling issues as I hear some autos suffer from.

anyone use these or know anyone who does?

thanks!

I didn't have any cooling issues.

DS works pretty well specially as it gives you more time to concentrate on the road than on shifting gears and if you don't like how DS shifts then you can always switch to M

[Dattebayo]

The die hard track rats go double clutch auto trans these days as it offers faster track times. You won't ever miss a shift and it will shift faster than any human operating a manual. From a performance point of view, there is very little reason to go for a manual transmission anymore as the double clutch auto/manual transmissions have come a long way. BMW and Porsche probably make the best ones on the market these days.

With that said, I personally went manual transmission, not for performance, but for more the enjoyment and leisure of driving. I find it more fun to drive spiritedly with a MT vs the auto. Given it is most likely slower, but that is not really a primary concern of mine.

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

I didn't have any cooling issues.

DS works pretty well specially as it gives you more time to concentrate on the road than on shifting gears and if you don't like how DS shifts then you can always switch to M

I like shifting the DCT myself bc it doesn't take much effort and do I know what gear I'm in and increases engagement ... I just don't want it upshifting if I'm maintaining redline but I'm not usually going to shift that late anyway.

glad to hear no cooling issues! thanks for the feedback!

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by Dattebayo

The die hard track rats go double clutch auto trans these days as it offers faster track times. You won't ever miss a shift and it will shift faster than any human operating a manual. From a performance point of view, there is very little reason to go for a manual transmission anymore as the double clutch auto/manual transmissions have come a long way. BMW and Porsche probably make the best ones on the market these days.

With that said, I personally went manual transmission, not for performance, but for more the enjoyment and leisure of driving. I find it more fun to drive spiritedly with a MT vs the auto. Given it is most likely slower, but that is not really a primary concern of mine.

being fast is fine, feeling fast is more important to me since u don't race for pink slips or cash... just HPDE. no doubt it's faster.

I would consider the manual for fun/engagement but wearing boots makes the experience much less fun although doable. the fact that it's a dying breed makes me want MT again.

I didn't mean for this to be a MT vs AT thread .. just wanted to see if anyone drives their car for 20-30 min lapping sessions and verify that it doesn't overheat and go into limp, interfere with shift points much (again after some heat is in it... It sounds like after I gets a bit warm, up shifts happen a bit more slowly).

thanks for the input!

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

I didn't have any cooling issues.

DS works pretty well specially as it gives you more time to concentrate on the road than on shifting gears and if you don't like how DS shifts then you can always switch to M

did you notice slowe shifts after driving hard for a session? was it a warm, cold, cool day?

thanks!

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by evanescent03

did you notice slowe shifts after driving hard for a session? was it a warm, cold, cool day?

thanks!

Around 75. Didn't notice any difference in shift speed.

Also in M it won't up shift at redline, it will just bounce

Also this is the same transmission used in the m235 racing I believe, so I would think it should be able to take it

[mike@tpc]

I did a track day in it on the Atlanta Motor Speedway roval. I found that leaving it in sport it did an awesome job, always knowing exactly what gear to be in. For perspective, I'm a NASA instructor and usually drive a fully prepped track only 370Z.