If you've been quietly optimistic that the C8 Corvette might eventually receive a manual transmission option, it's time to let that hope go. Executive chief engineer Tony Roma and vehicle chief engineer Josh Holder delivered the unambiguous message at the 12 Hours of Sebring last weekend: it's not going to happen.
The comments came during an engineering Q&A at Chevrolet's display at Sebring, captured on video by Instagram account Wheelr_ and flagged for us by CorvetteBlogger. The exact question wasn't captured in the clip, but the context was obvious — someone asked about the prospect of fitting the six-speed transaxle that Tremec revealed at SEMA last year into the C8.
"And unfortunately, the answer hasn't changed," Roma said. "Tremec showed something at SEMA last year that I wish they wouldn't have shown. It's not real. So when people say, but there's one that's available, there isn't."
"We don't have any plans to talk about a manual transmission. I love manual transmissions. All I can say is our eight-speed DCT is tremendous. It's awesome. The car is faster and essentially better with the transmission we make."
The Tremec six-speed transaxle had caused quite a stir when it debuted, with Tremec even telling Road & Track that it had physically mounted the unit into a C8 Corvette and confirmed it fit. Tremec also suggested the gearbox could work with the Mustang GTD, since both the C8 and the GTD use Tremec's TR-9080 dual-clutch unit from the factory. According to Tremec, the manual was developed in response to interest from certain companies planning low-volume, high-performance production vehicles.
Regardless of where Tremec's transaxle ultimately ends up, it won't be in a factory Corvette. Roma dismissed it as "not real," and Holder added that there simply isn't sufficient consumer demand for GM to invest in engineering a manual option for the C8.
"Where we are in a for-profit business, we make Corvettes," Holder said. "So all you guys can enjoy the affordability and attainability of America's supercar. But one of the things that makes that true is making good business decisions. And at the end of the seventh-generation lifecycle, the penetration rate of manuals was super low. The market was voting with their wallets, and we didn't get enough votes."
For context, manual transmission take rate across the full C7 generation was 26.6 percent, according to CorvetteBlogger. Holder's point that the rate dropped over the course of the generation is accurate, but 26.6 percent is still a meaningful share of buyers.
