its was only a matter of time... at least they decided to stop production and not continue because its more "cost effective" to fix the problem afterwards...

 

Using cheap parts in a Vette, unbelievable.

Too much torque + too little wt, just can't be good.

The Supra's Getrag 6spd is found stock on 1000+rwhp cars.

 

the current trend is trying to get the highest power and torque out of an engine, without improving the other critical areas.

Highest power/torque does always not mean FASTEST car, or MOST ENJOYABLE car.

I think there are much more areas, like handling, reducing the weight, trying to improve fuel consumption, etc... that can be improved.
Just increasing the power on a car without doing the rest is just too easy ...

 

Yeah, so remember the other thread we had a while back with people talking about how great the new Vette is?

Well, what do you say now? Don't tell me it's a normal thing to completely shut down a production line, and don't tell me that it's indicative of a great car, either.

OWN3D.

 

Name one car that can do this better than the vette that's not a 4 banger.

Wantanewlex,
It's shameful they have to do this, and it's embarassing that this happened, especially for me because I've been one of the Vette praisers for as long as I've been on this board. I don't think that one tranny failure totally destroys this car however. Yes it's bad and I'm NOT excusing it, but like said before, the freakin' LS had to have trannys replaced and I didn't hardly hear a peep out of anyone here. Are TLs and Accords bad cars because of their tranny issue? I believe it's your sooby tranny that kinda has a rep for being made of glass right?

Engines and engine numbers sell cars. ALL car companies need to look at all aspects of the powertrain when beefing up power. MB couldn't use their brand new 7 series on the new AMGs because they couldn't handle the torque. In C&Ds Supercar shootout, a CL55 with just a little more boost had the 5 spd tranny crap out on it. Nothing's bulletproof.

James

 

Keep in mind that the Bowling Green plant is not only the home of Corvettes now, but the Cadillac XLR roadster as well, which is built on the same platform. This may or may not affect the Cadillac transmissions, which are set up to be comewhat different from the 'Vette trannies....smoother shifts, quieter operation, wider ratios, etc...... They also are hooked to a special longitudinally-mounted 320 HP Northstar rather than the Corvette LS1 / LS2 5.7L.

 

Um, there's a difference between replacing a few trannies (or a couple thousand) and COMPLETELY SHUTTING DOWN A FACTORY DUE TO CATASTROPHIC FLAWS IN DESIGN/PRODUCTION.

Yes, some of the WRX 5-speeds are weaksauce. This problem as been corrected for late '04 and '05 models, and the WRX, XT models, and new Legacies are using reinforced transmissions. Not a complete solution, but nothing much to worry about.

Also, there's a difference between losing some teeth or a gear, and having the car simply decide to pop out of gear while in motion.

Additionally, my car did not cost $40K, and is not touted as the supreme American sports car.

They raise expectations that high, and they deserve to be brought to their knees by something like this.

 

not 100% sure on this, but I heard that the plant was just shut down for the afternoon for precautionary reasons due to a tranny bug.

 

NOT good for vetts, but C6 is such a great car

 

Well, it shows here that maybe GM is finally getting more careful about how it puts their cars together. Like some Chrysler products, they have a long history of weak transmissions.....from the practice in the late 1970's and early 80's of using 6-cylinder trannies on V8's to try and save money, to the awkward and unreliable X-car trannies, to the recent CVT's on Saturns that have not held up, and many other instances. It will be interesting to see how Bob Lutz handles this as GM's top exec....he has a reputation of being a no-nonsense guy, and was a big proponent of the new Cadillac XLR roadster....which is built in the same plant.

 

Good point. Better shut down now and fix now that later like the Acura tranny fiasco.

 

Guys
Let's try a different approach here. Is there not a chance that in the old days, the plant would have kept running until they found the issue? Maybe, just maybe, GM has got its act together and wants these cars to be right - so they took the unusual step of shutting it down, cost be damned, to get the issue fixed.

I'm betting this happens a lot more than we know of - but you probably don't hear about it. I assure you that if it happened on the line that builds any Lexus we would not hear about it.

 

Yes, doug...we know that Lexus trannies are not always perfect either. The IS300, ES300, and GS300 have all had owner complaints about erratic shifting and factory ECM reprogrammings. Some complete transmissions have been replaced.

 

Good points Doug. My main gripe is that it happened at all. It just is kinda a tarnish point on the Corvette's record, which is doubted internationally (you all saw the Top Gear).

James

 

Well, Jim, things are occasionally going to happen. Today's cars are complex, and the plants that build them have to be even more complex. What is remarkable is that today's cars, with a couple of exceptions, are as reliable as they are, given their huge complexity....and it seems that the more complex they become, the better they get.
The one MAJOR recent exception, of course, has been Mercedes-Benz. Their cars have been going downhill for years.