# A4 v. M6



## GOGOGTO! (May 5, 2006)

Im new here and wanting a new '06 GTO but i don't know the difference between the A4 and the M6. Could anyone help me out. Is the A4 even and '06 option anymore, im just confused?


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## Clueless (Mar 2, 2006)

The A4 is shorthand for a 4-speed automatic transmission, and the M6 is the 6-speed manual (stick shift) transmission. Both are options for all 3 years of the GTO. With 06s, the A4 is usually a bit easier to find, IMO, because the M6s sell a bit faster, leaving more A4s on the lot. (Note that I'm not saying that M6s are better--it is all personal preference, and an A4 and M6 Goat are very similar in quarter mile times--it seems to depend mostly on the driver).

If you can drive both transmissions, it is personal preference. Some people have physical restrictions that limit them to the A4 (ie, bad knees or some other problem). Some people have to share the GTO with a significant other which may limit their transmission choices. If you don't know how to drive a stick yet but are wanting to learn, I've heard the GTO is very forgiving for learning a stick on, though I would personally recommend learning on a lower-performance vehicle, especially if you have not driven many performance vehicles before.


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## EEZ GOAT (Jul 9, 2005)

> [Some people have to share the GTO with a significant other which may limit their transmission choices./QUOTE]
> thats me :agree


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## C5ORGTO (Dec 30, 2004)

And if you get a 6-speed, its likely your wife won't drive it. Mine doesn't.


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## gwballin (Apr 25, 2006)

My girlfriend actually taught my how to drive a standard. She didn't want me to get the GTO, she was pushing for the charger. She thought it would be more practical. I compromised with her on the color (I was torn between blue/blue and black/red and she said she would not ride in a car with blue seats)



I thought it would only be fair to let her drive it so that she would understand - it was hard to get the key back and now she keeps asking when I'm going to buy her one.


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## RipTheSix (Apr 26, 2006)

*m6*

Dont get a auto, unless you do major city driving...even then. An auto you just drive, a manual, you love to drive. With a manual you have control over your rpms, with the auto you have limited control. There is nothing like rippin through the gears. Look for the other thred on this topic, automatic or manual. :cool


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## GOATGIRL (Feb 6, 2006)

I got the A4 (thank gawd since I drive wayyyyyy tooooo much!). I think it's just a matter of what you like best!


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## GTO-Quikls2 (Mar 21, 2005)

Got the auto and love it.


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## CopperD (Apr 22, 2006)

Good choice. Now you can switch gears faster then the other guys and not have to worry about missing a gear. But sadly we have to lose alittle more power.


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## noz34me (Dec 15, 2005)

IT'S A SPORTS CAR!

Unless you have a physical or mental reason for not want to drive a stick, or most all of what you drive is stop & go, then go for the M6! MHO


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## Taxman (Dec 24, 2005)

I got mine in Manual since it was what I could find, Im still undecided


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## JMVorbeck (Jun 1, 2005)

C5ORGTO said:


> And if you get a 6-speed, its likely your wife won't drive it. Mine doesn't.


Just one more reason I went for the 6. And Hey! Its still had no dings, scratches, food stains and garbage on the inside and it has never been driven over a curb, over a parking block or scraped up against a curb.


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## CopperD (Apr 22, 2006)

JMVorbeck said:


> Just one more reason I went for the 6. And Hey! Its still had no dings, scratches, food stains and garbage on the inside and it has never been driven over a curb, over a parking block or scraped up against a curb.


I think we can all agree on that one :cheers


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## I Stall Automatics (Aug 10, 2005)

CopperD said:


> Good choice. Now you can switch gears faster then the other guys and not have to worry about missing a gear. But sadly we have to lose alittle more power.


I've yet to see an automatic (not including F1 steez) shift faster than a good manual driver.

The manual is more fun.


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## socal gto (Mar 10, 2006)

Don't forget that different people have different ideas of fun. You may have fun shifting, but not everybody wants to. Just like sports some may like basketball while others like baseball. What it comes down to is personal preference.


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## Dragon 32 (Jan 27, 2006)

I went with the M6, cause my wife can't and refuses to learn to drive an M6... See, so if I would of bought an A4 it would be her car by now and I would just get too dirve it sometime's, but since I went with the M6 the GTO's all mine...:willy:


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## bluebyeu05 (Mar 14, 2006)

the driving preferance is urs. if u drive alot go a4 if u dont go m6. i was origanaly going to get the a4 then i drove the m6 what a rush. the saleman i had said ive got a a4 u can drive nope but what clinched the deal was when he told me they raced the m6 vs a4 which car won well lets just say i bought the m6 if that tell u anything . btw the m6 beat the a4 by a car. also u lose hp with the a4 off the bat.


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## J.E.T. (Sep 30, 2005)

I've been into muscle cars since the 60's and never owned a four speed (manual) tranny. Lots of my friends did but it just didn't do anything for me. My son has a new GT with a manual and I drive it from time to time but still would never consider buying one. When you've got almost 500 hp at the rear wheels it's all you can do to keep it straight down the road, believe me.

JET


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## lotaguts (Jan 17, 2006)

bluebyeu05 said:


> the driving preferance is urs. if u drive alot go a4 if u dont go m6. i was origanaly going to get the a4 then i drove the m6 what a rush. the saleman i had said ive got a a4 u can drive nope but what clinched the deal was when he told me they raced the m6 vs a4 which car won well lets just say i bought the m6 if that tell u anything . btw the m6 beat the a4 by a car. also u lose hp with the a4 off the bat.


I would bet the title on my GTO that an M6 vs A4 would not be that much of a difference in a race, a car length no way. Stock Vs Stock, dont get me wrong I have an a4 and love a manual as much as the next guy but my a4 is no slouch shifting through the gears.


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## bluebyeu05 (Mar 14, 2006)

lotaguts said:


> I would bet the title on my GTO that an M6 vs A4 would not be that much of a difference in a race, a car length no way. Stock Vs Stock, dont get me wrong I have an a4 and love a manual as much as the next guy but my a4 is no slouch shifting through the gears.


well that is what he told me . now in my yrs of exp. a auto stock vs a stick stock same hp , the auto will loose. now if big if u know how to shift ur auto u just might be able to beat the stick. now if u want to beat a stick get a good torque converter.


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## GTOfreak (Apr 5, 2005)

bluebyeu05 said:


> well that is what he told me . now in my yrs of exp. a auto stock vs a stick stock same hp , the auto will loose. now if big if u know how to shift ur auto u just might be able to beat the stick. now if u want to beat a stick get a good torque converter.


According to the brochure, the auto is a tenth quicker in the quarter mile, which flies in the face of what the salesman told you.


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## LITTLE GTO (Dec 8, 2005)

I went with the A4 since my 02 Z06 is a stick.


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## bluebyeu05 (Mar 14, 2006)

GTOfreak said:


> According to the brochure, the auto is a tenth quicker in the quarter mile, which flies in the face of what the salesman told you.


 here we go . one thing you have to remember is with a stick you can hold the car in gear longer than a auto. power band 2 and 3rd gear .another thing you have to know is it also a drivers race. now im not going to get into a big debate with you cause i now whats what. another thing you need to look at is if you go to the other forumes and look at dyno #s not every car s hp is the same at rear tires.now as what the salesman said where you there nooo , did you see it nooo was i there no im going to what he told me and after driving the car and being around racing here and thare seeing hearing ext. now it sounds to me like you are wanting to prove me wrong and if thats the case bring it on down and well have a heads up, i havent raced a goat yet.


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## GTOfreak (Apr 5, 2005)

bluebyeu05 said:


> here we go . one thing you have to remember is with a stick you can hold the car in gear longer than a auto. power band 2 and 3rd gear .another thing you have to know is it also a drivers race. now im not going to get into a big debate with you cause i now whats what. another thing you need to look at is if you go to the other forumes and look at dyno #s not every car s hp is the same at rear tires.now as what the salesman said where you there nooo , did you see it nooo was i there no im going to what he told me and after driving the car and being around racing here and thare seeing hearing ext. now it sounds to me like you are wanting to prove me wrong and if thats the case bring it on down and well have a heads up, i havent raced a goat yet.



Settle down there fella. All I did was point out what the factory literature said. We've all driven both sticks and autos, and we've all been around racing, and we all know...um....whats what. I imagine the guys who put those specs in the brochure do too. I could care less what you think, or what some schmo commission salesman said.


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## bluebyeu05 (Mar 14, 2006)

GTOfreak said:


> Settle down there fella. All I did was point out what the factory literature said. We've all driven both sticks and autos, and we've all been around racing, and we all know...um....whats what. I imagine the guys who put those specs in the brochure do too. I could care less what you think, or what some schmo commission salesman said. [ well if thats the case then you should not have responded to the post that i wrote. so evidently you did care. end of story.


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## GTOfreak (Apr 5, 2005)

:willy: someone needs to take a big ol' chill pill. And after you do that, perhaps learn to spell and punctuate properly.


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## breezn (May 9, 2006)

GTOfreak said:


> According to the brochure, the auto is a tenth quicker in the quarter mile, which flies in the face of what the salesman told you.


:agree Yup, performance data in the '05 brochure shows 0-60 in 4.6 sec for the automatic and 4.7 sec for the manual; 1/4-mile in 13.0 sec for the auto and 13.1 sec for the manual. 
"Manuals impress the high school crowd, but automatics win races."


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## socal gto (Mar 10, 2006)

I don't know about that. It seems to me that the crowd here gets better times at the strip with the manual than the auto. I was told the same thing when I got my a4, but I got it becuase the auto is what I prefer.


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## ShoddyHog (May 17, 2006)

I purchased a M6 today. I have bad knees and will not even be able to drive the car at times, but I just couldn't see myself buying an A4. No offense to the A4 guys because it IS personal preference, but IMHO half the fun of taking that thing out on the test drive was running it through the gears.

The wife? She drives sticks just fine...and drives better than most men I know. I've got to agree with the post I read about the tranny and clutch. I'm no professional driver, but I'm 42 and have driven a bunch of cars. The M6 is just about the easiest MT I've ever driven. It was almost as if they made it for me.

BTW, my wife said if I got the M6 and got a little excercise using the clutch, maybe my knees wouldn't bother me as much. I'm still trying to figure out if that was really trying to be helpful or not.

Gerry


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