Not if you know how to shift. I used to have a 94 3.4 Camaro with an automatic. A guy at the tire store had the same year 3.4 Camaro, but with a manual. He wanted to take me for a ride after test driving mine with the new tires. His comment was, "man your car is a dog, you should see what it feels like with a stick". So we went for a ride, and holy crap what a noticeable difference in performance. Neither car was modified either. If a 3.4 v6 car can't beat an automatic, then the driver doesn't know how to shift worth a crap.

 

what do you mean that the auto is better @ race?

 

if its built right it will get better traction out of the hole, you dont miss shifts and the shifts are at a set time every time so consistant predictable shifts and times, you can tune the 4l60 and 4l60e. my 4l60 feels like it shifts 5 times. at wot in 3rd it locks up at about 70. its tried to float a little once so far on the wot 3rd gear lockup, i could feel the rear tires letting lose just a little. its going to be fun to see the difference when the 373s go in. im thinking of switching the gears in the stock rear to see if its what i want before investing in a 12 bolt. i also used a 2.5 multipication torque converter to get a kick. anyways over the years ive gotten the opinion that the auto is better in a race. gotta have the power to push it though and if the shifts are set up wrong,,, say 2nd stays in to long and overlaps with 3rd then youll get a pull back and a hard shift. the old time tranny guy i been talking to says alot of the autos are set this way and some builders will make the same adjustment.

 

Agreed! Just a week ago, I blew away an automatic 3.4 1995. Neither car has mods. If you actually know how to drive a stick, you'll scream off the line, while an auto barely squeaks tires and has a slow, sloppy acceleration.

 

Well autos arent too bad rite i can steal smoke my friends rite? thats all i need haha

 

i believe the 3.4 auto has the 273 rearend and the maual has the 323 s. so are they the same? lol. so have you got a camaro or are you wondering which you should get? if your looking at a v6 then a manual would probly be the way to go. 6 sp if posible then you could get higher ratio gears. could with a 5 but not so extreem.

 

what about a z28? auto or manual?

 

Craby is right about the gears in the V6's. Well... From what I looked up they all had 3.23 gears. I may be wrong tho. The 3.4 5-speed will handle 3.73's. My buddy did that to his Camaro and it really torquey lol. I've been in the car and he can scratch tires going into 3rd where as my 5-speed can only do it going into 2nd.

 

auto trannies are more consistent and thus ideal for bracket racing.

do you call the trannies on pro-mods and pro stocks automatics? I don't

anyway, it's personal preference. I have over 2 million miles driving manny tranny (no I'm not a truck driver) and as long as the lord allows me use of both legs, I will continue to purchase only manny tranny

I prefer to DRIVE a car as opposed to RIDE in one.

 

Ive never heard anyone say an standard was better in the 1/4 mile.

If both cars are stock the standard is faster and quicker.
I taken a 94 4.8 automatic Mustang GT with a 94 5-speed Taurus Show. This was in 93. I worked for Ford. The standard always won.

That said, if you hang out at the track you will see that 90% are running auto. Ive never fully understood why. When racing the 1/4 mile I prefer a very built automatic. When driving or playing in corners I like the standard. My M22 was a bad a_s tranny, but I think my built turbo 350 is better in the 1/4.

My guess would be that you shift less with a 3-speed auto then a 4-speed manual.

I would decide what you were going to do with the car then decide what tranny. 3-gen or new I would get a 5-speed, 2nd gen or older I would get an auto. But that is just my preference. I would be driving the newer ones and racing the older ones.