GM is on the record saying the new mid-engined C8 Corvette won’t have a manual transmission. That hasn’t stopped enthusiasts for asking, anyway.

Although Corvette engineers already said the new mid-engined Corvette won’t have a manual transmission, that hasn’t stopped the manual elite from throwing their .02 in every chance they get. Now, enthusiasts have upped their efforts with an official Change.org petition asking GM, “Hey, we’d really like to row our own gears, please. 

Started by Sons of Speed LLC, a fairly new car media group I literally just heard about, whoever punched up the description of this petition goes through the rigamarole of the long history of Corvette always having a manual, how three out of ten Corvettes sold last generation had a real-deal transmission, and how much fun it would be for drivers to just have that choice.

This petition does bring up a good point about how a large chunk of Chevrolet corvette buyers out there values a manual transmission. But, as Corvette engineers already said, it’s just not in the cards this time around.

I’m sure GM big wigs, managers, engineers, and die-hard fans all through their opinions out there and brought up several of the points this petition brought up but when push came to shove, the final decision was not to include a manual.

According to Tadge Juechter, Corvette’s chief engineer, fitting three pedals comfortably is one of the biggest issues if they even went with a manual.

Motor Trend’s Johnny Lieberman also offered some insight with his post during the official reveal.

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Why I don’t think the C8 Corvette will ever get a manual transmission. In a word, packaging. The 8-speed dual-clutch shifts by wire. No physical linkage. The LT2 is dry a dry sump (flat oil pan, remote reservoir) and the sump itself sits (from what I could tell from this cutaway) just forward of the block in the monocoque’s center tunnel. Meaning that a shift linkage would have to pass through the oil sump. Which can’t happen. And there you have it. At first I thought the sump was located on the passenger side of the car, but it was half the gas tank. Yep, a saddle bag tank. You can (kinda) see half the tank in this photo—above the right side of the wheel. #corvette #c8 #midenginecorvette @chevrolet ?????

A post shared by Jonny Lieberman (@jonnylieberman) on Jul 18, 2019 at 8:57pm PDT

As of this writing, this official petition only has 634 signatures, hardly enough to call it viral. But, who knows, perhaps it’ll pick up steam in the next couple of days.

Sons of Speed’s petition isn’t the only one out there. There’s another petition floating around. That petition only has 104 signatures.

Manual or no manual, the ZF DCT in the Corvette is pretty darn good.

The next generation LT2 is paired with Chevrolet’s first eight speed dual-clutch transmission, which provides lightning-fast shifts and excellent power transfer. This transmission is uniquely designed with TREMEC to provide the best of both worlds: the spirited, direct connected feeling of a manual and the premium driving comfort of an automatic. The double-paddle de-clutch feature even allows the driver to disconnect the clutch by holding both paddles for more manual control.

You can see they really tried to still satisfy their base without compromising on performance.

If you’re really hankering for a manual, C7’s are aplenty.

Do you think GM should listen to this petition? Let me know your own .02 in the comments below.