I realize the numbers are small, but there are people out there that would like a C8 Corvette with a clutch pedal. And as a guy who drives a stick shift car most days, I understand the allure. But I can also tell you that the DCT that comes in a C8 is far better than any of us that love to shift gears outselves. We romanticize the opposite, but the truth is that a DCT is capable of shifting so much quicker than you or I. It’s mind boggling actually, and if you know how a DCT works then you know why. They aren’t that complicated actually.
But when Tremec had a billet aluminum trans axle on display at the 2025 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, that was NOT a DCT, everyone immediately assumed it was for a C8 Corvette and that these were coming to showrooms near you. Or at least that they would be available in kit form. But not one person had a single bit of real intel, just a bunch of conjecture.
Until now.
That’s because Mike Kidd with Tremec joined Jamie and Justin for the Automotive Advantage Podcast and gave them all the real info.
Video Description:
The Tremec Manual Transaxle stopped SEMA cold. Phones are ringing off the hook. And yet… the Corvette world isn’t sure what to believe.
In this episode of Automotive Advantage, we sit down with Mike Kidd, Aftermarket Business Unit Manager at Tremec, to get the straight story on the manual transaxle that became the most talked-about Corvette product and why the internet’s assumptions about it being a factory C8 option were dead wrong.
Mike sets the record straight, breaks down what this transmission actually is, who it’s built for, and when you can get your hands on one. We also dig into why manual transmissions are dying in production vehicles but why the aftermarket demand has never been stronger.
