Next Corvette will sport seven-speed manual, too

Perhaps the manual transmission isn't as dead as a few Italian automakers would like you to believe. Porsche has declared that as long as there is demand it will continue to supply automobiles with do-it-yourself gearboxes, and the German automaker has outfitted its 2012 911 with a seven-speed manual gearbox. Now it seems General Motors is following suit, and the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette will reportedly offer up seven forward gears, as well.

Inside Line has reported that the 2014 Corvette is set to swap in an extra cog for increased fuel efficiency. As a bonus, this move will allow engineers to play with the lower gear ratios thus providing a bit more speed from the lower end.

Now that Porsche has made the leap to a seven-speed manual and Corvette is following suit, could a cackling, wild-eyed locked-in-the-basement transmission engineer be working on an eight-speed unit? We doubt it, but we're already doing heavy shoulder workouts just in case.