When we showed you the 2014 Holden Commodore SS V, many of you wondered whether that car would have a stick shift when it was imported to America as the next Chevrolet SS. It turns out that if you want the manual, you're gonna have to go to Australia. Bummer.
GM unveiled the 2014 Chevrolet SS performance sedan late last night, and it appears to have impressive performance specs except for one area: the car will only come with a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. It's a bit of a letdown, especially considering the old Pontiac G8 — essentially the same car — had an available manual on the top-level GXP version.
Oh well. Aside from that little disappointment, the car sounds pretty top-shelf. It packs a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine good for 415 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque, as well as standard Brembo brakes and nearly 50/50 weight distribution. Zero to 60 mph will come in about five seconds, so it's certainly not slow.
Oh, and it's the first Chevrolet to inlcude Automatic Parking Assist if you're better at doing smoky burnouts and getting sideways than you are at parallel parking.