I doubt your clutch leg would ever get tired with the SS. The clutch is almost too easy.
Guess I'm lucky. My wife can drive a standard and she actually likes to. Her previous car was a Mini Cooper S w/6 spd. And she's over 50 years old, so it's not an age thing.

 

Yeah i'm not sure what her issue is.. i taught her when I was first dating her and she went with me to pick up my old 2000 z28 Camaro.. She cried on the highwya while driving it.. I guess she is just weird.

 

The clutch is nice in this one though not what I would term heavy duty. I rememeber breaking off my clutch pedal in my 68 SS Chevelle. It was so heavy I would get cramps in my leg after the first first drive ever spring out of storage.

My wife offered to learn to drive a stick but I told here this is not the car to learn on as I would not replace the clutch at home myself if she burned it up.

To be honest too since I drive it daily across town I really had little interest in the stick myself. IF it were a weekend play car I would have had the stick but after a long day at work I just want to get home and I really don't like to play the shift game when I am tired.

It is just all in what you want.

I felt a little let down on power with the stock auto but after the GM tune I very happy.

 

Remember:

Happy wife = miserable husband (from the late Patrice Oneal)

Woman marry their husbands thinking their husbands will change.
Husbands marry their wives thinking their wives will never change.

I actually went through this a little bit with my own wife...when I first brought up the SS, I told her I wanted a stick. She gave the "Well then I can't drive it, why not an automatic?" schpiel, which I expected. At the time, I did have one thing going for me: the automatic was a pricey option. I told her I would teach her to drive stick. She really didn't put up much of a fight, and she knew how much I had missed driving a manual (it had been about a year-and-a-half, and it felt much longer that that!). She also knew that I would be driving the car 99% of the time, stick or no stick. Once I got the SS, I was all ready to teach her, but she wasn't interested in learning.

 

I and a female friend own 2006 and 2007 2LTs. Frankly, neither of us needs the additional power of the SS (she has a Z4 and I have an S2000 for that) so we never got one. I test-drove a manual SS and didn't notice the suspension or brake improvements much, and I didn't push the engine. What I DID notice immediately was how much better its the Saab manual transmission shifted than the Getrag in mine. I feel that the manual transmission in the SS should be easy to learn on, compared to others like the S2000, and is a joy to use compared to the non-SS.

 

I don't know where in Delaware you are located, but I.G.Burtons in Seaford has a VR SS on it's lot.
I'm from the Seaford/Laurel area and I have owned an HHR since 2008 (just bought my '11 in Dec)

 

Congratulations on the SS!!! Please, don't hesitate to get a hold of me in the future with comments, questions and/or concerns.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

I took a 10 ss auto out and was extremely dissapointed power felt like it wasn't even there. Then I turned traction control off. Much better bit still not as gOpd as the manual. My wife however is totally against the manual and the car. She does like the car better now then the last test drive but still she is like why don't u look at other cars and I say name one car that gets 30 mpg handles brakes and has some balls to it. Oh yeah has the cargo for my tools. She still isnt sold. She says I just want it cause it's an SS. That is true cause I would never buy a plain HHR. I'm sold on the manual though. I told my wife I would consisder the auto if I get the turbo upgrade. At least that way I won't have to hide that cost from her. How much is the turbo upgrade? Also does anyone know the cost to get rid of the red accents in the interior. I love the all black. That's it for now the dealership let me take re SS home for the night. It's the auto though so now my wife is all like u should get this one. Ohwel I'll keep u guys informed you are getting closer to having a new member to the SS family

 

Upgrade is about $499 + labor. Basically nothing relative to the total cost of the car for the difference it makes with the auto. See if they will roll that into the financing.

 

If wife likes the auto SS, get it for her and then get yourself the manual one! Luckily, my friend and I both lust after stick shifts and would never willingly choose otherwise.