Buying a muscle car or a sports car with an automatic transmission used to be the uncool thing to do, but GM’s new TapShift technology in the 2012 Camaro ZL1 is working to change that. In fact, purchasers of the super Camaro who choose an automatic TapShift transmission will actually be getting a faster performance car than those who opt for the manual version. No wonder more than 50 percent of the Camaro ZL1s purchased in the next year are expected to be of the automatic variety. Check out the TapShift technology in action in the GM News video above.

Cars equipped with paddle-shift transmissions are nothing new but GM has stepped up their TapShift technology with a new software algorithm that makes transmission response time up to 60 percent faster than before.

This new software system anticipates the driver’s next up-shift and fills the clutch with hydraulic pressure accordingly. The amount of pressure staged in the clutch is determined by the car’s current gear, torque, throttle and speed.

By anticipating the next up-shift request and pre-filling the clutch according to certain factors, the response to the driver’s tap up-shift is almost immediate.

This means that there is less of a delay between when the driver taps the paddle shifter and when the transmission actually up-shifts. For the 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5 shifts, the delay is actually reduced by 200 to 300 milliseconds with the new TapShift technology. At 60 MPH, this means the automatic transmission will respond about 18 feet sooner when you hit the paddle shifter than technology used to allow.

The new TapShift technology on the 2012 Camaro ZL1 gives the car a zero-to-60 time of 3.9 seconds, a full tenth of a second faster than a manual-equipped car. The automatic-equipped ZL1 also has a higher top speed than the manual version, being able to hit 184 MPH as opposed to 180.

It may not have been cool back in the day to buy an automatic muscle car, but times are changing.Now, if you want the more potent factory Camaro, you’ll be looking at the automatic version a bit more closely.

GM’s latest TapShift technology is also offered on the 2012 Corvette and CTS-V.