wpgshark

Interesting article on Motor Trend. Once again showing the 928 to be possibly ahead of the curve. Is there any hope for the shift it yourself?

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...nl&date=021216

dr bob

How to Find the Truth: Go drive a newer Porsche with the PDK box. A much as I love regularly demonstrating my shifting prowess on a mountain drive, the PDK does it all effortlessly/seamlessly. Including rev-matching both up and down. Pretty impressive technology.

hacker-pschorr

It is, but what is the real purpose of such cars? Going fast or pure driving pleasure?

Audi did a head to head with a self driving car and Indy Car pro James Hinchcliffe. Sure he was able to out run the computer, could any of us? If the goal is driving perfection, the self-driving sports car is the ultimate solution.

It's also a boring one.

I'll take a vintage open top sports car to rip around the countryside over a 2017 GT3 that does all the thinking for me. You can only go so fast on a public road and sometimes the car that offers the most pleasurable experience while behind the wheel is not even close to the fastest one.
Which is also why I prefer my 16V 5-speed cars over my automatic 87.


Clarkson said it best when testing the Subaru BR-Z / Toyota GT86:
"Because of the thin tires the GT86 was not designed to set lap records at the 'Ring, and with 197 horspower 2 -liter engine, it won't win many drag races either. What it will do though is put a massive smile on the face of every motoring enthusiast in the world"

GlenL

Can the driverless Porsche be far behind? More time to play with your phone and sip drinks that way. Some people appear to do little else already.

I'll take my car with a manual transmission and no cupholders.

hacker-pschorr

Porsche CEO says no.

I also recall a time when Porsche said no way to hybrids, diesels, and SUV's.

bronto

Porsche is bringing back the manual transmissions for regular Porsches. They have recognized (very late) that driving experience is really important to American drivers, and are serving their market. This was announced at our Porsche Club meeting about 2 months back.

docmirror

I grew up with a row bote, and I love me some shifting but lets be realistic. The modern Tremec, and BW, and other vendors auto shifters are right up there with DIY mode. I'm actually shocked that you can still find a stick in Nascar. The 928 later model auto trans is a thing of beauty. I had an 86.5 with a 1st gear start, and I loved it. Auto trans is the wave of the future.

tmpusfugit

Unless driving in heavy traffic I greatly prefer and enjoy a standard shift car. I agree the autos today are far better overall than me with a 5 speed, but the 5 speed is a lot more fun to me. Regards driverless cars, I think a "blue screen of death" has a different significance when you are in heavy traffic, going 80 mph, your driverless car has no steering wheel or brake pedal. What to do, what to do? I know, they have made driveless cars ABSOLUTELY SAFE! Would you like to buy some water front property in Phoenix too? On the other hand, given the driving skills I see around here everyday a driverless car that only errors out on occasion would be a quantum improvement. A pinball wizard would be an improvement over many that are out and about (you know, a deaf, dumb, and blind kid)....

RKD in OKC

When driving in anger clutched shifting does provide one thing that the rev-matching PDK does not. And that is using "Not Quite" rev matching when shifting to help break the rear loose when you want to get the car's rear to rotate more. It is a technique to initiate drifting.

Kind like when I had a 4x4 without ABS. I could make it stop faster on slick surfaces by locking up the brakes, shifting into revers, flooring it, then letting off the brakes. The tires would spin in revers making it slow down much faster than brakes alone. Can't shift to reverse with ABS because you can't lock up the wheels.

The response lag of the auto transmissions caused by the torque converter is the main reason performance drivers prefer manual transmissions.

James Bailey

Actually the age of the automatic is NOW...only about 6% of all new cars sold today are stick shift. We have an entire generation or two of people who can not drive a manual transmission. I had a AAA tow truck driver come to my house who could not drive a manual. Just shipped two cars to Texas and the big rig 8 car hauler driver was not good with a manual...his Volvo semi tractor is automatic.
Nascar just recently allowed fuel injection they are not exactly cutting edge....and they still run 4 speed transmissions.

hacker-pschorr

This brings back an old discussion I got a lot of flack for, what makes a real sports car.

The only cars that really should be manual these days are sports cars which by definition and design isn't for the masses anyway.

Sadly the appreciation of what a real sports car is was lost a couple decades ago and thanks to Mazda and Subaru, that spirit is still alive.

docmirror

Where I really miss the manual is my truck. I have a six speed in the Ram and it's a shift-crazed fool keeping the power in the band. I want to be able to lug the engine as I tow going up a short hill on the freeway, and let it slow a bit rather than shift down. But no - on no, that auto just HAS to jump down one or maybe two gears to maintain 65 and absolutely ruin my fuel economy on hilly terrain. Also, it's annoying when I'm wanting to use a higher gear in snow to keep from spinning the tires and the auto trans decides by the speed that I MUST be in a low gear. Even more-so when it's in 4WD mode. But, the model wasn't offered with a manual trans with the engine options and gearing I have. Auto, or nothing. They even had an upcharge for the auto trans, but I couldn't de-select it!

Imo000

PDK and stability control makes hero's out of zeros.

FredR

Manual transmissions ruled the roost because initially they were cheaper, simpler and for petrol head types were superior. With technological progression that changed such that when the 4 speed auto's emerged [and more so 5+ speed variants] it can be argued that both auto's and manuals had their relative pluses and minuses. In the case of my Cayenne turbo S with a 6 speed tiptronic box I cannot think of a case to justify a manual tranny were one available.

The latest generation of auto transmissions with multiple ratios, PDK and various modes of operation cannot be beaten by a manual transmission as evidenced by F1. Thus the like of manual transmissions is an emotive rather than a practical assessment- a matter of personal preference over practicality.

Not quite sure where Porsche currently are with the likes of the GT3. I believe popular customer opinion for a manual tranny swayed Porsche to offer both for the next generation version rather than the current PDK only variant. It seems to be generally recognised that a manual tranny will deliver slower lap times -kind of strange for a track oriented derivative but there you go.

Rgds

Fred

James Bailey

PDK, launch control , PSM , ABS, fly by wire throttle ..... all one needs to do is point it in the direction you wish to go and push on the pedal to tell the computers you are ready for the ride