jlanka

Yes I believe they are

FORENN

It took ten posts, but we finally got there. This ^^^.

All. Day. Long.

aeGT3

ADias,
'Honest question: Aren't real Formula 1 car paddles in the back of the rectangular steering 'wheels', and rotating with it? "

In Ferraris, the paddles are fixed.

provoke

Yes. I was referencing for Ferrari passenger vehicles and challenge cars they are stationary. Its just my personal preference during daily driving. Others may not find issue this this... F1/Race cars don't to have to ingress/egress out of parking lots/gas stations avoiding other cars or dart out into normal traffic flow.. On the track these aren't issues paddles on the wheel pose no problem.

Macca

Ryan. My wife drives stick but her daily driver is auto and shes increasingly reluctant to own a stick car.

My wife drove the 991 GT3 for over 600 miles on our recent track tour (I took both 911s and she helped me shuttle them). She loved leaving it in standard auto. Its so easy, shifts benignly (very smooth, but shifts at low rpm as its geared for fuel efficiency). I find I use that same mode when in traffic as to make smooth progress at very slow speeds and not upset my occupants. I also used it alot in Europe on the long autobahns/stradas when covering distance comfortably with lower fuel costs was the objective and it worked perfect.

Your wife will probably drive the car primarily in standard auto mode like my wife does. If she want a bit more excitement sport auto is simply a button press away. Standard auto has kick down sport auto does not so effectively standard auto is like auto on most other cars...

I think its important not to get confused here by people saying "auto is terrible" in this car. Most of us are hard core car guys and from that perspective standard auto is rather boring I must confess.

I really want to drive this car in paddle manual all the time but I must admit its taking some time for me to discipline myself to do this. Its the first auto paddle sports car Ive ever owned. By personality Im "lazy" I guess and usually choose options that get me to my end goal with most efficency or least effort LOL! In a manual I have no option but to row gears. In the new GT3 I do. I find I start with paddle shift but after 10 minutes something needs attention (txt, radio, passenger, daydream) and I revert to sport auto or auto and then "forget" to go back to manual. Im not compaining - the car by virtue of these options has become a real "tool car" in that I dont hesitate to take it to any appointment, fast sunday drives, crossing town at rush hour for a meeting etc.

I think your wife will notice very little difference between the standard auto and the Cayman R PDK. If anything shell find it slightly less aggressive but as I say its one button to push then it will be a different animal. The thing she will notice is a). the noise of the box/clutch and b) the lack of creep. c). in Sport auto it will hold to 4000 rpm and it will not kick down.

Point b) will need some explaining as it makes fine adjustments in car spaces a little more challenging....

vantage

I made the comment not so much for you, but because I think your post makes it seem like steering mounted paddles are a disaster for street driving (you mention difficulty in knowing which paddle is which when the wheel is turned) and that there is no solution.

fbroen

This is interesting. I wonder why they removed the in-between mode for the PDK-S?

For the Carrera, on street, if one wants leave it in auto the "Sport" is pretty nice, especially since it adapts to your inputs at the moments.

Sport+ is great for its intended use, but only if you totally punt it. Half-committed driving in Sport+ leaves you with a very unhappy car, that (correctly) acts as it is as if it doesn't know what you want from it. (In auto, manual Sport+ is great).

I almost wish for a Sport and a Half mode, to slot in between Sport and Sport+ for the street, and labeling Sport+ similar to the GT3, for track use, where Sport+ is great.

Long way of saying: why not give the GT3 an in-between mode, too? I mean, it's not as if it will soften up its image, given that it already has the Eco mode....

Mike in CA

Great points, Mark. PDK auto in the GT3 is no "worse" than PDK auto was in my Carrera S although I almost never drove that car in auto either. PDK auto works fine for what it's designed to do and is quicker to respond to throttle input than, say, the Tiptronic in my Cayenne S. I have no issues when the gearbox in that car upshifts to 8th gear at 55 mph and I loaf along at 1300 rpm. But that behavior just seems so out of character in the GT3 that I find it annoying when PDK-S upshifts early.

As you say, it's not really fair to call auto mode terrible for the street. It works just fine, and has it's uses, but it almost never fits my mood when I'm driving the GT3.

provoke

EVOMSit is probably working on this as we speak.... :-)

SamFromTX

Agreed. "Terrible" may not have been the best descriptive in responding to the OP's question. As you said, it can be (is) boring for enthusiasts. I get carried away sometimes.

jumper5836

Thank god Macca was honest. Those so called hardcore manual only drivers are macho men of the new automatic transmission.

I agree with fbroen, I think there just also be a in-between mode added. Something that isn't so lazy like eco mode and stays in gear when on it but goes back into eco mode if you not pushing it anymore. Also being in the correct gear after heavy braking, it shouldn't have to then drop down a gear when you hit the throttle to come out of the corner. It should have all ready have been in the proper gear not 1 or 2 gears higher. I am not talking about a race mode, just a level above eco mode where it properly down shifts and up shifts but not necessarily at red line, more like something that takes into consideration throttle position.
My street driving style is to not drive off from the light at full steam, just quick and casual without being noticeable but not really slowing down for the corners and tackling them head on, braking late and then getting on it coming out of them with the same speed you were before you entered it. This require the proper gear to be selected after braking and mid corner. Some hard 90 degree corners and the gear coming out of it is to high and bogs down and you have to wait for it to change. I find that annoying but then putting it in full out sport+ mode is annoying because of the upshifts. You know it's like wondering when it will finally shift back into stealth mode. I am done playing car, so get back to normal.

Macca

I tend to agree. An in between mode would be great. Actually in this day and age Im surprised we can program the PCM to create our own custom parameters for shifting (in auto mode to protect the engine of course). Maybe in the future when the cars are out of warranty (could be a long time stateside!) someone will create a PDK ecu flash....