jw1977

I'm really having a hard time deciding whether to get PDK or a manual. I've always driven a manual. I test drove a PDK and found it nice, I didn't really push it since I had a sales guy with me. I'm worried i'll be bored with it at some point and and it will feel less sporty. On the other hand, it would be nice to have the option of having an automatic. I've read through every PDK thread on the 991 board but still can't make a decision. I'm sure others have been in the same boat, any recommendations?

STG

Many men have pondered the same dilemma ..

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/6856...vs-manual.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/7408...al-vs-pdk.html

Read up on their struggles ..

Where has Chuck911 been lately?? One man with the wisdom to enlighten us all.

PDK has the paddle shifters and is faster!! Red and PDK will make for the fastest car

Go with your first gut instinct. Usually the best choice. Overthinking causes confusion.

reuben991

If you've always driven a manual I would suggest you get a manual. PDK is the technically superior option but the fact that you're unsure about PDK means you would be happier with a manual

LexVan

He's the resident expert in the 997 Forum now. He only made an *** out of himself twice this week. Slow week.

mgflyfish

Play nice children or we will have to take your toys away--

mikeearly

How true ... and it seems to be one of the biggest problems associated with ordering a car and having time to think about what you have done during the time allowed for changing your mind.

Porsche_nuts

If you have read through all the threads already, I don't think starting a new one is going to help you come up with a decision. Everyone will have a different opinion. I agree with STG, go with your gut and don't look back, and don't base it on what others say.

LexVan

Weekend toy, buy the 7MT.

Daily driver, traffic, Autocross, occasional DE, buy the PDK.

RobC4sX51

Excellent advice ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Archimedes

For me, it's the opposite. I get the most out of the PDK when I'm pleasure driving in the mountains on the weekends and really pushing the car pretty hard. I love the ability to get an instaneous shift up or down anytime, without having to three pedal it. And I get the most bored with the PDK in daily driving situations, where I'd prefer to be rowing the gears due to all the years of muscle memory.

maxpowers

Definitely get the manual. The PDK gets boring after a while and you'll find yourself reaching for the gearshift and wanting the clutch pedal.

I drove my favorite mountain road with a PDK car and spent more time figuring out what song to listen to than focusing on driving. With the manual car I was grinning ear to ear the whole time. I didn't see a stop watch anywhere timing my shifts with either transmission, so if you're spending that kind of money on a car to bring you happiness get the manual.

chuck911

You must have missed it. Wouldn't have been hard, it was only one brief post and a couple comments.

Basically, I went for a drive. 991S, PDK, Sport Chrono. Wanted PASM Sport but they didn't have one. Not that it would have made much difference. My guess is the one thing that would have made a difference is if I'd have been able to take the car for a nice high-speed trip over a mountain pass. Then I'm sure I would've been impressed. But, I drove a 997.1S with a manual, a 997.2 C4S with PDK and a 997 GTS manual, and found all of them to be deeply impressive and a joy to drive. (Huge surprise there as its the first time I was ever impressed and enjoyed driving awd- more fun even than a 996TT.)

In contrast, I find the 991S to be deeply… competent. And I do mean deeply competent. It just does everything so well. (Except the steering- a major fail departure from that paragon of 911-ness.) No wonder so many guys are crazy for PSE and a clutch- the car needs something, anything to lend it some character. Other than its inherent character of perfection, I mean.

So last summer after doing that I finally threw in the towel on my lifelong dream of buying a new 911. Having done so its actually quite liberating, because it means going back to the one iteration among all of them that I've found the most pleasing- the 997. Unintended bonus, about the time the mortgage is paid off a pristine 997 GTS ought to be approaching the perfect buy point, just a few years before depreciation bottoms out and they start going back up again. Which they all do.

You did say something about wisdom? There you go.

Wisdom applied to PDK? In terms of performance, and not just on the track but day to day, it is clearly the better transmission. It does though have one unfortunate feature in that if anything goes wrong its never fixed but only replaced at huge expense. Which is a major risk. And I do mean risk, as in you don't know if it will happen, as opposed to probability, which is quite low. The manual on the other hand you know you'll be doing a clutch and… that's about it.

But just in the same way I would never buy a 991 just because it doesn't thrill me even though its faster, I don't think anyone should get PDK just because it too is better, if it doesn't thrill them.

Sorry if that's more wisdom and less than you were expecting, but I expect it will hold up pretty well.

Noah Fect

No matter which one you get, there will always be times when you wish you had gone the other way.

So, your decision has to be driven by the minimization of potential regret. Everyone will evaluate this equation differently. (For me, I sometimes wistfully reminisce about driving a 3-pedal manual, but this doesn't happen anywhere near as often as I actively appreciate the PDK.)

Scottish Pete

My 2015 Carrera S with Sport Chrono and PDCC is my first Porsche with an automatic. My first 1965 911 with 5-speed I drove for seven years, then got a 1974 911 with 5-speed I still own after 39 years. After 11,700 miles with PDK I will never go back to a stick shift & clutch. Snapping the PDK shift lever to the left in manual lets you click from gear to gear instantaneously with the paddle shifters.
Coming home from Morro Bay yesterday I was trailing a huge Ford F-250 4x4 with an obvious computer chip as it was passing car after car on the two lane Highway 46 and later on Highway 41 after the "James Dean corner" turn. I was third behind a slow moving truck on a long straight in one of the deserted valleys of the Kettleman Hills after the diesel pickup had passed. The Prius and mini-van ahead of me were hesitant to pass in the remaining distance with another truck coming in the distance. Punch the Sport Plus button, pull out and floorboard it. All I had to do was hold on as the PDK drops down several gears at around 50 mph and spurts ahead redlining with a Sport Plus slam-shift next to the timid Prius driver behind the truck and accelerating past the truck & trailer. I see the diesel 4x4 pickup disappearing well up ahead and a grin comes over my face as the oncoming truck ahead in my lane has not appeared to advance towards me in the least yet. So I grip my Sport Design wheel with both hands a bit tighter with the accelerator pedal still mashed to the floor, providing yet another Sport Plus "slam-shift" next to the racing pickup's door with PSE wailing which spurts me well ahead to show them that their "chipped" diesel is a mere pretender in the traffic passing champion game. As I pull back over the center white line into my side of the road I click the paddle shift up a few times to let the PDK with the red Manual light lit up know we are not racing anymore with more cars to pass . . . and it drops down a few gears back to cruise rpm as I see the digital speedometer dropping down past 130.
PDK is the most fun when passing on two-lane roads. This was almost as satisfying as blasting by motorhomes on California Highway 1.

DerekS

I've had both. My last car was a 2010 and my first PDK. My current car is also PDK.

There are data points on both sides.

• Manuals are more involving, and can be more fun.
• But PDK is faster.
• And it has higher resale.
• A clutch replacement on a manual is very expensive.
• You can get a coffee from Starbucks with a PDK.
• When you're in traffic you will be happier with PDK.
• PDK is super fun in Sport Plus mode, with very hard shifts!

I do miss manuals sometimes, but I have a left hip injury that kind of made the choice for me.

NOTE: Do not buy a PDK that doesn't have the Sport Chrono package. It is a MUST.