Dan Nagy

I just ordered my car on Monday. It won't be delivered until December and I am already chomping at the bit. It's been awhile since I have had a car built as I can usually find what I want on the lot. In this case, inventory was so incredibly low in the DC area with no manual transmissions available. In fact, there aren't many manuals in the entire country. I understand that the PDK is fantastic, and it seems most owners want it by a huge margin. Or are the manuals the first ones off the lot?

I wonder if people drive the PDK because they can't drive a manual, or because they want to eek every last drop of performance that they can by using it?

That's the rendering of my new car below.

rkwfxd

Beautiful car. My current 991.1 is manual and I own two other MT vehicles and have owned about seven other MT vehicles prior to these. My 991.2 will be PDK. Even with a lifetime of experience I know I personally will be a better faster safer driver with PDK and I believe I will enjoy the car MORE not less. But that's just me. YMMV.

Dan Nagy

Well, my service advisor tried to convince me of the same. I also test drove a PDK, and it is excellent and blazing quick. I tried a DCT in a 335is convertible, and I drove like a bat out of hell every time I got in it. For some reason, the manual keeps me a bit more calm.... but not much. hehe.

daberlin

You obviously don't plan to spend much time on the Beltway or 95, otherwise you'd know the answer to your question. Congrats on the new ride. She's great looking.

Gary JR

After a few decades of automatic my 991.2 order is for manual. A test drive confirmed I want to go back to more control and fun. My order was around 9/1 but the delivery estimate is in January so I hope it comes in sooner than that.

Dan Nagy

That's true. I walk to the Reston Metro stop and usually ride that into DC, but there are days I drive in with my MT Cayman down 66. I don't mind it at all, but might feel differently if it was a daily thing.

Dan Nagy

Congrats on the new ride. I guess every dealer gets some production slots. I order mine two weeks later than yours but getting it two weeks earlier.

daberlin

After growing up in the DC area and moving to LA, I didn't even think twice about a Manual vs. PDK. The 2nd Gen PDK in my 991.1 is amazing. So much more refined than my old 997.2. I'm sure with the improved steering in the 991.2, the combo of that and further refined PDK would be pretty awesome. I love driving M cars. But, that said, I don't need to keep my left foot busy to have fun in my 911.

jimbo1111

Most people are married and it's a good bargaining chip when the wife can also drive the new acquisition. Other than that we know what real men like to drive.

rkwfxd

Side note: proud to say both my wife and daughter are MT proficient.

verstraete

I just replaced a 991.1 MT with a 991.2 MT. Simply personal preference based on 58 years of driving MT vehicles. I might, however consider a PDK on my next 911, just for variety.

As to my wife driving my MT Porsches, since shortly after we were married in 1972, she began commuting to college in my 1966 Austin Healey 3000, no problem.

maxpowers

The main reasons I've seen:

1. People can't spend 5 minutes teaching their wife to drive a stick or she won't learn
2. People who DD the car in heavy traffic and don't want to mess with a clutch pedal
3. People who never learned to drive a stick and mainly care about the prestige of owning a 911 and don't care about the fun of driving it
4. People who want the fastest possible lap times on the track or to brag to their friends about 0-60 times
5. The PDK is heavier and more expensive so you pay more commission on it

For me I actually bought the car to enjoy driving it and I find driving an automatic sports car extremely boring. I'm single, don't have a heavy commute in stop and go traffic, and don't care about which transmission generates better numbers on paper.

When I went to buy my car there were only a few manual cars to test and none that I could find that came anywhere near what I was looking to get so I had to configure my own. They kept trying to sell me on the PDK because "it has 2 clutches" and "is faster" and I told them I don't care about what happens behind the scenes and I'm not trying driving with a lap timer. If I only wanted performance I'd get a Corvette Z06 or Viper

Dan Nagy

I enjoyed configuring my own car, but hate the wait. It's only just been ordered and I look at the rendered photos multiple times a day. It seems a little mental.

I am the only one driving this car so I don't need to worry about MT vs. AT, but understand that if two are involved on the decision making, and one can't drive a MT, then it's fair to have the PDK.

Archimedes

Cmon guys, the PDK vs. Manual dick swinging argument has been beaten to death on Rennlist. Do we need another thread to devolve into this?

Both great transmissions, both have their pluses and minuses, neither makes the car any more or less sporting. Drive whatever YOU like.

jimbo1111

Doesn't there have to be a better one for your situation though? If you have two girls in front of you and your asked which do you prefer? Eventually you will choose one over the other. It's a personal choice. If one listens to outside influences than its no longer personal. The asking of an online line community means that one is undecided and wants to see what others in a similar situation would do to help influence there own decisions. If I can help in that determination I would be more that happy to impose my choice on the undecided individual.