But just so I understand, the auto-throttle blip rev matching thing can be turned off with the press of a button? But the flat-shifting thing is always active.

I'm so torn between which transmission to go for. PDK or 6-speed. I've driven a manual all my life. The flappy paddles make the car faster and less of a hassle to drive I guess. PDK is fun in its own right with the instant downshifts. I drove a GTS PDK the other day and it was fun and super easy. And the rear-diff discrepancy is something to think about as well. Do I want/need the e-diff? I need to go research the real differences.

 

 

Since when has 'easy' been one of the goals of driving a sports car. An automatic will always be easier, whether it can be fulfilling is up to you.

I've found the joy of a manual always outweighs the annoyance of clutching it through heavy traffic.

 

Whatever floats your boat. The goal of a sports car = fun. I'm not so concerned with a manual transmission being hard to drive. Because they aren't. I've never had issues in the past. But there is an aspect of the PDK that is a different kind of fun compared to the manual. Shifting is faster. Can't argue about that. Dropping multiple gears in the blink of an eye and flooring it before someone with a manual can even get the clutch all the way in is something to think about But the manual is more engaging for sure. I can't make up my mind.

 

As somebody mentioned on a review, six speed is great but PDK does a great job at taking away the need of switching gears so one can concentrate in driving. I have a triple disc clutch six speed 1K rwhp supra to scratch that itch.

 

There will always be a better PDK GT3 in the future. There may NOT be another manual GT3 in the future. The current version is likely the best and last version of a manual GT3...enjoy it while you can. You can get the PDK next time when there's no choice..

 

Wait for reals? Or sarcasm? Because I'd love to see that.

 

Really good point actually. Manual it is.

 

i say buy both; one pdk one manual. then no more worries or thinking.

 

It had crossed my mind. But I figure a stick will be fun until the next GT3 is announced

 

I feel like we might have dissimilar means.

 

Some updates...
I got around 1500 miles on the car now (at 1 month of ownership), so I have taken the rpms up to 7K. Comparing this engine to my 991.1, I have noticed a few things:

1. This is not news, but this new 4.0 engine pulls hard. My butt tells me the difference is more than 25 HP or 15 lb/ft of torque. Who knows, I might have had a bad copy of 991.1

2. Now the sound...
First, the exhaust note is different and should not be confused with the mechanical engine noise /sound. The new exhaust is louder and has a more baritone sound. In lower gears, and when pushing hard, the flaps open at around 3800 or 4000 rpm. When cruising on the freeway in 6th gear, flaps open at 3000 rpm (this is when PSE is on).

The mechanical engine noise is not much different from 991.1 with 1 exception. In the 991.1, an out-of-this-world mechanical shrieking noise wound come on at around 7.5K rpm to 9K rpm. This same crazy noise now comes on at around 5800 or 6k rpm in the .2 GT3. It's so noticeable that when I was driving with my bro (he has lots of experience in my past 991.1), he though I was redlining, but in fact, I only got revs to 7k rpm.

Here is a short clip from the drive I did today. My GoPro is in the cabin and kind of brings us close to what this engine really sounds in the cabin. It is very hard and actually misleading to deduce what this engine sounds in real life from all previous reviews and videos published about the .2 GT3.

Not doing any flat upshifts here and Sport is off.

 

Great great audio pickup! Yes best reproduction I've heard.. and that's with stock exhaust!!!

 

... and only 7K rpm. I cannot wait to take this thing up to 9K rpm. I feel most would want to do this (get to 9k rpm) not to extract the last 10th of a second out of a lap time but to enjoy the sound, adrenaline and experience that comes with it.

You can see in the video; I am not really driving fast, but I enjoyed every second of it. Its the combination of all the separate bits: linear NA power, engine noise, going through gears, etc, etc. I can imagine driving the fastest electric car... Meh, fast, but no experience. I can compare this to my new Alfa Romeo Giulia commuter. This small beast is amazing: best sport sedan I have driven in a long time (it feels way more fun than my late 15' M3). Everything seems perfect, except that 4 cylinder sounds awful and trumps all the other good things about the car.

 

Agreed, thanks for capturing that for us. I might not need a center bypass after all, that sounded amazing.