who would have know this was coming.....

http://twitpic.com/6d8ys1

 

It was in the press release. Wonder why R isnt below 7th.g

 

Perhaps to avoid a catastrophic shift for any fool thinking there's an 8th gear or forgets the car is in 7th and not 5th.

 

The new 911 being a 7 speed manual is no worry. I am more interested in the shift pattern. I give Porsche lots of credit for willing to make a 7 spd. Good work Porsche.

 

Exactly. Makes sense anyway to have R up and to the left of 1st as that's where it is with the current 6 speed. As an occasional overdrive gear, having 7th outside the main pattern up and right also seems appropriate.

 

I wonder if 1st is now worthless or if 7th is strictly an overdrive.

 

I wonder if 1st is now worthless -NO- or if 7th is strictly an overdrive -YES-.

The 7 speed has been announced over a year ago. It is a modified PDK gearbox. It is perfect for autobahn cruising at elevated speeds at low rpm's.
I often wanted one more gear when driving for hours on German autobahns. Porsche has really made a masterpiece with this car. 7 speed manual all the way for me.
Can't wait !!

 

Yes, it's ultra-long ratio purely for high-speed cruising.

 

sure, but a lockout where R could not be engage unless 1st Gear was 1st engaged, could have been implemented.

 

JMO, buy it would be a real PITA to have to go into 1st every time before you engaged reverse, especially if reverse was all the way across the gate below a new 7th gear. Being able to go from neutral directly to reverse is much more natural. Besides, Porsche drivers are familiar with reverse to the left of 1st as that's the current setup with the 6 spd. Leaving R where it is and adding the overdrive 7th out of the main pattern up and to the right makes sense to me.

 

"This is Spinal Tap" "My guitar amp goes to eleven" and my car has 7 forward gears.

 

This is not difficult to conquer. Even lowly mustangs have an effective reverse lockout that uses the vehicle speed sensor to only allow reverse under 3mph or similar. Piece of cake.

 

The suggestion I was responding to was about having reverse below 7th and then having to engage 1st as a fail safe before selecting reverse, which seemed awkward. The Mustang solution notwithstanding, adding 7th as an OD gear out of the main pattern up and right and leaving reverse where it is on the 6 speed seems like the simplest design. I guess Porsche agreed.

 

heres the official video: