speed21

Just a FYI on the plight of the manual.

Chances are if it wasn't for all you Americans buying manuals a lot of us stick shift die hards over here in Aus may well be finding ourselves out of business.

So thanks guys! Keep it up, and keep on buying those manuals eh!!

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/e...601-1zl2z.html

utkinpol

i look at those pictures and those wheels in 20" simply look grotesk. i cannot beleive factory did it as the only option...

SSST

Agree on the 20" wheels. Just too big for a car that size.

Long live the MT. I'm not interested in track times. I just enjoy the driver involvement and skill required of a MT.

GuyIncognito

funny thing is that adoption of automatic gearboxes in sports cars was largely driven by American consumers as well.

we just can't make up our friggin' minds, I guess

tgcrun

Really, if you're going to call something grotesque, at least learn how to spell the word. I have a 997.2 C4S (which, by the way, I'm keeping) and expect delivery of my 991S Cab next month. I love the look of my 997 with 19s, and I love the look of the 991 with 20s. Two different cars, two different styles, both definitely 911s, both visually stunning. Grotesque? I think not.

tgcrun

P.S. Both my 997 and my 991 are sticks. I'm happily doing my part to help keep the manual gearbox alive.

uhn2000

Love manual cars.

Carrera GT

The base 991 Carrera is $230K Aussie dollars. Give or take near-parity exchange rates and sales taxes or registration or insurance, that's USD$230K ... for a car that lists for USD$82K ... that's three times the price! What the hell is the Aussie Govt doing? Last I checked, it was two times the price and that was outrageous and ineffectual (since local Aussie car makers are dead or dying, aside from the Giocattolo, there was no competition with Porsche and this "protective" tariff is not protecting anything other than the brim of the government tax revenue coffers.)

Rainier_991

Wow, and I thought we had it bad. I'm in Cape Town, South Africa and have ordered a white "S" cab 4 weeks ago.
I'm feeling pretty bad having to fork out around $160.000 for a reasonably optioned car:

Carrara white "S", standard wheels
Platinum gray interior, basic partial leather. Only option are Porsche crests on headrests
Sports exhaust
Sports Plus
Sports design steering wheel with the flappies
Power steering plus (yes, I know...)
Front+rear park assist
Floor mats (yes, I know...)
Collapsible spare tire (Can't do without here)

No satnav, phone stuff or anything beyond the basic sound system.

Around 70% of the price is import duties and taxes and then there is another 14% sales tax on top of that (tax on tax).

I feel for you - but thanks for the post - you actually managed to make me feel better even if that was not your intention...

Rainier

ScorpionT

I would never have thought anywhere near half the cars were manual, all I see is PDK cars for sale. I am pleasantly surprised though.

Track times cars are useless for most people. A good driver in a manual car will outpace a mediocre driver in a PDK car every day of the week. Its only my opinion, but I think many drivers want the speed without having skill or work required.

RESP

You are correct Scorpion - a good driver will outpace an average or worse driver every day, every condition, every track, every car.

triode

Yep, doing my part to persuade Porsche to keep the enthusiast's choice.

rodsky

Isn't satnav standard on the S. By the way I'm originally from Cape Town. Be visiting my Mom in March.

Rainier_991

No not here - it's a pretty expensive option.

Don't need it, don't want it. Love getting lost. More driving to do...

If I really need a satnav, I'll use a tom-tom. Better anyway...

Rainier

tgcrun

PDK might be faster and technologically better, but there's nothing like executing a rev matching downshift on a manual. Soooo satisfying.