speed21

It could be true.

Once Walter says he doesnt need it then its....

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/p...214-2efl8.html

carrerapete

QUOTE: “There are some Porsche enthusiasts who prefer [a manual gearbox] and we will continue to offer this in the meantime. But we are constantly looking at the customer behaviour and maybe the time will come when the manual transmission is an old style. Maybe one day it will become irrelevant.” UNQUOTE

Perhaps the time will come when Sports Cars in general become irrelevant, especially with the newer generation, which has a great number of non-performance car enthusiasts.

But the funny thing is that most of these type of threads are created by automatic transmission enthusiasts. It's as if they have this inherent need to reaffirm their manliness. I used to also see a lot of this on the Corvette forums, because Chevy chose not to make any automatic ZO6 or ZR1s.

I say a person should drive the car they truly enjoy; if they can afford it. I personally don't look down on anyone using an automatic transmission, and never really felt a need to create a thread to justify my love for a manual gearbox.

As far as the article in question goes: Porsche will never make any drastic changes unless they're absolutely positive that it won't hurt their bottom line. It's all about the bottom line, not what Walter may think.

chuck911

I'm no automatic enthusiast, quite the opposite, have never liked them. PDK is not of course an automatic transmission. That was Tiptronic. PDK is an electronically shifted manual gearbox transmission. And it has already obsoleted the clutch pedal. Yes a lot of people have grown attached to their habits. That's all it is. Almost certainly there were those back in the day of the first mechanical spark advance who felt the same. How can I trust that spring? I can do it better. I can feel the power better than any spring. What if the spring breaks? I feel more involved. If any of that sounds silly, well print it out, tape it to the refrigerator, come read it again years later when the paper is yellow, the tape brittle and peeling off. By then of course EVERYONE will KNOW the clutch pedal was destined for the dustbin- and deservedly so. Might not feel like it yet. But it is.

freeman

Please understand. I have had 4 manual-transmission Porsches. However, after two back surgeries I am unable to deal with a manual transmission. What to do? I traded my 993 for a bare-bones 991 with PDK; the only option. I love it and prefer it to a Ford Focus.

kosmo

it will be around as long as drivers are willing to pay for it. Its possible that the PDK will be standard w/ an OPTIONAL Stick?

oldman40

yes but it is an evolution. until then, there will be a bunch of us crumudgeons or old schoolers or whatever we are that will lament it along the way. for that matter, the gasoline engine as we know it is headed to the same aforementioned dustbin. think how furious everyone will be when the tachometer and the pse are no longer necessary! we'll be arguing over the size of the batteries on the s versus the base! whether or not to get the optional battery charging accelerator will set this forum ablaze! yikes, that just sounds awful at least we won't need the auto start stop function anymore....

pfan

And when the time comes that the MT is an option you can bet they'll find a way to charge $$$$$ for it.

oldman40

from the article: "One potential saviour for the manual gearbox could be the United States market. While Americans generally prefer automatics, most Porsche sports cars sold in the States have a manual gearbox."

what does this say about the u.s. market versus the rest of the world? are we just be stuck in our macho ways? does europe and the rest of the world have it figured out better than us? of course not, but it is due to differences in racing histories? current driving conditions? not sure, but anyone who's been over the europe knows that the streets and towns there are generally pretty cramped (not too many chevy tahoes over there) and traffic is at least as bad as the u.s.

nicoff

Yes, quite possible. I can see that at some point, when the number of owners wanting a MT goes below a certain threshold, Porsche will probably add the price of the PDK to all cars (thus raising the base price of the vehicle) and then charge extra $$$ for the manual. Porsche will make more money that way because they are forcing everyone to pay for the PDK even if they don't want it.

The PDK has been a great success for Porsche. It is ironic that only after other manufacturers started offering dual-clutch transmissions with their cars (think GT-R), did Porsche decide to dump the lousy tiptronic and offer PDK to consumers.

meine911

I read a recent article that automatics make up 95% of US market versus 20% in Europe.

BoxsterG

I like my Manual 6 and also have a PDK. I only drive the PDK in one mode. It doesn't get me excited enough personally. All my Porsche 99X will be ordered in manual

golftime

I always have to laugh when I hear the PDK guys try to argue that the PDK is not an automatic, but an "electronically shifted manual". Are you kidding me? I don't care if a transmission uses fluid or electronics, or anything else to shift, if it shifts itself, it is by definition an automatic shifting transmission. To argue otherwise is to deny reality.

At the same time, it is also true that with PDK, the engineers have perfected the automatic to the point where it is so good it exceeds the ability of a driver using a manual transmission, which therefore makes it very attractive from a convenience and performance perspective. And I suspect this is why most PDK owners don't like it referred to as an automatic; because it congers up thoughts of some slush box with 3 second gaps between shifts.

Yes, there are still quite a few of us clinging on to our manual gearboxes, probably because we just like it and it allows us to feel more connected with the car, however over time I am sure this will continue to fade. And with the amount of traffic on our roads these days, I don't deny that someday I too might be driving one of those PDK automatic transmissions.

meine911

Of course me might as well get ready for the "no steering wheel" evolution.

mdrums

What most of them are trying to have people understand is that PDK doesn't have the same parts or operate like a typical automatic transmission. PDK and a automatic as you and I know them are totally different transmissions....yes a PDK has an auto mode.

BoxsterG

ughh!