Zaim

Does anyone have any experience with using paddle shifters extensively (particularly for downshifting) in the 2013 911? I've been intrigued by the method of heel to toe in manuals and didn't know how one might apply a similar strategy on a PDK... Sure sounds like it could be fun....

chuckbdc

Just pull on the left paddle as you slow down. PDK does everything that the best heel and toe expert does, just faster.

Or if you have Sport Chrono put it in Sport Plus and don't touch the paddles as you slow down. Just be prepared for the transmission to place the car in the next lowest gear that is closest to the redline as it works its way down.

kosmo

i dont understand your question. the PDK blips on the downshifts so why would you blip twice?

DKC64

Sounds like you didn't know that the PDK auto blips on down shift perfectly everytime. To me it's less fun... more fun to heel-toe perfectly yourself in an MT.

JohnnyBahamas

+1

PDK does everything faster... removes pride in one's skill faster, removes the need for a tach in the center of the dash faster, get's us to our graves numb and disconnected faster, etc.

Oh, protects the manufacturer from the warranty costs of having to repair any damage to the drive train caused by an untrained driver because the manufacturer's onboard computer algorithm is actually running the drive train... but I'm sure that has nothing to do with their thinking.

mrstep

Just click the button and it will do it for you in a technically perfect manner.

Oh, and +1.

gulrey

I think the posters point is that he is looking for more fun on the downshift than simply pulling a lever.

This thing about how fast the PDK works is often repeated but remains completely irrelevant except those driving the car to the limit (I am sure a very small minority of owners).

chuckbdc

I find it very relevant at speeds nowhere near the limit. PDK provides options for creating all the senses of acceleration and deceleration through variations in accelerations and sounds on upshifts and downshifts- at any speed. In that sense it is exactly like having a manual transmission with the free revving flat six, assuming the driver has a clue of how to use them together in either case. Adding PSE to either adds aural delight.

mrstep

I actually think the OP's question was just whether you can get PDK to rev-match/blip on a downshift since it sounds like fun. The answer is 1) yes, and 2) not necessarily in a way that's as fun if you're looking to be the one doing that perfect shift yourself - you will get the sound, and a better executed shift though.

I wouldn't say it's anything like a manual. It's a much better automatic with very fast manual overrides, but you won't (both don't have to and can't) be doing the actual equivalent of heel-toe if that's what sounds like fun to try.

I get it for racing, I understand that it's easier for traffic. Considering the number of people saying it frees up time to look for the perfect line or brake/acceleration points, I'd obviously suggest that that means it's absolutely less involving. There is less to do which = less involvement. Whether that's good or bad just depends on what you want or enjoy, and as we've seen on countless other threads that's a matter of preference.

chuckbdc

Here is what I totally don't get about your comment. I've owned a number of MT Porsches over the last 40 years before getting the PDK in my current one. I spent 15 years doing and instructing at DE events, and some time driving showroom stock cars in SCCA. I can vividly recall many braking, cornering and placement duels that define racing involvement even today (10 years after I stopped). But shifting, heel and toe when needed, on various tricky air cooled 911 4 and 5 speeds, and the much better 4 speed Nissan 260Z, were total non-events unless I totally screwed up. I did that occasionally, but only when over-involved with the interesting part of driving. Of the street? What I most remember was my Boxter S 6 speed. That trans was so good that I often marveled at not recalling shifting at all.

Zaim

Thanks to all for the feedback, mrstep, you were right on in that I was simply looking to be more engaged and was trying to rev match... My understanding is that rev matching is also less taxing on engine and other components.. Thx everyone again

Zaim

Right on chuck

mrstep

You're much better at shifting a MT than I am - it sounds like the MT was essentially so practiced/mechanical that it was transparent to you? To clarify - I'm just saying that, at least for my case where I get much less time just driving - let alone competing - the manual is more involving, particularly on (artificially extended) lunch runs [working from home] or weekend jaunts on public roads. I can see how if essentially perfect heel-toe shifting is a rote exercise, then certainly PDK may be no less involving - though even for the shifts that are transparent to me there's just a nicer feeling doing it myself. More active? A bit more present? Dunno, that's me anyway.

I know that viewed functionally - whether it's getting a faster & optimal shift every time at a track, or not having to do it in stop & go - or, as the OP asked, to get perfect downshifts with a blip - the PDK is superior to at least what I do.

If the fun the OP was talking about was learning or doing a nice downshift himself, then clicking a button and pressing the brake may or may not be that exercise. But the reality is that the industry is moving away from even that, and in the not so distant future we'll have silent electric motors that have no gears anyway, so not having a MT doesn't mean he's missing out on the 'next big thing' in any case.

mrstep

A couple of quick points:

- It's definitely less wear on the components, and the good news is that you'll be rev matching much better than I do whether it's with the paddle or Sport Plus.

- Any PDK or MT question will turn into a discussion of PDK vs. MT, which appears to somehow fail to be resolved every time. The only positive is that I haven't seen any discussion end up with someone being equated to Hitler. (Uh... Yet?)

bccars

+1 ..
Been heel-toeing and double declutching for about 20 years. It's automatic to me, don't have to think about it. And since testdriving the wonderfull PDK in sport plus, frankly, it has turned into a bother lately to the point that I stopped doing it. For me, it has become a chore that takes up too much time, boring. Can't wait for my pdk to be delivered so I can take my driving to the next level.

But I respect everyone that takes the MT !