MerlinsGarage

Klash,
If you have an antique typewriter, I'll take it off your hands, older the better.

Jerry991

There is no question that today's PDK can outperform a manual transmission but I see far too many drivers today, especially young ones like my kids, who don't know how to drive a manual and have no interest in learning. It's a shame because they will never be able to drive an older car from the era when there were no clutch less Porsches, etc., with manual steering and total driver involvement in trying to maximize performance and handling based more upon driver involvement and less on the latest technology. You could have driven an automatic GM product, etc. back then but it just wasn't the same experience.

rglbegl

Not it is not.
Automatics will become more prevalent year by year. (As they have since 1930 something) But the manual will never go away.

And no matter what you call it, a double clutched, whiggamorammy, hand of god, paddle touched magical shifting machine. . .. in the end, it is just an automatic tranny. They may have changed out the torque converter for a magic box, but it is still an auto. (Sorry to break peoples hearts here)

Ynot

Here is a good article regarding manual transmissions.

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/top-reas...173737494.html

rpilot

Good Article? Really ?

Here.. please read a proper point...

http://jalopnik.com/5952570/a-manual...o-deal-with-it

and counterpoint

http://jalopnik.com/5952666/yes-your...-transmissions

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I'm outta here...

Noah Fect

From that page: "I see the manual gearbox like a film camera. When digital first hit the scene, it was terrible. However, over time, digital got better and better and more and more people started switching. It got to a point where the pros and the stubborn were the only ones with film." Left unsaid is the fact that even the pros have moved on.

That seems to sum it up pretty well. Nobody from Canon is going to break into your darkroom and seize your vintage Hasselblad, any more than jackbooted stormtroopers from Porsche are going to confiscate your 997TT. But you can't expect everyone else to wait for you to catch up.

I also like the photography analogy for another reason. It's a truism in photography that the best camera is the one you have with you, even if it's just a crappy cell phone. If you're learning the ropes, digital is great because it means you no longer have to pay for every shot you screw up. Similarly, a PDK-equipped Porsche is more likely to be driven and enjoyed in a real-world urban setting, as opposed to a stick-shift model that you left in the garage because the last time you took it out you got stuck in an hour-long traffic jam and got enough "engagement" and "involvement" with your manual to last several weeks.

"Ever driven a Manual transmission Ferrari F430? I have, and it was incredible."

Ever driven a 308 with four Webers and a five-speed metal gate? I have, and you know what? It was even more "engaging" and "involving" than that F430. If you want to shift a 308 optimally, you need to maintain a mental map of the entire driveline's inertia tensor. When you get it right the reaction rod compresses just enough to help you guide the lever from first to second in about eight nanoseconds. It's ****ing cool. But you know what? I wouldn't order a new 458 with that transmission. The older cars just demanded too many compromises, most of which have been eliminated. Lose a sensation here, gain a sensation there, and pick up some additional livability in the bargain. What's not to like?

rglbegl

Page 6 !!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Key Left

I have not read this entire blog but I drive a 991 daily and must say that being able to skip gears going up with the manual is heaven. I drive mostly just the odd numbers 1...3...5..7. A PDK can't shift faster than skipping, plus the odd gears suit my terrain best. As far as digital versus analog cameras is concerned, my Leica M4 has no shutter lag, no digital camera offers that feature....it makes all the difference in the world, not to mention that film is 50,000 times sharper than the best digital image. Hollywood is still shooting film where image quality counts, and Kodak has bet their reorganized future on this factor staying put. You can take it from there.

ricster

Yes, as an employee of a Porsche dealer, I heard it twice internally at events from Porsche engineers. It will start with the top models (all PDK). Then it will filter down to all the models. 5 years no more sticks . Basically the manual transmission in the 991 is a PDK housing re-gutted. Sad day for sure. Looks like the manuals will be the cars with the $$$$$ value retention.

ricster

I will follow up with, My next Porsche is a GT3 from 2004,07 with no center locks, no PDK and all the gizmos that artificially make you look better on the track, nope give me the older GT3 and take off the nanny devices on the track. All the others are for people who need to go faster with the slick technology. Oh and for the record, even Hurley Haywood in his personal car chooses a manual...contrary to what you read.

MerlinsGarage

rister,

5 years is a long time, auto industry wise.

bccars

PDK is faster, even when you only shift odd gears and PDK has to go through all of them seperately !

Plus, you can't really gearskip in full freedom as you always have to go past 5 to get to 7.

rpilot

Maybe, Maybe not. In the past the auto/ tiptronic boxes or the Ferrari Sequential Boxes or the Audi R-tronics have been fairly lame attempts. So, now you see the Manuals from those cars being more desirable.

As far as a purist wanting a manual, the 991 especially in its S or higher form has more electronic doodads like PASM, PTV, PDCC (where optioned) to create a value adder or detractor.

Time will tell.

And he and Walter Rohrl both lament the lack of the physical handbrake next to the shifter. Besides, Walter Rorhl , last I heard was waiting for a Turbo to buy/claim as his personal car.

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Now, I am really outta here..

chuck911

In other words, standard operating procedure. Porsche has a long history of introducing the most advanced technology at the top and then filtering it down the line first as an option then standard equipment. One of the more recent examples, dynamic motor mounts. Allows them to recoup development cost while perfecting design and manufacture. Part and parcel of being the manufacturer of the world's greatest driver's cars.

rglbegl

I guess they need to follow the money. And all the new buyers either can't drive manual, or have the same mindset as the Apple computer crowd where they must look cool in front of everyone else, no matter the cost.
Yes Porsche, learn from Apple . .... put out the same item every year, but tell everyone it is new and cool and if they don't have it, they are old and outdated so everyone should laugh at them. Works great for taking money from the vain hipsters as well as the wannabe trendies.
Don't mind the enthusiasts you alienated, they will move on to other cars, never buying a new car from Porsche again. But that is okay, those new Hipsters you are catering to will buy buy buy as long as you tell them that "This is the way of the future, you are smart and cool if you own it"