Amen

 

We are in agreement. Whenever I've participated in one of these PDK/manual threads, as a "stick" guy I've always been on the defensive, too. In fairness I'll also admit that the same kind of threads also appear over on the Corvette forums. The folks over there just fawn all over the quick-shifting PDK and want one desperately for the C7...at least, they did until GM announced their new quicker-shifting conventional 8-speed automatic. I haven't checked in over there since that announcement was made...

 

Toonses loves PDK! He says it shifts so fast, and loves the uninterrupted acceleration. He says his commute is now finally enjoyable. Toonses is ready for the future!

Wait... cats....internet..and cars!!? CONCEPT!

 

The PDK vs. manual debate is alive and well even outside of the online forums. I went to my local dealer several weeks ago and told a salesman that I was interested in a 911 with the manual transmission. The salesman essentially told me that the PDK was a much better transmission and that I really should not get the 911 with a stick. Of course, as is typical of sales people of high end products, the salesman conveyed this advice to me in a snooty way as if I had been in a coma for the last 20 years and had not kept up with the advances in technology.( Hmmm... I wonder if this advice had anything too do with the fact the dealer only had PDK transmission 911's on the lot?)

Anyways, I left the dealer convinced that Porsche salesmen are trained to project the idea that "we do not need you/you need us because you want a Porsche and if you don't buy one someone else with more money than you will buy it", I contacted an out of state dealer and purchased a 911 with a stick.

Of course, the 911 I found with the color combo I wanted had the "power steering plus" option. I then made the mistake of researching this option on this forum. Even though some postings told me that I may as well be driving a mini-van if my 911 has this option, I completed the purchase. (By the way, I do not even notice this option except when driving in my driveway and in parking lots.)

When you plunk down $100k to $140k for a car, you are making a personal decision. Get what you want. If I told an PDK 911 owner that a "real Porsche" has a manual transmission or if I told a manual 911 owner that "manual transmissions are only for the people who cling to the past", I would expect him/her to tell me to F off.
You may as well be telling your neighbor that he/she should have picked a more suitable spouse.

 

I can understand that if you're older, have problems with your knees or whatever and sit in traffic and don't enjoy shifting you might want the option of an automatic as a compromise. That's what it is though, a compromise for people that can no longer shift or enjoy it for whatever reason. If I had trouble because of a physical problem I'd want the automatic option too.

The problem I have is being put down as some kind of dinosaur (I'm in my 30's) that's an extremist for insisting on a manual transmission in my sports car because that's what makes the driving experience enjoyable for me. I also have a problem when dealers only order the automatic and force it on customers and put down those that want a manual. It's also a problem that they are removing the manual option in many cars now because they make more on the automatic.

 

POTD!

 

THATS IT. I'm totally validated or convinced by what I read here. I am selling my PDK or stick and getting a stick or PDK!

 

**** just got real in here.

 

My 1st preference was a MT until I tried the 991 PDK which was a "new kind of fun" I hadn't yet experienced in a performance car.

I've driven MTs for 38 years and enjoy them but PDK offered me a new/different kind (don't confuse my use of 'new/different' as 'better') of authentic high performance driving.

I appreciate the fact I can keep both hands on the wheel in the twisties (sp?).

I like being comfortable poking along in LA traffic when I have to leave my quiet Coachella Valley.

And my spouse appreciates (very important) it when I drive us both in full non-drama mode.

If I owned a second performance car, it would definitely be MT so I could enjoy both worlds.

In any case, I can still shift to my heart's content with my motorcycles.

 

I have had 7 new 911's since 1983. Six were MT and my current car is PDK. I love it. I'm old with sore knees. It's the right car for me and finally, after 30 years, I can shift gears like a pro.

I also have a question. What do they use in formula 1?

In the end, you buy what you like.

 

I would love to row through the seven gears if I lived in Nevada City per se - but being in Los Angeles a Good Chunk of the time It becomes very tiresome especially during peak hours. Thus the PDK. I know it's cop-out but when you hit forty oh lordy you have to start making some priorities.

 

sales people tell you PDK is better because one day they will have to move it as a used car, where , again PDK has 9 x as many potential buyers
cars w/o sunroofs are less popular ( and therefore worth less at trade in ) ,but if you get from reading from car nut boards, you would think it is the opposite

 

 

Now that's ^^^ unrestricted warfare!

 

+1

For every one time I miss rowing the gears on an open road, there are a 100 times I am thankful for the PDK. And if that is not enough, I remember the agony of driving a Ford 3 speed slushbox in my first car and the agony of 7 years of 1-2-3-5-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1-2-3-4-6-2-1-2-3-2 every morning and evening in traffic with my last car.