WernerE

Nice sleight of hand. You said "Porsche went to PDK because it improves the driving experience." In auto or shift mode?

For myself, I've never experienced a manual transmission without driving, unless the engine was pulled and I was bored.

PDK is faster for the reasons you cited -- I felt those were rather obvious. However, speed is one among many attributes that make up the "driving experience." You're simply gilding the lily.

chuck911

Well just off hand, the way you're quoting me, there's a period at the end of the sentence. Let me know if you still don't get it.

chuck911

Uh, you know… not dissing WR at all, but… If the man is a driving legend and "a Porsche God"* then who are we to presume to know the mind of God? After decades of victories driving manuals he's not entitled to express fondness for those days - or anything else for that matter- without someone trying to hijack his reputation to make a point?

And no I am not saying he was just being nostalgic. I am saying, Who are we to know?

*He is.

bccars

I think it's because we are so passionate about our cars ...

drcollie

Here's a lighter moment I'll share with you guys....

My 21-year-old son was home from college along a few months ago with his roommate who is visiting. It's Friday night and they're bored, decide to go out and drive around town a bit. It's a beautiful evening, clear skies, sunset, 75 degrees out. I say "You guys should take my Porsche (991S Cab) and drive around with the top down - you'd have fun".

They both perk up... "REALLY?" they ask?

"Sure" I say, followed with "Can either of you drive a manual transmission?"

They took the Mazda3.....

pap2828

wow can't believe how emotional people get over this!!!!

both options are great and its simply a personal preference, surely? I have and love the PDK and have stuck with PDK for my GTS, however, I have had MT cars most of my life and its not a biggy!!!

MerlinsGarage

As much as I enjoy DIY cog changes I believe the MT is a generational attraction much like the '60's & '70's muscle cars. It will be phased out, years after it's extinction used MT sports cars will spike up in price only to retreat into the darkness of museums and private non-driven collections. By this time we will not be using current gas formulations, if fossil fuels are used at all, and insurance companies will be charging an extravagent surcharge on those who wish drive the cars themselves.
Safe transportation will rule the land, and new organizations like MMAAD will form............Mad Mothers Against Analog Drivers.

Noah Fect

I would have bet my bottom dollar that manual Ferraris were going to spike in value, as soon as I heard the 458 and subsequent cars were going automatic-only. It's a good thing I didn't, because I was wrong.

I still want to own a manual F430 one of these days, because unlike Porsche's excellent-but-not-really-special manual shifter, a Ferrari gated shifter is one of those things that make the world a genuinely better place. I don't understand why the manual cars don't command a hefty price premium, considering that the Ferrari automatics prior to the 458 were nowhere near as good as PDK.

Instead, what I've observed with Ferrari and Lamborghini leads me to believe that when Porsche drops the manual for good, there will be some grumbling from a small number of people, many of whom probably wouldn't have bought the car anyway, and then everyone will get over it.

chuck911

Yeah that is kind of funny. Until you think about it….

With few exceptions, cars never really start appreciating until they get up around 40 years. Why is that? I think its because 40 years (give or take) is about the time when the declining number of good condition surviving cars intersects the rising number of guys who loved them but couldn't afford them when they were young. They finally have enough money at 60 to afford the car they dreamed of at 20. Look at any car auction, Wayne Carini Chasing Classic Cars, whatever, its all 60-somethings doing the buying. Buying at 60 what they wanted at 20.

What is the car today's 20-somethings dream of? I don't have a clue what it IS, but can say for sure what its NOT: a 911 with a clutch!

Imagine the fun those kids would have had driving a 911 with PDK. They'd have had a hoot! They'd have told all their friends. ALL their friends!

Instead they drove a… Mazda 3? Shudder.

Anyone see the kids joy-riding the automatic Mazda growing up and bidding on a manual Porsche? If a car has no young fans now, how's it gonna have any old buyers later?

drcollie

Ferraris are flat and are no longer appreciating - all the cool kids are buying older Porsches now. Ferrari collectors are pissed at the new management policies and are bailing on the marque right now. Check the price of a Grade 1 993 Twin Turbo with a stick right now - be sitting down. Or a pre-1974 car.

Jaguar just released a manual trans in the F-Type - its at the display in the L.A. Auto Show. The 3-pedal car ain't dead yet, boyz.

Porsche won't drop the manual as long as customers continue to buy them.

drcollie

...and I'd have never offered it to them. I knew neither could drive a stick...lol

Noah Fect

Agreed, that story's kind of sad. Back in the day, I used to let people drive my 308GTB occasionally. It was always a blast to see the look on a kid's face when I'd offer to trade seats in his Camaro or whatever for a couple of miles.

Frankly, if I had a 20-year-old son or daughter who couldn't drive a stick shift, or whom I wouldn't trust to take my car out for a spin, I'd consider it a personal failing on my part, rather than something to toss out for laughs. The good news is, it's never too late to fix that! Until it is.

drcollie

Hey Noah Fect - the more you post in the more I'm convince yer a farkin' idiot.

chuck911

Uh, they already have. None of their models use a manual. They all use a PDK transmission, with some models having an optional version modified to work with a single clutch and downgraded shift mechanism. Its a long thread, you may have missed the posts of the transmission cutaways and articles about how nobody designs a manual like this, its laid out all wrong for a manual, it was and is clearly PDK from the beginning. Its a couple pages back.

Anyway, even that much is only for the lower tier models. On all their really serious cars- 918, Turbo, GT3, Cup- they dropped even that option. I haven't looked much into the 997 so don't quote me, but probably the last Porsche with a manual was the Carrera GT. Either way, Porsche quit making them years ago.

drmatara

Not always...have you ever seen anybody throw away a mechanical Patek Philippe time piece because the LCD one or Quartz is new technology therefore better?