Is the shifter actually shorter?

 

Agreed, but for them to say nothing at all about it makes me think they are waiting to present it with Gen. 2. Otherwise, it would be a nice marketing/selling point for many considering the GTS.

Good thought.

I can't imagine they'd do that. It would detract from the GTS and serve only to cause problems for C2S buyers who didn't get it v. those who did.

Holy cow, I had no idea Harris disliked the 7MT so much. And I'm sorry, but I would be blown away if the GTS 7MT were not also PDK-based. If you have a reliable source stating differently, please post it.

Your dealer would be the last person to ask. My dealer had no idea either, nor did I expect him to have one. The most obvious people who have driven these cars back to back (loosely speaking) are the auto journalists who have reported the change in the 7MT when reviewing the GTS.

+1

 

It is the same transmission with some revisions to linkage. Panorama, Evo or one of the US mags stated pretty explicitly what the change was a few months ago and it was minor but seemed to be well received.

 

I'd actually rather have confirmation directly from Porsche since they built the thing.

 

Of course, who wouldn't?

 

Porsche's website says the following about the 7 speed manual in the GTS:

"Pure, direct, precise. Short shift movements and an optimum transition from one gear to the next. The standard 7-speed manual transmission combines a high level of sporty performance with pithy gear changes. When the SPORT PLUS button is activated, the dynamic throttle-blip function ensures optimum engine speed when changing down – and an impressive sound.

A gear indicator in the rev counter reminds you which gear has been selected. The upshift indicator in the instrument cluster helps you to actively conserve fuel."

You would think that if there were radical changes in the transmission, they would certainly mention them. My guess is there are just minor tweaks to the linkage and not much more. The rest is just marketing hype. I have no idea what they mean by "pithy" gear changes.

 

Well there you have it. My '14 does not have pithy gear changes, mystery solved. ;-)

 

Actually, the 14's DO have pithy gear changes; the GTS gear changes are laconic and trenchant.

 

"Short shifter" refers to shift lever travel being shorter. Regardless of linkage, there is within the transmission a certain distance cogs must be moved in order to change gears. This depends on gear size- which in turn is a function of power (which is why all the manuals guys rave about are lower horsepower cars). Anyway, the point is, this can only be decreased in any car (GTS or otherwise) by a total transmission redesign.

Which nobody ever does. What they do instead is lever up the linkage. Shifting is nothing more than pushing on a lever. Change the lever arm, change the force and travel. So yes one way to make a short shifter is simply cut the lever down shorter. Or move the shift lever axis closer to the shift ****. Or lever it up anywhere else. Because no matter how you do it, all you're really doing is reducing mechanical leverage. The same amount of work must still be done. Therefore, surprise, shifts will take the same amount of time. The one thing "short" definitely does not refer to is time! For that they developed a whole new advanced mechanism. Its called PDK.

 

I asked my dealer technician (silver meister) and my parts manager to check for any parts number differences from the shifter through to the gear box itself.....the numbers are identical with no superseding numbers to my 2013 C2 manual. That leaves only two potentials for improvement...the lubricant, either in the box or linkage or both or being pre-broken in at the factory. Or, factory hyperbole.

I must say my shift experience has greatly improved with 28 K of running.

 

Skipping right over the break-in canard...You left one out: they changed parts inside the transmission. They advertise shorter, more direct shifts. There really are only two ways to achieve this: greater mechanical leverage outside the gearbox, or shorter gear movement inside the gearbox. If all the linkage parts are the same then it would have to be inside the gearbox.

This makes sense. Remember the manual is really a single clutch PDK. So as PDK improves then due to the shared parts the manual is bound to improve as well. Have your silver meister look into that one and see what turns up.

 

I did. As my previous quote says "through to the box itself" . The tranny part number is the same as before. If anything inside had changed it would need a new number to be DOT kosher. So, its all the same stuff. Everybody just thinks it's better....the Emperor's new clothes????

 

It's this. But, as we all know, "minor" refinements can yield worthwhile improvements. And that's the case here. The "rounded-notch" feeling of the original 991 7MT as it went into each gear was either gone or almost entirely gone when I tried the GTS.

Is it quite as nice as the 6MT in the 981s? I'm not sure, partly due to the extra gate, but the motion is now very nice. It wasn't bad (imo) before, but that which was arguably objectionable has been addressed.

YMMV, but that's my take.

pete

 

I asked my technician to look at "all "parts, including the gate...no numbers had changed at all versus the previous generation. Without number changes you are still left with only lube and or break-in involvement.

You know, apropos of nothing, we are dealing with the same Porsche executives we told us a year ago that the 7 speed manual was less than 10% of 911 sales and that we should look to the new PDK as the primary future. Now , we have them saying that the manual is the standard equipment for the new GTS. I'd say they have had a change of heart after discovering what some simple lube change and break-in can add to the mix. IMHO

 

So, to summarize, they redesigned parts to be more direct and precise, then went ahead and kept the old parts numbers.