Back when I was looking at buying my first new Porsche (2006 Cayman S), I fretted all the details,....19" wheels, PASM, SC, PCCB, etc.

Found that there were actually track results comparing a fully loaded Cayman S (with all the above options) and a "plain jane" version with none of the above,.....18" wheels, no PASM, no SC, no PCCB.

On an ~8 minute course there was around 11 seconds difference between the two,....so for $13K in options you got a 2.23% improvement on an 8 minute race track. On the street there would be no difference at all, and cost you about 25% of the whole car for these options.

I ended up getting none of these except SC as I liked it for the price. Draw your own conclusions about Porsche "performance" options......

 

Had PDCC on my 13 S. Decided not to order it on my new GTS. On the track or at moderate speed you don't notice PDCC, despite the fact that it may be helping. I did find that during sharp turns, at slow, parking lot speeds, that it felt a bit awkward. Like the suspension was trying to climb over itself. Odd. In any event, the GTS with S/PASM and dynamic engine mounts will be enough IMHO.

 

You're mixing apples and oranges, to say the least.

In the first case you take a racing example and imply its a waste because there's hardly any improvement for all that money. But in racing its rare indeed to find anything that for $13k will guarantee you a nice comfortable margin of victory every single time. In racing terms its a stone bargain.

You then say "on the street there would be no difference at all." But of course there are differences. PASM both rides smoother and handles more responsively, PCCB reduces unsprung weight for a better ride, and subjectively feels more powerful, and so on down the line.

This probably has something to do with why there are so many guys who are perfectly happy with PDCC, and so few who say laps times are the reason.

 

I ticked the PDCC box because of something my sales guy said. There was a car optioned the way I wanted it at a nearby dealership that my sales guy said he could trade for, but didn't recommend because it did not have PDCC. The dealership had an order spot available so I ordered a car with PDCC. Now he is proposing a car that does not have PDCC. Yeah, he and I need to talk about this some more (this just happened today) and I need to nose around the Internet about it some more, but I thought I would put it out and get some insight from the forum, too.

I am sure there are guys that would check the Kick in the Nuts at Delivery box if it was not already standard equipment, but that's why I posed the question. I don't want to throw money away on something that is not going to contribute to my enjoyment of the car and I left a lot of boxes unchecked. I am just trying to get a better feel of what PDCC does for the car to determine if it's worth the expense or not.

Chuck, you recommended I wait for the ordered car. I respect your opinion. Why do you like PDCC?

 

because the more options the more money he makes ...

note that some people (many of them motoring journalists) do not like PDCC because it removes some of the feel/feedback from the car...

 

PDCC is not needed for a sport PASM equipped car, especially if you plan to track it. If you don't plan to track the car and you don't mind spending $3k, go ahead.

 

Not important. IMO of course.

 

My understanding (and this came straight from some guy on an Internet forum, so it must be the straight dope) is this:

PDCC cars always have PDCC turned on. There's no turning it off, no changing the responsiveness, etc. The first year or two 991s didn't have the word "PDCC" on that button. And therefore, there is literally nowhere on the car that indicates you just spent 3 gs for PDCC. People were less than impressed. Especially since, as Larry correctly points out, this is an extremely flat-cornering sportscar anyway, without PDCC. So it's not like you get in one and drive it and nod sagely and say, "Ah, it's good to be in a PDCC car again." Truth is, you really don't notice it unless you have the ability to drive it back to back over the same roads against a car that is otherwise spec'd the same (PASM or SPASM, same wheels/tires.) I did get to do that and on the street couldn't tell any difference (I wanted to, cuz I'm a Kick In The Nuts option checker if I think it will make any difference). At the track, I suspect what Larry says could be exactly true -- the car would behave like a 911 with a slightly thicker set of roll bars, which may actually diminish feel and mask the onset of breakaway telltales till too late.

Or maybe not. The point is, while it's difficult to make a case that the PDCC option actually harms anything, it's very simple to make the case that it doesn't help anything. One merely has to go drive two cars back to back.

 

Just returned this Monday from a 2 day driving course at Leipzig. I asked my instructor exactly this question in relation to PDCC on the 991 and AS on the Macan. His answer was that PDCC makes the cars too snappy. The cars with just PASM give you a lot for feel as to where the limit is so you can more easily feel when you are about to step over the line. A PDCC car pretty much just snaps and does not telegraph its intentions. So in his opinion the NON PDCC cars were both safer and quicker.

 

I drove both back-to-back on road and track at Silverstone and ended up going for PDCC. Car to me just felt like it had more grip in corners, and the instructor explained that 'snappiness' is because a) car has more grip, therefore needs more centripetal force to be made to let go, therefore lets go faster and potentially more frighteningly, and b) doesn't lean and so takes away one of the 'instruments' that many drivers (especially experienced 911 drivers) use to guage how much grip there is.

But tyre feel, sound and the sensation of lateral G are all still there, so one can definitely learn to drive at grip limit in a PDCC car. It might just need a bit of getting used to.

That said, I'm unlikely to track the car and it will be my first 911 so others may want different things. It took some doing for me to disagree with both Chris Harris and Evo about PDCC, but ultimately I drove both and I'm me not them.

I'll able to report a bit more in a few weeks - my GTS order has been delayed, and the OPC are lending me a C2S (without PDCC) next weekend to keep me happy so will be interesting to compare...

 

+1 I would rather check the SPASM box than PDCC ...

 

I am totally new to 991's and haven't used PDCC (even though my car came with it I doubt I've used it in the 150 miles I've driven around local streets since I got the car 3 weeks ago).....But, am I the only one who finds it a bit odd that "there is no value/use" to PDCC ? I get the whole 'some guys will check off every performance option box'....but at the end of the day how can a company keep successfully selling a product for $3K that has no "value" ??
I am a free market guy and to me the market would correct itself and cease to produce such a product if there was no "value" there.

 

You've used it every day. It's always on.

Value:

Keeps the car flatter in turns
Extends tire life

Just to name 2.

 

All how you perceive "value". For $3k you get lots of added hardware that makes the car behave a bit differently. Some people like the feel PDCC imparts on the car, others don't like it at all including many automotive journalists that test drive numerous cars for a living.

There are also people that ordered PDCC and claim a car equipped with it must be superior to a version without,.....all this while never having driven a car without it. But hey, they paid $3k so it must be better!

I've driven both versions pretty extensively, and found that it does do what Porsche claims it does, but with some side effects that I don't like at all. This and the $3k cost means I didn't order it. For me the quirks that it has are not worth any benefit it may offer. Maybe the GEN 2 version in the 991.2 might be a bit better.

 

This video demonstrates the effect of PDCC nicely:


Having watched this video I checked the PDCC box and I am happily waiting for the delivery date of my first Porsche in Zuffenhausen.