PDK is great for commuting in heavy traffic, which allows me to drive the car every day - rain or shine. Definitely less involving than mt, however the benefit of driving it everyday outweighs that in my book. Fortunate enough to have a Cayman too with mt for when I feel like a different experience.

 

Yeah it's probably bad that I used to feel like I was in and out of consciousness during morning drives to work in my old dual clutch transmission automatic (very similar to pdk..also blazingly fast and higher performance than the mt).

 

PDK is great for boring stop and go traffic and generating numbers on paper.

Personally I find it extremely boring and counter to the idea of a real "drivers car". I won't give up my clutch pedal and gearshift any more than I'll give up my brake/gas pedals or steering wheel. Sadly I know the time will come when all of them are handed off to computers for fuel efficiency/safety. Plus a computer can probably generate faster lap times than a person with that pesky human making mistakes.

 

I am certainly no MT romantic…give me a PDK Porsche any day. You can do things in a PDK car that you could not do with a MT…including being quicker around a track.

I just don't accept the idea that only a MT equipped car can be regarded as a "real drivers" car. Get a current GT3 out on the track and tell me its not a real drivers car!

These days nearly all the serious racing classes you can name are not MT cars - GT3, LMP 1, F1, etc. So since when were the drivers in these classes regarded as not "real drivers"?

Also, I don't get why Porsche seems to cop a lot of flak about not providing a MT in some of its cars. I don't hear anybody saying the same thing about Ferrari. Since when did anybody say, "oh the 458 Speciale is nice, but I wish it had a MT".

 

You are in the 80% who now buy PDK. The MT is going the way of the Dodo bird and steam power. That being said, the MT will be fondly remembered in Porsche history like air cooled engines and cars without power steering.

 

PDK/DCT are now must-have options on my cars. You get:

• The convenience of an automatic when you need it (heavy traffic, etc.)
• The total control of a manual.
• The direct connection of a manual (no torque converter) and the associated efficiencies.
• Seamless gear transitions with no interruption in thrust.
• The knowledge tht you'll never perform a "money shift".

Learn it, live it, love it.

 

I love the PDK as well. I do sometimes miss my manual, but overall love the pdk on a day to day basis.

 

I really didn't have an opinion on it till this past week when they gave me a Panamera loaner.

PDK belongs in this car. I'll stay with my MT and enjoy the ride.

 

Nice action shot!

 

How about going back to carburetors with manual spark advance, choke and throttle. I've driven a few of those. Talk about direct communication with the engine. Sixty miles an hour, if they can get there, was a real adventure in cars of that era. Like you, I foresee the coming of self-drivers with dread. Traffic laws and enforcement are also a factor that threaten the joy of driving. I lived in Switzerland in the naughts and saw the future of the automobile. Hidden speed cameras everywhere, speeding tickets that were mailed to you on a monthly basis and absurdly low speed limits on superb highways made me dream of an autonomous car. Enjoy your manual while you can for I fear that those of us who enjoy driving are ultimately doomed. Despite all that, the clutch pedal is not something that I regret giving up.

 

Thanks for mentioning the seamless thrust. I always hated those moments when I desperately needed continued thrust but my only options were to shift and briefly lose momentum or to blow the engine.

 

Coincidentally I gave up my 991S because it felt too much like my wife's Panamera.

 

What Porsche with PDK seems to want to automatically eliminate from the spirited driving experience is engine braking. This helps Porsche achieve better fuel economy and emission ratings, and subsequently comply with governmental fleet -standard's requirements. Whether or not this modified style of motoring adds or subtracts from the overall motoring experience is subject to debate. But as the 991 owner who has just pluncked down $100K plus he/she should not be seripticiously lured into helping Porsche meet governmental standards via marketing language and hype, like "shifts in one one hundredth thousand of a second".

The next generation 991.2 will ask you to again help Porsche meet fleet standards by enticing you pay extra for an exclusively turbo inducted Carerra experience. Accepting government mandated technology is not what owning an expensive sports car should only be about. We can tell ourselves all sorts of things to make this progression palatable, but in the end where will the true, spirited motoring experience be? Better or worse, some things are just quintessential in their original form and should be left that way. The 911 is one of those things , IMOH. Perhaps it's time for Porsche to stop telling us these new technologies are vast improvements and give us, the consuming public, a little credit for knowing what's best while they achieve fulfillment of their mandated fleet averages by selling more Macans.

 

Love my PDK.... Have had 2 in previous 'non-porsche' cars and this is the best incarnation yet. Of course it is all about personal preference. I love driving a manual for the first 5-15 minutes but after that the PDK becomes my best friend.... And provides plenty of engine and car control in sport mode. If I was only driving on track I might choose differently but that's not me... And I can't see an MT in my future... period. Good luck to all those who choose differently

 

I love my PDK in my GTS. After 7 previous 911's, all with manual transmissions, I made the switch to PDK and do not think I will go back to a manual. I understand why some people still prefer a manual, and I don't dislike a manual, just prefer my PDK.