It's 2015. What I want to know is where are the flying cars we were supposed to be driving by now?

 

I thought we were supposed to be out of oil by now.

 

And (in the US) have been on the metric system for at least a couple of decades.

I think I'll go drive my air cooled, manual transmission, no driver aid, with not particularly effective air conditioning 993 today. And not worry about it being taken away from me by Big Brother anytime soon.

 

I believe that your assessment is right on target. Porsche's market has changed dramatically over the decades, and in order to survive Porsche has to cater to their new market. Granted that my sample size is tiny, but when I shopped for my first Porsche in 1970 and visited the dealership for service, all of the customers I met were pure car enthusiasts. Porsche offered an automatic back then, I believe they called it Sportomatic, but of course no one I knew wanted it. An automatic was not something that any enthusiast wanted; it was something that buyers of luxury Lincolns and Cadillacs demanded.

That brings us to 2015 when almost no one wants a MT even on a sports car, except a small minority of enthusiasts and virtually every car magazine writer, who I suppose by definition is a sports car enthusiast. There is no doubt that in 2025, 2030 at the latest, when the dinosaurs will be the tiny group of "enthusiasts" who will still want to steer their car manually rather than having the computer do so. I suspect that the federal government will encourage the transition to fully automated cars by imposing a significant tax on cars with manual steering.

 

True but you have to say there is no comparison between the old automatics and the PDK other then both will shift themselves and neither have a third pedal. Many buyers of PDK would not consider an older conventional automatic, so it's not just a buyer demographic shift.

 

at the end of the day, I strongly believe the " clueless Porsche buyer / poser " we deride on all the buff boards actually have much more personal enjoyment from their " PORSH " than any " car guy " EVER does here with theirs ...we unfortunately know too much and fret too much about every little OCD thing about every 911 ever made and into the future ....the old " forest for the trees " thing and the fact you are on this forum confirms you will forever be restless and will never be as " dumb but happy " past the first few weeks of obtaining that " most desirable one(s) " as they are at this very moment !

 

My gut feeling is that they're pretty much the same people. I think there are a small group of people that track their car who care about every 100th of a sec off their lap time, but 99% of people who get the PDK get it because they want an automatic. The faster shift time just gives them an excuse.

I'm certainly not deriding people who buy the automatic because they can only afford 1 car and they mainly sit in stop and go traffic or that have a physical problem with shifting.

I would just think that for the vast majority of sports car buyers the driving experience, control, and fun of a manual would be enough to keep them from getting an automatic like they see in soccer mom SUVS and they dulls the driving sensation. After driving a dual clutch in my favorite mountain road I was so happy to get back to my manual car that I will never buy an automatic sports car.

 

STG - you're mods are awesome. Is that the "aluminum" interior package with your PDK? I think you only get brushed aluminum in the 991.2 configurator.

 

Thanks.

Yes, the aluminum. I like the smooth and shiny finish. No texture or pattern. All personal taste though. Matches the base of the PDK shifter.

 

Sweet!!

 

So there's not an interior trim to match the shiny aluminum on the steering wheel?

 

Not to hijack the thread but what do you think about Sport PASM. It seems like most people feel the ride is too harsh. I'm Ok with the lowered height and wouldn't do the axel lift. Is yours lowered or do you have SPASM?

 

Doesn't appear to be, but I'm hoping they update it.

 

I don't think SPASM is even close to "too harsh". In normal mode, it seems perfectly fine. And sport plus is perfectly acceptable. But this is awfully subjective and I've only put 1k miles on mine. Still, the first thing I do is punch up sport plus when I get in.

 

Sport PASM is fine. Less than 1/2" lower (10mm) than PASM, but enough to make it look better. Ride is perfect too. It's a 911, not a Panamera. You should be able to feel the road

I only have Sport PASM. No other mods, springs, or lowering. The one nice thing is having the HRE's with the more aggressive offset pushes the wheels out a bit further than stock. A better look as well. Still under the wheel well, and not obnoxious.

With Sport PASM, I think the lift would be a waste of money unless you have a GT3. But it really depends on where you live with steepness of drives, etc ... Some areas are better/worse than others.