fastdiablo

my GTS is my first DCT car and I use manual mode about 80% of the time. true manual transmissions used to be better than automatic because you had more control over gear selection and the shift point in the rev range. now that DCT gives you full control and shifts faster than any human with a "stick" and clutch pedal, the DCT technology has far surpassed manual technology, and all that's left is nostalgia for us old guys. time to set the flip phone aside and graduate to an iphone "Manualguy".

Vise

That is pretty much what I do as well. Once it is warmed up I am in manual/paddle shift mode almost 100% of the time.

The advantage over a traditional manual is that I get the best of both worlds... full auto if/when needed and faster shifts when in manual mode. Can't go wrong.

Al.Fresco

Why does the engine warm up faster in non-sport mode than Sport mode?

Jeff Jones

I drive in a lot of traffic so for me I'm in auto/sport most of the time. I wish that sport was a bit more aggressive because sport+ is too much for me in normal use. When I want to have a lot of fun I'm either in sport+ or manual but even when I forget, a quick stomp of the accelerate and when in sport the car comes to life regardless. I try never to be in auto/non-sport unless I'm waiting for the car to warm up, it really highlights the negatives of the PDK.

jmh981

Manual in Sport or Sport Plus almost all the time.

Scottish Pete

To give the original poster some real life description of PDK in manual mode:
I drove a 1965 911 with a 901 5-speed manual transmission for seven years. I have driven my 1974 91 with a 915 5-speed manual transmission for the next 39 years. My first test drive in a PDK was in July 2014 and for the first block or so I was umimpressed as the automatic worked its way quickly up into a higher gear. After a few miles clicking the PDK thumb buttons (stock wheel) it began to grow on me as I found I could control what gear it was in. By the end of the test drive (last new 911 I had driven was in early 1980's) I ordered PDK.
After 14,900 miles in my 2015 Carrera S with PDK I would never order a manual transmission with a clutch in a 911. The PDK erases the frustration driving in today's busy traffic with multiple stoplights. In heavy traffic my paddles with the Sport Design Wheel allow clicking the down-shift left paddle a gear or two to slow down for traffic without having to use the brake pedal . . . the more clicks downshifting with seven gears, the more the nose drops and the car slows. Just like a multi-position Jake brake on a diesel truck. Sorry to compare a Porsche to a truck, but I used to have a fleet to Peterbilt tankers.
I find I slap the center console shift lever to the left quite often so I can manually choose to hold it in a gear or choose what rpm to shift at. It allows you to hold it in a lower gear to entertain bystanders in parking lots with the Sport Exhuast open. I tend to like Sport more than Sport Plus if I am leaving it in automatic as it will hold it in gear a bit longer and shift at a higher rpm, but at medium throttle will still shift well below redline. Sport Plus in automatic will not shift until redline, pretty useless in town. Putting it in Sport Plus with the center shift lever pulled to the left into manual mode lets you choose what rpm to have the harder Sport Plus shift at, plus you control when it will downshift. Sport Plus in automatic wants to down shift at about 4,000 rpm sort of surprising you if in traffic.
On an open winding mountain road on your own, putting it in manual in either Sport or Sport Plus and you quickly start shifting up and down just like with a manual transmission, but quicker and with paddles you keep both hands on the wheel. It soons feels just like using a manual transmission. The Sport Plus in manual is amazing when you have a twisty road all to yourself. On mountain roads is the only time I switch on the PASM as tar strips are accented by PASM on city streets or freeways. It is an option for a daily driver that could be skipped if not ordering an S.
I have only used the center console gearshift in manual to shift up or down about three times in the 15 months I have had my PDK car. So much more intuitive to keep both hands on the wheel and click the paddles up and down. It starts to become natural very quickly. I drove on a Porsche Club tour a couple of weeks ago with five autocross/time trial veterans in the "Sporty" group. The PDK paddle shifters made keeping up with them screaming through the curves a leisurley drive.
So do I miss a manual transmission? I drove my 1974 911 for about 10-15 miles the other day and the 5-speed and clutch felt entirely natural. But I kept wanting to click the left paddle coming into turns . . . and pushing in the clutch to shift gears up with the engine rpms dropping a bit each time made me wish for the click-click-click quicker snap upshifts of the PDK.
If I want a real manual transmission . . . the next day I drove my 1960 Austin-Healey 3000 with 4-speed Moss gearbox with Lycock de Normanville overdrive on a British car tour. Now that is a manly gearbox requiring double-clutching to speed it up and down despite driving it for 48 years now.
I have been tracking used 991 prices on e-bay for the past couple of years to calculate my depreciation. Although over 85% of 991s are shipped to the US with PDK, almost a third of the 991 cars over the past six months (being listed mostly by dealers) have been 7-speed manuals. If they are so preferable, why are such an extrememly high percentage of them being turned in after a couple of years?
If you have owned sports cars before with manual transmissions it is time to accept new technology and move to the fun of a PDK. If you are getting your first sports car, by all means get a manual transmission to experience the fun of a manual gearbox . . . but don't be surprised if you decide to dump it for a PDK in two years or so!

manualguy

How about I do that when James Bond starts driving a DCT? Did you watch spectre? Commander Bond would have none of this PDK DCT business.

Now jokes aside, no one argues that a PKD is shifts gears faster, but that's not the point here. The point is excitement and feeling in control. Most of us do not use these cars on the track but on the road, so gives a damn if you are a few milliseconds faster? I rather have the ability to shift down to 3rd from 5th. Again that's just me , I honestly have given it a shot but simply do not like it and yes I am aware that my choice is a handicap of my age

Cheers,
manualguy

manualguy

Thank you for your input very insightful. No , I am on my 4th Bmw M-car now and they all have been manual. I learned how to drive with a manual, as a little boy I got excited about driving due to shifting the stick shift. For me a manual stick is just a major part of driving and the control I feel in a manual , albeit the tedious rush hour driving, is not something that AT THIS POINT I seem to be able to compromise on.

The technology argument is not a very convincing one of one is to draw a parallel to the world of watches. We have quartz watches and the iWatch , we tell the time more precisely , do way more allow you to keep multiple timezones ,etc, etc but why is it that the best and most exciting watches are still the mechanical ones which are far less accurate and feature way less functionality? It's the exciting fact that we can control forces of nature in a purely mechanical manner to make things work the way we want to.

But I can see your point and can see how one could start getting used to the whole click click business but my problem is I want love at the first sight and not learning to love someone

96redLT4

I think I can opine as I have a M4 w DCT as a daily driver and a GTS with manual transmission. The latter is a much more fun and engaging car to drive. With the BMW I thought I would spend a lot more time in the manual transmission mode (and with the DCT you are in it until you shift out of it-car does not go back automatically) but after awhile you realize, why bother? The car's brain does a much better job selecting the gear whether it be loafing along or cranking it up to high revs in the sport plus mode.
Jim

beaverlake

I'm probably 40% in PDK manual, 60% auto. When in auto, about 50/50 whether normal or sport. If I'm just cruising I90 to head into Bellevue or Seattle, or toodling to the store thru the neighborhood I'll just use normal mode. Not much "driving" to be done. And unless I'm going to be in the car more than 15 minutes the engine doesn't reach temperature anyway. Sport/manual is a handy option because if for some reason I do decide to pop it back to auto I don't get the shock of the Sport+ auto mapping. That can be a real surprise.

cajerseyboy

95% in manual. 20% paddle / 80% stick. 5% auto when in traffic or trying to find something that slid off the seats while pulling some G forces around a corner.

As others have said, go test drive one if you haven't already. If you go PDK though you may have to change your name to "nolongermanualguy" or "iusetobecalledmanualguybutnowiprefertobecalledPDKguy" so try and go into the test drive without any bias that causes. Not many here have gone M3 after a good PCar experience.

oalvarez

You can do that with the PDK transmission as well.

MagicRat

I drive with PDK in manual almost all the time. I do sometimes wish for the fun of stick-and-clutch, but then again I'm sure if I had a manual 911 having driven PDK I'd wish for the instant shifts and ease of the auto box too. The only time I put it in auto mode is on the motorway, when I enjoy downshifting with the throttle - jabbing it down to sixth or fifth for an overtake. Whenever I'm in auto I make sure to turn auto start/stop off though, because I find the coasting thing utterly hateful (though NB it is better integrated and less intrusive on the 991.2).

thomnellie

+1. Occasionally run in manual mode when I anticipate that this will happen frequently. Never use manual mode on open road or when driving quickly through the twisties

michael818

I think part of the equation may be where you live. Up until this car, I drove only MT, including a 997CS with MT. I replaced that with the 991 with PDK. I was initially not very enthused but, over time, I have grown to appreciate the PDK more and more and would be unlikely to go back to MT. I live in the suburbs outside of DC, the traffic is usually heavy. To answer your question, I keep the PDK in auto probably 90% of the time, using the paddles to go into temporary manual mode for passing and more spirited back road driving. I find almost no need to use manual mode since the paddles will override the programming when you want to. I always keep the car in Sport mode and find that the response is fine with me. I do have SC and find that Sport plus is too aggressive for most normal driving. If I use Sport Plus, I will use it in manual more often than auto because the shift points are too high in auto for most street driving. However, out on the back roads, Sport Plus in manual is a blast. I think that PDK is a transition that takes some time to like. After 40 years of MT cars, it is a change but, in time, you realize that it offers you a great deal of driving options. As a DD, to me PDK is the way to go.