Dewinator

I've had pretty much the same experience. Auto on the track, manual with S or S+ all the rest of the time (it would be S+ all the time were it not for the irritating extra button push of putting the SPASMS back into normal and having to go back to S to shift to 7 on the freeway.

The biggest thing I miss is how easy it was to put my Boxster in a nice little slide with a dab of throttle and clutch drop. Or does the 911 just tend to do terrifying spins instead of nice little slides? Anyway if it were possible to order new and keep the 3.8 I would probably do it for the manual but as it is I'll keep the PDK which is fine because it's brilliant.

KenTO

Great Thanks! That is what I was hoping. Otherwise I would have changed order to MT. So did Porsche do away with the switches for good?

Need4S

I suppose it's always possible for Porsche to bring them back, but it seems unlikely. Even the Macan has paddles, not buttons.

ieatfishburritos

nice write up

seattle_sun

Great writeup!

Over time, I found that with a PDK like transmission I not only became "a guy who lets the computer take over when I'm loafing in traffic", but also pretty much all of the time. Being disengaged, really took a lot of the enjoyment out of driving.

Got back into the MT with the 991. Just love heel-toeing again and being able to blip the throttle for quick downshifts. My first couple of days with the 7 MT were not the best. Missed some downshifts and thought that the 1 to 2 was a little funny. However, I love the gearbox now. Like your experience with the PDK, your brain adjusts and now the 7 speed just feels natural.

Bents

That's nice dear

mac10

Nice post and fair points. I agree, I drive a 991.2 PDK and Audi RS5(S-Tronic) both in manual mode only-makes them a blast to drive. Rare but on occasion, it's nice to throw it in auto for a few minutes in traffic while having to make a quick call or sipping coffee etc. That's something that my friends with manuals struggle with. Not to harp on you manual guys- I'm still a third pedal guy at heart.

crossroads

Thanks for your honest assessment. I share the same opinion about PDK but I tended to leave it in sport auto 90% of the time. If I wanted, I could use the paddles to upshift or downshift momentarily without putting it in manual mode. The car would then seamlessly go back to auto shift. I too was ambivalent because I went PDK to MT to PDK to MT.

Is Porsche also ambivalent about PDK in the GT3?

KenTO

Is the PDK like Ferrari, where if you use the paddles it puts you in manual mode automatically?

tstafford

Yes. But it will then switch itself back to auto if you don't continue to make the shifts. Basically you can override the auto if you want to or you can put it in full manual mode - where (like the Ferrari) it will still drop down to first at a full stop.

dloines

After 6 years 6 speed manual with my old Porsche, I went PDK too. I use manual mode 100% time on the back roads or regular roads when I;m feeling frisky, but computer does a really good job IMHO especially after I did the Cobb Access ecu upgrade that I'm enjoying even more that I let it do its thing. Still amazed at the PDK sometimes shifts are so fast and smooth that I laugh out loud

SG1214

Sometimes I regret not getting my 991 in 7MT, given that my daily driver is an auto, but those aggressive rev matches and smooth upshifts in manual mode with PDk have me grinning ear to ear! The one thing I do love is in auto mode, where most Dual Clutch trannies would be notchy and "gear hunt" the PDK just knows where it wants to be every single time, and that makes it too good to pass up!

Ski Porsche

Nice write up. I think there's no correct answer to MT v PDK. It comes down to what you want/need.
This is my second PDK equipped P-car and I love it--though sometimes think about a manual--I'm sticking with PDK for the foreseeable future. I probably put it manual mode half the time in sport or sport+. In auto it's in sport mode from start up. I do put it in normal during longer freeway slogs.

96redLT4

I am scheduled to attend P experience LA in April and am looking forward to trying the PDK in the TT and GT3. I have a manual tranny in my GTS but the DCT in my daily driver M4. Its fun to experience both. I find in the M4 I am using the manual mode almost exclusively now after 2.5 yrs of ownership. I used to mainly leave it in auto. I like to use the center shifter rather than the paddles. Is PDK gated the same eg push forward to downshift and pull back to upshift?
Jim

randr

A very fair post - and I agree - its pretty much what I do.

On track - sport plus - can't do it better myself
On road - manual, if I'm having fun - but use the stick, now that the downshifts are forward (as they should be)
On road - long distance - auto
On road - rapid change - paddles

You can't lose. Do I miss a manual - not really (I still have a manual and learnt to heel and toe/ flat shift thirty plus years ago and I do appreciate why some might want manual and indeed prefer manual)