Thought I would start this thread as we patiently await the intro of the 992 GT3.

Viewing all the tantalizing teaser intro’s of the GT3, I find myself becoming a sleuth uncovering the many secrets that are hidden in plain sight.

Notice that in all the various journalist discussions with Andreas Preuninger, only very carefully selected photos are attached to tease us just enough to wet our appetite, but also to purposely reveal some very interesting bits without any discussion about them.

These are what I have found so far. The 1st will be controversial and somewhat speculative, but hear me out.

Please add to the discussion what you have found.



1. PDK and Manual - BOTH at the same time? Technically possible.

In discussions with Chris Harris at 33:50 min mark, AP states that he is tired of the discussion of what transmission is better - PDK or Manual. It is up to you to decide.

But what if he made that decision really easy by having both available at the same time on the same car?

Why would they include the same exact shifter and leather surround for manual and PDK? Style is one argument, but I think there is more to this. Note top of shifter is covered in tape and label below shifter is also covered. No other switches are covered around the dash and console. What is there to hide?

Why does the only photo released of the interior pedal area show a tip of what appears to be a 3rd pedal peaking just a bit from behind the steering wheel? Note the 992S similar photo of a manual car with the clutch pedal also 95% obscured by the steering wheel. This shows that you can easily hide the clutch pedal with a carefully taken photo.

Car and Driver (Aug ’20) reviewing the 992 manual transmission, noted that it is actually a PDK with a MECOSA - mechanically converted shift actuator, to allow gear shifting in the correct order. If Porsche just attached a standard manual cable shifter as we understand manuals, to shift in sequence the gears would shift in the wrong order - instead of 1-2-3-4-5-6, it would shift 2-3-1-6-4-5-7. So when you manually select 1st, the controller doesn’t select the first gear in line, that would be 2nd. MECOSA electronically selects 1st.

So that means the controller could take commands from a “manual” stick shifter or as a PDK sequential paddle shifter.

We know that the 991 GT3 has a manual clutch control by pulling both of the paddles at the same time. We know the PDK clutch is fully electronically controlled because it does that every time we shift with the paddles. So what is the technical difference if the clutch is controlled by the paddles or a pedal on the floor? None.

There are no technical hurdles to prevent having both shifting methods on the same car.

Please, destroy my argument.










2. Rear wing is designed to be easily removed plus there are 2 wings

Can’t decide whether to go GT3 Touring or full on GT3? Don’t want that wing around town? No problem. Easily removable, doesn’t take all the aero out of rear, looks finished with a duck tail only.

Note 1st photo, tape covers drivers side wing attachment point, passenger side no tape. You think Andreas forgot the tape? NOT. Strategically left off to reveal to us that once the wing is removed, it leaves a clean natural look - like it came that way. SLICK!

Rear side view in the Harris reveal, shows us the duck tail spoiler is more than just that - it is a full on second wing. As air is directed into the engine, some is bypassed to the underside of lower wing element and exits above the PORSCHE script. Note that on all the prototypes, this exit is obscured partially with cladding and tape. If there was nothing special to hide, they would have left it exposed.

The duck tail steep top side is designed to enhance the efficiency of the upper wing. This is also found on the 991 GT3/2 RS and Club. As air passes over the top side of duck tail, it is deflected upwards into the flow of the underside of upper wing. This speeds the air flow along the lower side of the upper wing, increasing efficiency and therefore more downforce. See TPS Racing with Mike Levitas explaining how this works at the 24:00 of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcka...ature=youtu.be







3. GT3 gets front wheel under pan strakes

First photo is from Edmonds, clearly shows the 992 GT3 with front wheel strakes. This also appears on the GT2 RS Club as TPS Racing’s Mike Levitas showed us with full explanation. See this at the 19:45 mark of video.

As tires rotate forward, the leading contact point squirts air to the sides. Squirting air to outside is not an issue. But the turbulent squirt inside messes with the under pan flow. Under pan strakes are installed to direct this turbulent high pressure air back to the outside, allowing the air to flow more smoothly under the car, reducing lift.

 

Love your looking so closely at this. Reading your post makes the little kid in me hope that the new car will be everything for everyone. Want a touring, pop the wing off, awesome looking little ducktail on that. Want a manual put it in manual mode, use the clutch go nuts. Otherwise works as a PDK as well....like they turned the 6 speed shifter into a fly by wire joystick that works in a 6-H pattern or sequential/PDK mode. However the bigger thing that makes this car to me is they clearly sticking to a 4.0 engine that is different, however now they are going out of their way to find time with aero and the front suspension...awesome! They gave him the bigger car, he worked with it and kept it nearly the same weight. Only thing I'm not a fan of is that Battlestar Galactica Silon rear lightbar....not much they could do with that I guess...however looking at the Monza videos the manual is clearly shifting as a manual, so that makes me thing that manuals will be connected to tranny physically...

Thought the shifter he showed looked very similar to a TT RS shift ****, but clearly that is the same thing they are using in "regular" 992. So either shift by wire, or those are just 992 parts they are using for the prototype and more "bespoke" components are on the way to the final cars?

 

Just a quickie here-

Love the strakes on the underside near front of the car.
Removing the large rear wing would upset the overall aerodynamic balance set out by the engineers. Leave the rear wing in place.

Have you considered looking into the JFK assassination?

 

For what it’s worth, I thought I would mention that the 991 manual uses a single dry clutch that saves 37 pounds and over 10hp (compared to greater frictional losses of PDK) and the PDK uses two wet clutches bathed in oil (that requires much more frequent service than the manual).

I personally would not trade the 991 Manual for a compromised version with automatic and paddle shifting abilities.

 

“Car and Driver (Aug ’20) reviewing the 992 manual transmission, noted that it is actually a PDK with a MECOSA - mechanically converted shift actuator, to allow gear shifting in the correct order. If Porsche just attached a standard manual cable shifter as we understand manuals, to shift in sequence the gears would shift in the wrong order - instead of 1-2-3-4-5-6, it would shift 2-3-1-6-4-5-7. So when you manually select 1st, the controller doesn’t select the first gear in line, that would be 2nd. MECOSA electronically selects 1st.”

this is true because manual share 80% of parts w PDK. PDK is dual clutch by MT still single clutch. The gears are oriented same as a pdk. Also, PDK is 8 speed and MT is 7. This is the same technical description as the Carrera S MT. Nothing new except GT3 will be a 6 speed.
Can’t do the switching as suggested above.

 

What’s the replacement interval for PDK clutches then?

 

same as all PDK transmissions currently in service.................fluid every 60k, clutch is lifetime.

From research, statement is made that the clutch pack part number is a "restricted" item, meaning they have to call PCNA to get approval before shipment, while others states is a full transmission replacement.

” There are no clutch parts or packs that Porsche sells to do a clutch job on PDK. However PDK shifts so perfectly it really does not wear out clutches. Even the guys that race PDK have noticed the clutches are not worn so they just replace the 2 fluids and keep on driving.”

first PDK were installed in 2009 models, they are still holding up well.

 

Manual is slower because - you need to push a pedal to disengage the clutch, make the shift, re-engage the clutch. I'm not being facetious, just illustrating that the process doesn't change for any manual. The 992S manual with MECOSA as described in the post, will have the same delay, as would a manual GT3. I can't see Porsche using a completely different transmission with sequentially positioned gears to eliminate MECOSA with the low production numbers on manual cars already. But further surprises will surely engage us very soon!

 

Driving around town, out for the evening - generally posted speed limits, that big wing does diddly squat! Behaves like any other 991/992 up to around 70mph/120kmh when the retracting wing pops up. But the Duck Tail is there for that, so I suspect you need to go much faster before you get real benefit/balance issues from the big wing. Unless you are driving in anger every single moment, then OK, leave the wing on.

Where were you November 23, 1963?

 

I meant the transmission service intervals (2 types of oil on PDK and whatever else they do) vs 94,000 mile gear oil changes on Manual.

 

I think I was standing on a grassy knoll

 

One other piece of evidence that tends to convince me that the Manual is not going to be significantly different (not sharing same internal hardware with the PDK) is that AP already revealed that the Manual will continue to have 6 gears and the ratios are identical to the 991’s, but the Final Drive has been lowered to offset the larger 21” rear wheels.

If the PDK and Manual were going to share the same basic hardware and allow different modes of operation, they would use the PDK’s ratios.

 

GrantG, I missed AP stating same ratios as 991 and final drive lowered for 21" wheels. Which journalist preview was that mentioned in? Cheers.

 

I guess that the gt final product won't have a multifunction steering wheel

 

They also mentioned that the rear diff for the manual is going to be a mechanical limited slip versus a viscous coupling for the PDK. Also that the rev match on downshift can be disabled. It’s pretty safe to assume it’s just a regular 6 speed manual, just how it should be.