JMartinni

In my opinion the PDK shifter never looked that great, which why I don't mind the "nubbin". That small lever seems like a much cleaner design (although I reserve judgement until I've seen the finished interior). I can see why some dislike it though, especially those who are used to shift with it instead of shift paddles.

Rocket_boy

I can see how some people don't care about the nubbin,....but the response here for it has been pretty much overwhelmingly bad. Most adhoc groups pretty much pan it also. I use the shifter and paddles all the time,...and never use "D". The shifter is really handy in turns where your hand/wheel placement is very hard to use a paddle.

I'm not upset Porsche chose some new design cues, they should!,....but I look at this as a pure cost cutting compared to just being one of those cues,....and of course they won't be charging less for the car. Maybe they will have an option for a PDK shifter (that would be great!), but I'm not holding my breath. I can also understand that Porsche wants to cater to the largest buyer market. As pretty much a hardcore enthusiast, it's just hard for me to believe that Porsche is focusing more and more on luxo type look and feel compared to an enthusiast role for the 911. I guess it just part of expanding the 911's reach, just think they could have done much differently.

The car will no doubt perform better, but at what point do they tip the scales where all the little nuances that make the car really great for the enthusiast are winnowed away until it IS just a Panamera coupe? It looks to be getting close.

limegreen

This is the question I've been trying to have answered across 3 or 4 different threads and I would love it if someone would come up with an answer.

I also think it's damn close to being one already....

JMartinni

A 911 isn't front-engined or nearly as large and heavy as a Panamera.

Also, I don't buy into the "Porsche is focusing more and more on luxo type look and feel" argument regarding the 911. A 911 feels nowhere near a typical luxo-barge, even a Turbo. Too small, too much road-noise, too much feel through the wheel, too spartan of an interior for that.

dkhm3

probably because no one here has a 918 or shopped for one.

limegreen

You cited the only 2 major differences between the Panamera and the 992.

If you don't think the 991 feels like a luxo barge then go hop into one after driving a 997 down some back roads, that should open your eyes as to how muted the car has become and it's size and reduced visibility particularity at the side and rear is very apparent.. A modern 911 interior is ANYTHING but spartan and the 992 interior has more in common with a bank of computer monitors than it does with a sports car.

limegreen

The 918 has committed so many offenses that it's difficult to take it seriously regardless.

Hothonda

Here's what $740 got me in my 991 TT - The "Exclusive" aluminum gearshift ****....nice but geeze $740?

Rocket_boy

I think a 911 will always drive like a 911, lets hope Porsche doesn't screw with the meaningful dynamics,....but take the 991.1 to the 991.2, They did make the interior more quiet (was not just the turbo motor) as I'm sure a lot of the new buying populace is always about how much engine noise, or road noise is in a 911,....things I don't mind at all, as I like to know what the car is doing. And don't get me started on the 991 introduced Power Steering Plus option,...

Could be the new order, but Ferrari, Lambo, Aston, McLaren and even Chevy with what I would call iconic and highly sought after sports cars don't seem to have this problem. They want their sports cars to remain highly dynamic to the heart, head and soul, Porsche just seems to want to move the 911 in the opposite direction and assimilate it into their fold of SUVs and sedans in both exterior and interior styling. I think the 911 deserves better, especially for the money spent.

Noah Fect

I have the same **** in my lowly 981S, it does look sharp as hell. (You should give some thought to ugrading the rest of the shiny plastic pieces to brushed aluminum; that's another one of those overpriced options that you'll nevertheless never regret.)

The PDK shifter doesn't need to be that big or that flashy. If it had been smaller all along and Porsche suddenly decided it needed to look like the optional one in Hothonda's photo, plenty of people would be yelling about that, too. However, it does need to be functional, because (a) I don't want a half-assed nonfunctional control intended for a version of the car that isn't even being made yet; and (b) as Rocket_boy points out it's a useful adjunct to the paddles or buttons on the steering wheel.

I frequently give the shifter a nudge to get into second gear after making a turn at a stoplight, especially when the engine's cold and I don't want to wind out the RPMs in first gear. If they disable the shifting functionality as some reports have stated, then what's the point of giving it such a prominent position on the console?

This question is completely separate from the question of why it needs to look like an electric travel shaver.

tgcrun

Luxobarge? Really? That sentence is a total falsehood. I currently have both a 991 and 997. My 997 is great, but my 991 is fantastic. I think you need to take your posts back to 2012 when the whining about the 997 vs the 991 started.

911boy

Unbelievable.

Cautery

chuckbdc

A new baseline for cluelessness now calibrated.

limegreen

I feel the exact same way based on these replies but I honestly don't have the energy to take everyone's head out of their a$ses here.