RudyP

I'd get the manual. I got a PDK 992S for similar reasons - for my wife and houseguests to be comfortable driving. Turns out that worked fine - my wife drives it all the time but I hate the PDK and so I never drive it unless I have to. In your case, if you're keeping the Macan, just get the real manual 992.

aggie57

I’ve owned manual cars much more expensive than $150k. I take them to the car wash, treat them like any other car. As others say buy the car you want, not what others may like to borrow occasionally.

dhirm5

I'm pretty sure I'll miss the absolute bonkers experience of driving hard in Sports+ w PDK, but I went manual for my 992. I still thoroughly enjoy rowing gears; my bridge car has reaffirmed that for me. I'm confident that if I decide I want PDK, I can easily flip my manual GTS cab without too much financial impact. And maybe they'll rethink the shaver for 992.2.

M2to992C2S

After a few manual Hondas and then BMWs, followed by a DCT M2, I decided my first 911 had to be a manual. The PDK is awesome and I am sure I will own a PDK 911 one day. But for this particular car, I wanted the manual and it’s amazing. I can’t compare it to a GT3, so to me, it’s the best manual I’ve ever driven. I would have regretted getting PDK on this car. Hopefully in 5 -10 years I can say I have a PDK and a manual 911.

BlackBeauty

I have a manual GTS, and came from a GT4 with the 6 speed, and previously had two 991.2 GTS manuals - one with a numeric shifter. The current 992 GTS is about as perfect a manual as you can get, with all the tightness of a numeric shifter (albeit not as short of a throw) without the cable vibration and hard stops. So IMHO the 992 GTS manual is every bit as good as the GT4’s six speed, and I base that on almost two decades of owning 7 of these cars,

Porsche992

I never driven a manual GT3 but I can easily say the 992 manual is by far the best manual i have ever driven. Get it now because in the not so distant future your only option to getting a 911 will be electric.

nv992gts

Thanks everyone for all the opinions! All of my manual cars have been NA engines (basically corvettes). Does a turbocharged engine warrant any special shifting considerations (boost, ideal RPMs, etc)?

Bxstr

My car is a pleasure only car. No valet. If someone else is driving my car, they're skilled with manual and it's 2x per year. I had a PDK. Amazing unit. For my use case I prefer manual. Buy what makes the most sense 90% of the time not for the <10% fringe cases. Enjoy it!

Regarding your question on special shifting, no, drive it how it feels right. You'll make more torque down low so less need to rev it out, but it sounds amazing near redline, so keep it up there when you want.

BlackBeauty

The key difference is that you have a flat torque curve that kicks in at a relatively low RPM - so a lot of power down low, which I think is great for the street. What you give up is the screaming crescendo of a NA motor, right before redline. Porsche has done a good job of masking that somewhat in its turbo motors to mimic the progressive power deliver of a NA engine.

The GTS has a dual-mass flywheel to handle the extra torque over the S. As others that actually own one have said here, the manual in the 992 is sublime.

BKAT

I chose a manual transmission. I was on the fence about it because I hadn’t driven a manual 992 and the other “high end” manual transmission cars I’d driven were notchy and a bit more uncomfortable. I’m glad to say the 992s manual is a joy to drive. It’s really easy and smooth. I also love the rev matching blip and the gear indicator on the tachometer

AlterZgo

Nope. Drive it like normal. I don't think the turbocharged nature of these cars are the differentiating factor in how these manual transmissions feel. What's more noticeable is really the drive by wire nature of the throttle as well as the auto rev match characteristics that are programmed by each manufacturer. I think Porsche's electronic throttle response is very good. Not too laggy and not too twitchy. I dont know about Corvettes, but compared to my BMW which has a super twitchy throttle, the Porsche is easier to modulate from a dead stop and I don't have to slip the clutch as much to have smooth shifts. At full throttle, hard, redline shifts, both are fine.

Porsche's rev matching can be turned off by setting the car to normal mode. However, if you get a GTS manual, you can activate and deactivate rev matching for any modes... which is a great benefit IMO over a Carrera S manual.

Also, many on here will tell you how great the shifter is. IMO, it's OK. It feels a bit plasticky and I'd prefer a notchier, more direct feel. For me, it feels a bit like a joystick more than you are engaging actual mechanical gears in the transmission. But you may like it. It works fine. I just like a more positive, direct mechanical feel vs. the feel of a joystick hitting a plastic stop feeling that I get with the 992 manual. Regardless, for me, it still feels massively more fun than driving a PDK. As awesome as the PDK is (and it is truly an outstanding gearbox), it's still just an automatic at the end of the day.

M3Inline6

I agree overall, but it’s interesting that you find the 992 manual to feel like a joystick hitting a plastic stop. I feel like my BMW ///M manuals felt plasticky now that I’ve had some seat time in my 992 manual (…and I’ve always liked how the BMW manuals felt). The 992 feels very mechanical to me (…especially in the 2nd through 6th gear rows); almost S2000-ish type mechanical/precisely notchy…..which I never cared for in the S2000, but I really like it in the 992. Go figure!

aggie57

The 992 manual shift is purely mechanical. Complex yes, with the MECOSA system, but mechnical nonetheless. These images are from the 991 service manual, there are apparently differences in the clutch etc. on the 992 but the general gearbox itself is a carry over.

Fullyield

Manual plus this ^

AlterZgo

I agree that the 992 manual feels better than my F80's manual. The lever definitely feels firmer and not nearly as flexy. I guess I'm really talking more about how the lever slots between the various gears. In past, old school cars I've driven, particuarly ones w/ direct shift linkages rather than shifter cables, the shifter would feel like it notches positively into gear. The 992 feels, to me, more like it hits the end of a plastic stop like on a joystick... which is not surprising as the install of numeric shifter videos shows the 991 and 992 shifters to actually be made of plastic.

I wouldn't say it's bad. I was just disappointed as I expectred more of an old school, positive, notchier, direct feel based on how people were talking about how awesome the shifter was. Better than my M3? Definitely. But, that's not saying much as the M3 shifter is quite mediocre IMO.

Glad you are enjoying your 992! Maybe if I hadn't read this forum and the over the top awesome comments about the shifter for months and months before my car arrived, I'd be happy with it. Conversely, I hope my pessimistic comments have made you enjoy yours more!

I definitely plan on getting the numeric shifter though.