HenryPcar

I own a 997.2 with a 6 speed gearbox and over the weekend drove my friends 991 with 7 speed gearbox and here is my experience.
Perhaps coming from the old BMW E30 days of 5 speed to my current 997's 6 speed, I found the 997 6 is already a bit too closely geared. Its not bad, but it does require more shifting. However given my 997.2 CS2's 385 hp having quite a bit of torque I found unless on the track, there is really no need for 6 speeds. Now driving my friends 991 7 speed is quite different. In just regular street driving, the close gearing takes getting used to. There is hardly 1K rpm drop on the next gear and I wonder for those that track their 991 whether they found shifting to be excessive. Bear in mind every time you shift, time is taken away and there is an interruption in the power band. With that in mind, no wonder the manual is taking a beating against the PDK. Based on the evolution of more powerful and torquerer engine, wouldn't Porsche give us more performance by remapping the gearing with one less, say optimizing the power range with just 6 gears ?

linderpat

I would hate to track a 7 speed. When I track my 6 speed, I use 3, 4 and 5, and rarely 2.

Bruce In Philly

Before we even go there, I think my 6 is:
1 - Too many gears
2 - The ones that are in there are too long!

2nd gear gets me to what 65 MPH!!! That's crazy. Porsche should gear these lower gears down... that would give us way more control, fun, and speed. The cars would be way faster. On a straight line drag to 60, probably not because of the time to shift another gear, but I would rather have shorter gears and more fun.

Not sure why the aftermarket hasn't targeted gearing changes. A heck of alot easier to give me a shorter 2nd and 3rd gear than goofing with things to get more horsepower.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

awrryan

HenryPcar

So even if we track the 991s, the most folks here use is the 5th. So giving us 7 gears indeed seems overkill even for non-trackers. On my 997, I only use the 6th while short-shifting when the engine is cold. Once warmed up, I found I rarely use the 6th unless cruising on the highway. The 991 essentially have more ponies and I think having more spread out gearing with only 6th gears would be a lot more practical, As it is now they are so closely geared there are only about 1000 rpm bumps on the upshift if you shift sequentially. Perhaps we can alternate the shifting by going from 1 to 3rd and than to fifth and 7th as needed. As it is now, although I like the manual and the shifting, but it is getting a bit excessive.

sandwedge

Agree. 6 is more than enough. Maybe they're trying to get Porsche buyers disgusted enough with the manual where they can finally stop making them, like Ferrari and Lambo. Seems like about 20% of Porsche drivers must be the most, stubborn, die hard manual buyers out there. Isn't that the ratio since the PDK was introduced? 80% PDK vs. 20% manuals?

Lamborghini famously said that the last year they offered manual transmissions on any of their cars, those orders were so rare that when one was received, the customer was contacted to confirm that he or she hadn't made a mistake on the order sheet.

Hella-Buggin'

On track I use Mainly 3rd, 4th for the straights, and second for the tight turns.
4th redlines at about 122mph and most tracks don't afford me the need to go into 5th at all.
Coming down the front straight at Thundehill I will sometimes go into 5th if I've got a car in front of me and
maximum acceleration isn't needed.

Raven 666

The 7th gear in the 991 manual cars is primarily there to give good fuel economy and lower emissions etc when hwy cruising ,,basically there to meet emissions regs and make the 991 a cleaner car and help the impact on climate change BLAH BLAH BLAH ...Does it need it NO the GT cars only use a 6 speed ..

Petza914

A five speed is actually enough and the pattern in the older Porsches was better - Reverse Top Left, 1st bottom left, then 2, 3, 4, & 5 in an H. You'd use first to get off the line, then be in the H the rest of the time and if you put in a Weltmeister spriing kit so the force to get back over to R & 1 was significant, it makes missed shifts virtually impossible.

linderpat

That's my point - when things are happening fast, shifting and worrying about moving into the wrong gear intensifies the more gears you have. especially when they are so closely ratioed. I think a 5 speed would be plenty, to be honest with you. I also wish I had a head's up display.

semicycler

Don't forget this is a German car - 6th and 7th gear are for the Autobahn where speeds in the left lane start at 240 kph. There is little use for those gears across the pond.

BIG smoke

I see a seven speed, as a 5 speed and two overdrives.
I have a couple of friends that hate it when I short shift.
1-2-3 ... 6
track? Like above. 2-3-4 is all I use.
Small track in a PDK? Instructor wants it in manual, and shift 2-3-2. Back and forth.

Iceter

My S2000 was a six speed. That car was woefully lacking in torque and needed every one of those gears, However, I found that constantly rowing through those gears in city traffic was annoying. I can't imagine having seven gears, and I suspect that in a car with sufficient torque, some of the ratios in a seven speed box would be redundant.

Also keep in mind that just because you have seven gear ratios doesn't mean you have to use every one of them every time you accelerate or decelerate.

I haven't driven a 991 with a manual transmission but I can see how, at first, it would be easy to miss a shift. That's a lot of gates. But, like anything, I'm sure you'd get used to it over time.

Uwon

mcfisticuffs

In the city I usually go 1-2-3... 4 or 5 for city cruising, 6 for highway but would prefer the taller ratio of 7 for that.

I often skip 4&5 when on-ramping. If you're driving spirited, 4&5 usually mean jail time, and for windy roads 6th is still torquey enough since the car doesn't need to slow down.

Jumping into highway traffic while turning is 1-2...6.

I guess my point is, you don't need all the gears, all of the time. But they all have their moments. Even 6th, which would be supersceded by 7th for highway cruising, is still the 991's top speed gear.