Ucube

F1 drivers are paid to go as fast as they can, so I presume they'd say yes to anything that improves their lap times. That doesn't necessarily correspond to their personal preferences on their own street vehicles.

Buy and drive what you like is what I always say.

LlBr

I was thinking more along subjective, theoretical and philosophical lines. Those F1 guys must have been boiling over with discussion and debate when the change occurred.

I'm wondering what they observed about "driver involvement" when the technology made a splash for them. No big deal. Just wondering.

Bob Rouleau

I'd say that F1 paddles had a few thinking - yesss! Left foot braking! That's involvement.

sandwedge

Hoping to face this choice myself this year, just curious.......what prompted the "just about" qualification? Figure of speech or is there something that bugs you about it?

Mike in CA

Mainly, I was trying not to go overboard and say it was perfect. Drawbacks? Regular non-sport mode upshifts too quickly for my taste but of course it's designed for economy and does have it's place. I spend almost all my time in sport mode or shifting manually so it's not a problem. If you don't have Sport Chrono it might be annoying just to live with the regular auto mode. The PDK weighs an added 60lbs over the manual box. Also, I was/am a hard core MT guy. I admit there are times when I miss the clutch. But the PDK offered advantages that I just couldn't pass up, I really enjoy driving with it, and I would absolutely make the same choice again.

sandwedge

Great assessment. Thanks.

cmb13

I'm interested in a response to this too. I drove a friends Aston Martin with their version of this transmission (don't know what it's called) and absolutely hated it. The shifts were all violent. I imagine the PDK is way better, but the above statement makes me wonder.

Thoughts?

rodsky

cmb - not to create confusion. The shifts arent violent. If you drive the car at 80% or less, they are extremely smooth. If you floor it, there's a good shove in the back from 1-2. Not sure if violent is the right word but there's definitly a sense of urgency.

Go out and drive it - its really an amazing transmission. I love it. Absolutely need sport chrono though. Normal mode is not very nice. I use sport or straight manual.

swajames

Aston's sportshift is a single clutch design, it's not as good as PDK but I didn't think it was horrible. It's a little clunky at low speed, but it's not too bad when you're pressing on. For what it's worth, I think some of the violence in the shifts on the Aston is deliberately engineered in to make car feel (or seem) a little sportier. I certainly wouldn't wish for the Aston sportshift over the PDK, but I'd trade exhaust notes in a heartbeat - those Aston V8 Vantages sound absolutely wonderful, particularly when the active exhaust flaps are fully open (over 3500 RPM or so, but you can also remove a fuse so they're always open).

Mike in CA

I wouldn't describe the shifts in either regular or sport modes as violent. In normal driving shifts are quick and firm but there is no lurching, mechanical clunks, or noises that might indicate abuse. This is due in part to the fact that in these two modes engine torque is reduced between shifts (only slightly in sport mode) but it is obviously part of the overall design parameters Porsche was trying to achieve, and why they waited so long to come out with a dual clutch gearbox. Shifts in sport plus are firmer still, because engine torque is not reduced at all and shifts are occuring at higher revs, but while not as comfortable, they are still not what I would call abusive.

If you floor the accelerator, the car and PDK get with the the program right now and the shifts are almost literally instantaneous. The feeling of acceleration is very strong, especially in the lower gears and I suspect this is all part of the "violence" the previous poster was referring to. Besides, it doesn't matter whether you are driving a PDK or MT car, if you are constantly doing all-out starts with either transmission, and speed shifting through the gears at full throttle, there will be relatively more wear and tear than if you are driving a bit more conservatively. Time will tell about the long-term reliabilty of PDK, but I don't find any aspect of operation of the unit itself "violent".

As an aside, I'm amazed that so many people find places away from the track to go all out in these cars anyway . My C2S reaches arrest-me-please-officer speeds so quickly that I find myself getting frustrated at how little I can actually use even a fair portion of it's potential on the road.

LlBr

I think BMW SMG got a bad rap because in some situations it was clunky. In rolling situations or high speeds it performs beautifully. People only remember the clunkiness of driving away from or up to a stop sign. BTW, That clunkiness can be eliminated with familiarity and technique you get from owning SMG which you can't get from a test drive.

We're all too quick to criticize stuff. Evolutionarily the brain is set up for hazards and dangers more than joys and happiness.

vexed

Exactly, in heavy traffic it was clunky, the D mode was useless but with the pedal down it was very rewarding, and the downshifting was done well.

rodsky

Good summary - I agree. Violent was a poor choice of words on my behalf. More like a "shove in the back" or strong surge when going from 1-2 under full throttle.

cmb13

Thanks for the responses to my comment; I'm personally a stick-shift guy, but the praise I hear here definitely makes me want to drive it. My wife certainly would like it better, but at the end of the day, I'll probably end up with the manual anyway.

gmaier

I've been going through the same ruminations: PDK or stick; stick or PDK. I'm a manual guy, at heart, and enjoy rowing the gears; it doesn't even bother me, that much, in traffic.

Still, I was contemplating an upgrade from my 6-speed C4S cab to a new TT and the press reviews of PDK were nothing short of stellar. I've owned a BMW SMG, before, and found it ok in manual mode, though not very effective in automatic; I also grew tired of it, after a while, and craved the engagement of a true manual, so I was waiting to see if PDK would dispell me of those feelings.

Eventually, I test drove a C4S PDK and a Panamera PDK. The shifts in automatic mode were nearly perfect, almost always finding the right gear depending on throttle input (albeit, downshifts in lazy automatic mode - i.e. w/o Sport or Sport Plus engaged - weren't entirely consistent with what I would do, but the standard program is optimized for fuel economy, rather than performance, after all).

When I switched to manual mode, though, something was missing. Logic would tell me that the shifts are far quicker than anything I could do when rowing my own, yet there was still a perceptible delay between hitting the shift paddle and changing gears. I reasoned that it was probably more about my own internal rhythm not being fully in sync with that of the PDK, as it kind of has to be when you're orchestrating a clutch and a gear lever in a true manual. In short, it wasn't as visceral.

PDK definitely has its advantages: easier to drive in a busy commute (this is my DD, after all), my wife could use it (not sure if that's really an advantage, though), and it will deliver marginally better performance and fuel economy. Launch control, in my mind, while thrilling, is more of an amusement park ride, as I don't normally track the car and it would rarely be used in my daily driving.

I truly was agonizing over which transmission to put my money into.

But then, I thought: why do I keep coming back to cars from BMW and Porsche? Yes, the performance and connection with the road, as realized by precise steering and stickier suspensions, is certainly one reason, and an important one, but for the money I'd pay on a new TT, I could also get another exotic GT with, perhaps, even greater cachet and similar road manners.

The epiphany came to me when I realized that driving a true manual transmission is nearly a lost art and that, given the economies of scale, more and more manufacturers were moving towards automatics or automated manuals almost entirely, especially in certain markets. There are a few other manufacturers, of course, that offer manual transmissions, but Porsche and BMW still offer the greatest selection, packaged with some of the best overall sporting drivability.

That may change, in the future - as it's getting harder and harder to find manual transmissions on a BMW lot, these days, and Porsche has publicly stated that they anticipate a near total dominance of PDK-equipped cars within the next 5 years. Still, at least today, the more visceral, antiquated, 6-speed, honed through years of refinement, remains a viable and enjoyable option and that's why I keep coming back for more.

Having had that epiphany, I finally selected my car and will soon be the owner of a new 2010 white TT coupe, in 6-speed (much to my wife's chagrin, I might add, as she will remain on the sidelines in her current Cayenne GTS)!