Test driving a car is a far cry from owning one, day in, day out. I'm definitely not solely a PDK advocate. I absolutely love the rifle bolt action of the shifter in my NSX. And I haven't a bad word to say about the great six speeder in the 997.2s. It's more that I'm a fan of both transmissions. Truth is, it takes driving the car over a couple thousand miles, in all conditions, before one can say they truly understand PDK to the fullest, IMO.


I think it's funny. I'm not disagreeing. The stigma is there, though it's diminishing quickly. What about all the sports cars out there that don't offer, and will never offer, the option of the old style manual? 458, 488, FF, LF, F12, Huracan, Aventador, 570, 650, P1, 918, new NSX, etc., etc. I never hear or read people balking about the F12 not having a clutch pedal.

 

Absolutely agree, but I knew from a short test-drive it wasn't what I wanted in a sports car, so I really didn't think it was worth risking a huge depreciation hit on distant odds I might be converted after a few months of driving. I also drove a 911 PDK on holiday, day in day out. The first half day I had it in manual, then I put it in auto for the rest of the time. To me PDK is a really awesome automatic. I'm just not a paddler I guess.

They're awesome cars but like I said before, I'd rather have a Fiat 500 Abarth with a stick than any sports car without a 3 pedal manual. A Panamera or a 7-series or an S-Class or an R8 with an doppel, sure, anytime.

 

I tried 997.2 GTS PDK, 997.2 Turbo PDK and a 14 Cayman PDK - didn't regret driving any of them all were good but it confirmed to me that I prefer driving a 6 speed.

 

What's got me back in a manual after five years in my RTronic (automated manual, though admittedly single clutch - closer to a manual than a double-clutch) R8 is a day when I borrowed our daughter's Suzuki SX4 five speed - it was just so much fun to row through the gears, match revs on my own by double-clutching and make all the shifting decisions on sound and instinct! I've driven several double-clutch automated manuals (SMG, Stronic, PDK. etc.) and am super-impressed with the speed, precision and smoothness, and with how much faster they are than me. So what. Enjoy the choice that works for you.

 

Beat me to it. That stigma is fading if it's not mostly gone already. Unless someone can make a good case for the cars you mentioned not being "real" sports cars. No regrets here and in sport plus manual all the time although I seem to be in the minority using the gear lever rather than the paddles which feel a little sloppy to me with the long throw. The lever travel (to me) feels much more snug and precise and also comes closer to the manual routine with your right hand down there making the moves.

 

Stigma? There's a stigma? LOL Idgaf what's in a Ferrari or what's faster on the track or what the majority of people are buying. I just happen to like the 3-pedal stick in a sports or sporty car. I like my coffee with double cream no sugar, can't stand it black or sweet. Personal preference is all it is.

And it's interesting you bring up about using the lever instead of the paddles. When I drove a PDK, before I defaulted back to auto mode I went from paddles to lever and also found it much more to my liking. For me it wasn't a matter of tight or loose, but of familiarity. I'm used to changing gears with my right hand on a lever. I'm used to keeping just my left hand on the wheel most of the time. Paddles change my ergos more than the lever did. I'm sure at least one person will chime in to school me on why paddles are so much faster/better/more modern etc, but if I had to live with a PDK and felt like playing manual with it once in a while, I would use the lever. In fact in our other car I had the paddles disabled because I kept downshifting unintentionally.

What would be cool to me would be a PDK with a lever operating in the H pattern, like the old Sportomatic from the 60s. And no automatic capability. Basically a manual but without a clutch pedal. I could live without that in heavy traffic.

 

manuals are going the way of carburetors and Standard injection engines.
they are absolete and some people, very small group, will hang on to them.

Just wait until, and mark my words it will happen... the combustion engine starts to go away... oh the terror.. just like 991.2 went turbo.

Porsche mission E will pave the way for these future sports cars..

progress


On separate note I love how people defend six / seven speed manuals by calling the PDK a really good automatic. Its not a really good automatic.
A really good automatic is what the Corvette/ Corvette z06, and jaguar has.

PDK = Automated manual, please stop trying to degrade it to an Auto.
We don't go around saying the 962C Porsche racing car was an automatic or the RSR is automatic...

Or a formiula 1 car is Automatic.

 

I would never regret it.... cause I would never do it at least in a none turbo 997 car.

Turbo S that is another story...

 

Oh gawd not this again

 

I am an old time enthusiast that enjoys the "engagement" that a manual offers. The PDK is a great technology that allows for faster (and easier) shifting but IMHO driver's involvement (engagement) is just different.

When I was in the market for a new Porsche, I had a 2 hour test drive with a PDK, and knowing that it is not long enough to explore all the great things that a PDK offers, I enjoyed getting back to my MT car.

I know one day I will own a PDK but just not now when I can still enjoy the joys of excellent clutch engagement, rev matching and blipping that throttle during downshifts. It simply continues to reward good drivers.

 

This is a really good, no excellent point. Well, sort of anyway because it requires a little thought about the meaning of words. The mechanics of PDK are absolutely manual in nature. But the driver is only connected to the mechanics by flipping a lever. So while a PDK is most certainly a manual, its control is automated. So it's, as you say, an automated manual - yet functionally, as you sit in the drivers seat, it is an automatic transmission. Here, let me make your argument for you - and prove myself wrong.

I hate dialectics but it works here, loosely, so . . . Thesis: Manual Transmission with operator actuated clutch and gear changes. Antithesis: Automatic transmission (CVT, torque converter/planetary gears, etc) where gearing (using the term broadly) is automatically done for you. Synthesis: PDK where you employ but modify the traditional clutch (single to double) and array of gears, and control this modification electrically (or automatically through a lever or button). The thing is, I think people just haven't been able to fully think of the Synthesis as a method wholly unto itself yet.

 

To answer the OP question I brought a 2009 PDK car at the close of last year - I have no regrets.


It's a weekend toy and I do a few track outings a year - I'm not the fastest guy on the course but I do enjoy driving the car on the track. I'm not the guy in the GT3 pushing it in the corners although I can grain the tyres up after a spirited session, (need more front negative camber).


Now I've had manuals on the track and I'll be the first to admit I suck at heel/toe downshifting - never got the hang of it and would have the back end hopping around going into corners. So from that perspective the pdk is great.


Some have commented here that they like to know what gear they are in - and a manual lets then do that. Coming from biking background ( and lots of motorcycle track days), driving the pdk is similar to a bike experience - on the track you learn shifting patterns, down one into this corner, down two into the hairpin shift up into the redlines etc, etc.


I have the buttons on the steering wheel - the computer has saved me a few times when I tap a button accidentally on the track or confuse the up/down shifting pattern. I plan to upgrade to the paddle shifters...


Also when casually driving you can be lazy and leave it in auto mode, windows open driving down the lakeshore, why not??


Hope that helps!

 

I don't call PDK an automatic to be degrading. I call it an automatic because it has an auto setting and will shift itself if you choose to let it. I would not call it an automatic if it didn't have that feature, i.e. if the only way it worked was for the driver to manually select the gears.

 

I've only owned 5 and 6 speed manual 911's, the first gen PDK's I've only test driven, haven't engaged me enough to want to own one. But, owning a SMG M3 in the past, I can see the benefits in traffic and paddle shifting was enjoyable for me.
Bottom line the 911 can be enjoyed in many 'flavors' .

 

The world ended when Porsche went water cooled and introduced the Cayenne.

If you're really old it ended when power steering and electric windows were introduced.

If you're really really old, it ended when cars started being manufactured with doors.