PDK - fast on track, easy for daily
Manual - Fun, fun, FUN on weekends, twisties, track, corner, highway, etc... PAIN in traffic, harder/slower to shift on track

Pick your poison!

 

7 years now in the PDK - God, how time flys!. That's following 27 years of rowing the gears. Do I miss that? Of course I do someimtes - but do I prefer the PDK? Yes. It's better technology, end of story - it does the job better all the while providing for a brilliant driving experience in a spectacular car.

Some of the comments are funny epsecially WRT the general buying public. In my experience we are in a bubble - outside the bubble of car people all this talk is gobbledygook - they don't care about transmissions or even cars much for that matter.

As for PDK being an automatic - sure it is, just as a 911 is Volkswagen - I mean, if we are generalizing, let's get on with it then.

But, if I could manage another 911, I'd have a 993 6spd to park alongside my 997.

 

Thats about the best analogy I've seen on this yet.

 

That's exactly what I had set out to do, recently. A 993/997.2 combo would be the perfect two 911s, IMO. I ended up going with a contemporary of the 993, and the only other car, besides a 911, that I had always wanted to try. Having one new tech car, and one old-school car really balances things out. I have a feeling, though, that I'll still get to try a 964/993 sometime down the line.

 

I don't have to deal with traffic so 4 of my 5 Porsches are all MTs - the only one that's not is the '09 Cayenne Turbo S because it wasn't offered with one, but I did consider buying the GTS from that year, just to have a manual transmission. For the type of vehicle that is and how we'd use it though, the 550 HP outweighed the 400 HP with stick. I've driven lots of non- MT cars as for work, I'm in a different rental car almost every week, with many being higher end offerings - Vettes, Porsches, BMWs, etc and it doesn't matter how good the "manu-matic" transmission in any of them aire - I just don't get the same enjoyment from driving them wihtout a clutch pedal and stick-shift transmission. If I was a racecar driver and paid to do so where fractions of a second mattered, I'd suffer along with that they gave me, but being able to choose my cars for my driving enjoyment, I choose a Manual all day every day.

There's nothing wrong with a PDK - in-fact, there's a lot right with it - it's just not for me.

 

I ended up getting an 09 Boxster S PDK. Everyone who described the fun of the PDK was right. I don't miss the manual at all. I love this thing!

 

enjoy OP. good to see the update

 

My last two M cars were SMG. Both care were sold for that reason. I need a manual.

 

I love my PDK. Would never go back.

 

I test drove a PDK car and hated it. I thought my 997 dream was over. A week later a 6-speed variant came for sale. 30 seconds into the test drive, I knew I was taking it home with me.

And FWIW, I live in the city and daily drive my car. The 6-speed 997.2 is remarkably easy to drive, even in traffic. Not once have I caught myself wishing I went with the PDK car.

And yes--I realize PDK is a wonderful transmission. It's just not for me.

 

^^^ ya me too

Working a clutch in traffic is only hard if you are trying to also work on your cell phone, drink a coffee and watch a youtube video

 

Do you think customer pressure is causing Porsche to produce the new GT3 with a MT? I wonder?

 

Porsche making the decision to have options for PDK and MT for 991.2GT3 because they can sell more cars, the successful of GT4 indicate that manual is still popular among car enthusiasts. I think porsche only care about sale volumes instead of public pressure.

 

My 9972 is my first PDK-equipped car, and I have precisely zero regrets. It's a fantastic gearbox, on the road and on the track. I don't agree that it reduces my 'engagement' with the car, instead I think it merely changes the nature of the car, compared to one with a manual gearbox.




I should probably add that it didn't instantly make me go and sell my other car (which is a six speed manual with a proper set of gear ratios), as it's my "keeper". Had it been a Boxster or Cayman with the stratospheric over-long gearing (and only 3 useful forward gears on the road), I might have thought differently, though...

 

Before my current Porsche, all of my sports cars... going back to my MGB, BMW 2002Tii, 944Turbo, and subsequent cars... all have been manuals. I felt it was time for a change, so when I decided on a 981S, it was PDK.

I have to confess it felt awkward for the first couple thousand miles, but when I began to feel confident in really pushing it on winding back-country roads, I realized the genius of the PDK. It has transformed my driving style, in that I am able to focus more on correct speed, braking and the placement of the car in the corners, than on rowing the gears and heel-toe. It's a different experience, for sure, but I have really enjoyed learning to drive again.

Do I miss the manual? Sure, sometimes... but I have never second-guessed my decision on the PDK.