ir_fuel

They wont.

They don't race the manual that's in the current GT3RS either. For racing they use a (completely unusable on the street) sequential box with straight cut gears.

mdrums

+1

Racing products don't work well for a street environment.

maroli

I think the complaints centered around that had more to do with the quality of the shifts of the SMG, something PDK does exceptionally well. But it would be lunacy not to offer a manual for the GT3, even as a cost option.

wanna911

Based on what?

With journalists driving maybe, but Walter himself has said the PDK has been no faster on the ring than the Manual. Granted that was the last generation PDK. But it was also the last generation Manual as well.

The same day tests between manual and PDK will be few and far between if any.

Mike in CA

In the same Panorama article where Walter talked about matching Ring times with the first generation PDK and a manual, when asked if he still prefered the 6 speed for his own driving he said, "No, this time I will take a PDK. I think it's time to change." Proves nothing to anyone who wants a manual, just a point of interest. BTW, I suspect there is much more room for advancement in terms of PDK performance upgrades than there are for making MT's work better. The delta between the two will continue to increase, not remain static. Just my opinion....

mooty

manual will eventually disappear just like hand crank starters, 2200 lbs 73rs, punch hole computer cards. it may not b gone next year but it will be gone in our life time. so instead of guessing what's next
, smart ones will start to stockpile the current cars (the doctor whom I used to detail for in my HS yr loved 450SEL 6.9 so much that when he heard they were to b discontinued, he went out and bought FIVE more. still got all six in his fleet). u can always buy the newer cars later but I think production for 4.0 & 3.8 have stopped.

Medicopter

This sums it up. I'm glad that our cars still have a normal parking brake...

wanna911

I disagree, manual is where the improvement lies, you can't get shifts to go much faster than they are in PDK and the returns are diminishing ones, you also cannot interupt power any less. There is a lot of room for improvement in manual transmission.

Combine the no lift shifting that GM has on their cars with a 7 speed close ratio manual from Porsche and there is bigger delta for improvement than there will be with dual clutch transmissions.

Also, it's understandable if Walter wants a PDK for his own driving. He spends the bulk of his time test driving on the track. For the street, what is going to excite him about a manual? Plus he's been racing manuals for umpteen years, why not try a PDK on the street to relax with? It's not like he spends a lot of time at the track in his own cars.

The point I was making is that people go and blindly state that PDK is oh so superior in lap speed improvements, but that has been found not to be the case on many occasions. And I'm talking about same car, different transmission. I've heard anywhere from 3-10 seconds, and those aren't anywhere near close and even high when mutiplied by .1.

Mike in CA

Which is why all of the high performance car manufacturers, not to mention race car designers, have gone and are going to MT's? I know, it's not quite that simple but still, wanna911, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

wanna911

You're right, it's not nearly that simple. Car manufacturers direction and racing cars direction are two totally separate things altogether. Race cars transmissions are much more closely related to manuals than dual clutches.

True racing sequentials are manual in nature with one clutch. NONE of the major sanctioning bodies are racing dual clutches. More clutches, more weight, more parts to break, more heat (hence the problems with DSG and PDK). The penalty far outweighs the benefit, which for an already sequential shifting gearbox is pretty much nothing.

My point however, is that there is more room for improvement in terms of the technology that has been implemented in manuals vs dual clutches.

AGO

My take on the manual vs DSG: manual on the street allows for infinite variations on clutch operation as the driver chooses how and when makes it slip.
Good sequentials or DSG can be better for the track, as max performance is extracted all the times or most of the situations.
The fun factor on the track of a good manual like the GT cars is something I enjoy, despite the fact that is slower and hence it cost lap time. That's ok... and I enjoy it much better on the street too...

AGO

I had an M6 SMG, great on the track at the fastest setting (not a track car though...), lousy on the street eventhough I used it on manual selection 99% of the time.

So much more fun on the GT3... both on the track (more work but more fun) and on the street as commented on my previous post.

mooty

thank god
wife's peper has push button pk brk. hate it

then it has the stop/start feature. I drove it three times. hated that feature wanted to dump it just bc of that. luckily a friend showed me how to turn it off. WHY WHY WHY? must we safe the earth? I wnt to I've to the moon. less traffic too.

aussie jimmy

commercialism breeds mediocrity

stujelly

listen, how many times has a new ferrari passed you running thru those gears pop, pop, pop. Just think how fast we could be on the track in a RS with pdk. No more toe heal down shift. We could finally keep up with those cheaters from florida.

Yee haa