mdrums

Hurley Haywood, Pat Long and Cass Whitehead told me they can drive faster laps in a PDK....hummm....who really knows then but I have not heard or read otherwise myself....it's interesting though.

Only PDK car I know that has raced...not professionally because none of the professional sanctioning body's allow it yet is Speed Merchants raced a PDK car in PCA, PBOC and some other groups for 10,000 race miles. This car was featured in Excellence a year or so ago. They went to replace the clutch packs and change the PDK fluid and found the clutch packs had virtually zero wear because PDK shifts so perfectly. I found this out when I went to buy clutch packs from Suncoast and they were doing service on the Speed Merchants PDK race car for the 48hrs race. I went and talked with the Speed Merch guys at length at the 48hrs about this. This saved me a lot of money...just change the pdk fluid, the clutches will last a long long time.

wanna911

I think it was quoted in excellence magazine, a direct quote from Walter Rohrl when asked which was faster. The time were identical.

I'm sure Hurley, Pat and Cass were driving fast, but I would bet money they weren't shifting like they were test driving for an official lap time. You have to be all in with manual to get close to PDK, and I've had Randy Pobst, and Andrew Davis in my car and neither of them shifted like they were trying to set a lap record, cornering speeds on the other hand.............

It's pretty simple math, PDK is worth a few tenths over a well driven manual via shifts. 60+ lbs is worth a few tenths via just being heavier. They can certainly cancel each other out.

I may never get to that level, but it will be a lot of fun trying, and I will not take the easy way out.

996FLT6

So what's the cost of a PDK tranny rebuild once warranty expires? Is it rebuildable or throwaway? Mike

NJ-GT

A few days ago the deputydog was asking about my cayman mods, i told him i dont lift the gas for upshift when going for lap times, and such shifting is as fast as my Fiat. I do prefer a manual tranny, but the fiat seq is much more fun, and doesnt let me down for just a 13 lbs penalty.

62% clutch left after 12000 miles. I'm ok with a 35,000 miles clutch.

I agree with the want-a-911, a well driven manual has nothing to l

NJ-GT

... Nothing to lose to a sequential.

rijowysock

ive driven it, it's surely not a usual manual trans...

it's more like a H pattern sequential if that makes sense..

also the clutch feels very very weird, i've driven 6 speeds for a decade and driving the new trans felt very weird to me and i just couldnt get used to it, but i think it will just take time... i kinda want to order one.

rijowysock

you guys need to drive it, i can guarantee any current GT car owner would hate it, surely they will change it for the GT cars... obviously change the clutch, but it still feels "fake" other than that.

Mike in CA

FWIW, not Excellence, an interview in Panorama December 2009. I think I was the first to post on the 997 forum about this. Rohrl was as fast with the first generation PDK either in manual or auto mode as with a manual car at the Ring, (although I imagine there are very few others who could make the same claim) and it seems likely that wouldn't be the case with the newest improved PDK iteration. In the same article Rohrl indicated he'd be switching to PDK for his personal cars; just advertising hype or some other excuse for this, no doubt. Anyway, just a point of interest to flesh out your comment; not trying to extend this silly argument over which is better.....

Bob Rouleau

One thing to note about the manual 991 is the Torque Lock differential. It uses the rear brakes. I have seen a 991 owner replacing his rear rotors after a couple of track days as a result. Torque Lock cannot be disabled, even with the nannies turned off.

The PDK car also has torque lock but it uses the clutches in the transmission as opposed to the brakes and so far seems to be standing up to track duty. John (SLOW) probably has the technical details.

FWIW, I also observed that a 991S PDK is the equal of a 3.8 GT3 on the track. Amazing!

DRPM

Makes one wonder what the guys in Germany have up their sleeve for the 991 GT3 and RS?

wanna911

Which is why I think an F1 tranny like the Fiat has is the best option. Fast shift, low weight penalty, more natural.

Now that I think about it:

Let's also not forget a couple of things, any manual vs dual clutch in same car that i know of has been a dual mass flywheel, heavy clutch and longer gear ratios. VS a dual clutch tranny with two tiny little clutches, hence less power loss and shorter ratios for acceleration.

Well anyone who has put a tiny clutch and flywheel in there manual car knows that these changes alone can make a second of difference on an average course. The Dual Clutch eliminates driver error (in auto mode) in all aspects and mostly in manual shift mode, so to that end its beneficial for longevity and consistency. But with a single mass flywheel and small clutch a manual tranny is now 100+ lbs lighter than a Pdk. I have not changed my gear ratios but my clutch and flywheel together weigh like 13 lbs. A Pdk would add well over 100 lbs of weight.

So do I think a Pdk swap would make me faster, no, no I don't. I only upshift 5 times at Road Atlanta, and there is not a second worth of time in my shifting vs pdk. 100 lbs is worth nearly a second at Road Atlanta in my experience.