Dan@SharkWerks

Front lip endurance testing?

Paddles make me sad though... I've put so many miles on GT3s now on some of the great backroads in our area, I'd be bored stiff driving one with an automatically shifting transmission... half of the thrill is heel-toe'ing and perfectly timed upshifts (especially on a high revving 3.9!).

Mike in CA

Although heel/toe is obviously no longer possible, you can upshift/downshift PDK for yourself and drive it pretty much just like a manual which is what I do, while still enjoying all of it's other advantages. I get the whole PDK/manual argument and people's preferences; the issue has been debated ad nauseum. I'll just say that I drove and swore by manuals for 45 years. Have owned a first gen PDK for 3+ years now and don't miss MT at all. The new version will be lighter and even faster shifting and the 991 GT3 will be an awesome, involving car when equipped with it. For those who still want a manual anyway, I hope Porsche offers one. Just my $.02.

Dan@SharkWerks

Mike, I hear ya - I think I just need to get used to it. It's a GREAT transmission, Porsche definitely did it right. I'm just a stubborn old schooler

wanna911

Dan, this is actually one of the weirdest things for me. I drove a paddle shift automatic C6 Corvette in the mountains one time, and it was a TON more fun than my manuals that I drove on the same roads. When you don't know every turn and have to brake and shift on reaction, having those paddles is really a lot of fun for me.

For mountain driving, stop and go traffic and street driving (as long as I already had a manual car to have fun in) I'd pick the PDK. But it couldn't be my only sports car.

M3EvoBR

I probably want one ....just not yet.

Dan@SharkWerks

This gives me hope! Next time we do a press drive I'll try giving the PDK a real shot.

996FLT6

The wing gotta go!! Looks jdm..ish. Front clip nice and rear is aston martinish(like it). Can't afford it but curious to see how the new motor will do ie durability in racing. PDK/manny- hopefully both will be offered. So how did it sound like? Mike

pissedpuppy

glad I'm outta town for the uber busy weekend

still, GO REDS!!!

Seth Thomas

Nice Georgia license plate

zanwar

I haven't attended a DE so I don't know how they work. At our club, we work to improve our lap times and we informally compete with each other outside of organized races. Almost everyone has a radio transponder and our times are on public display.

I've seen E92 and Cayman Interseries race cars with paddle shifts. Otherwise the general pattern is that an enthusiast buys a manual street car and then decides to go tracking with it. There are plenty of GT3s around but paddle shifts wouldn't have been an option for those drivers anyway.

I don't view manual shifting and heel toe as an intrinsically enjoyable part of racing. Once I had the shifting part figured out I mostly forgot about it. I had to work on it again recently when I moved to the GT3 but I'd be willing to trade the experience for the option of keeping both hands on the wheel. The transmission is just another tool or component, like a proper bucket seat with a harness. Racing aside, if I was buying a GT3 as a weekend street car I would probably join you guys and pick the manual.

stout

+1 on the first point, and an enjoyable art form that PDK cannot replace for those who appreciate/enjoy it. For those who don't, PDK is a no-brainer.

One of the best parts of living in SF for ten years was learning to adapt heel-toe technique to use on those steep uphill starts, and eventually all uphill starts. You've got the brake with the left side of your right foot, and roll over the gas with the right side of your right foot as you feel the clutch take up. Result: seamless getaways without having to use a hand on the e-brake and with NO excessive clutch slip. Even in a C-GT. Made driving around SF a cinch and a little more fun in a manual, and it still does whenever I am in the city.

I respect PDK, but two years with it in a Cayman S only served to convince me that I am a manual guy when it comes to road cars, through and through. The day Porsche stops building the models I like with a manual transmission is the day my attention will focus on its previous offerings. Feel free to call me a luddite, but I've tried to come over to the new side and don't care for it. For me.

Now, if it's about lap times or autocross times, I'll take PDK — because its performance advantage outweighs its weight penalty, no matter which manual you choose to stack it up against. On-power shifts, added concentration on other aspects of driving, etc. all add up to an unfair advantage that any competitor would be crazy not to want...

pete

stout

Yep, the engineers say they cannot replicate the testing in SF anywhere else in the world, and that it primarily applies to transmission/clutch/etc.

pete

Mike in CA

I hear you too, Dan. I'm also an old dog, but I guess I learned a new trick!

mikeoR32

Nice....my method is avoiding the really big hills that have traffic backups (like Divisadero headed up the hill from the Marina into Pacific Heights), and rolling the stop sign enough to put me on top of the hill instead of just short of it. Just have to make sure I'm not blocking (or hitting) any pedestrians. :-)

stout

Used a mix of both of those, as well. I am a serial offender when it comes to limit lines and crosswalks on Divis so long as there are no pedestrians. That hill is no joke, and it isn't unique in SF by any means.

When I lived near and parked in the Masonic Temple, I'd drive all the way down Pine to Leavenworth, then loop back around on California to avoid going up Taylor. Car and I could take it, but I figured it just wasn't nice to the machine every day. So I get married, and my wife, who is from Ohio, has a Ford with an auto trans that craps out in our first year of marriage. As we're at the shop and she's describing the failure mode to the mechanic, she notes that she drives up Pine and turns right on Taylor every day, because it's "pretty."

The good news is the trans was still under warranty, and she wanted to drive my WRX, which meant lessons in Golden Gate Park. Still avoids the 901 shifter (smart gal!), but she won't even consider a new car if it doesn't have a stick, and the arrival of our first child hasn't changed that...

pete