boxer-11

I've driven my 991TT quite a bit at The Ridge -- super fun track. Mostly I used the full auto mode, certainly when I first went there as a newbie just getting the school line down was enough to keep me busy so I let the car do the shifting. As I got smoother and faster there is just one place where one of the PCA instructors suggested that an override would be a good thing -- that would be right after you make the left at T13 and head down the hill...right there short shifting up a gear made the car a bit more stable and since you have the big hill drop helping for that section before the right for T14 is upon you there's not much lost by being in a higher gear than PDK thinks is good. Even then I left it in auto and just bumped the right paddle to get that override shift and then let it go back to doing the work while I got busy trying to rotate the nose around to fire out of T15 through T16 onto the front straight.

I hope to be at all the PCA PNWR track days for the rest of this season -- if you make it out to one at the Ridge and I'm there I'd be glad to show you where I'm talking about that short shift...you can see from the paddock (I'll be driving a white GT4, #486).

tcsracing1

I run my GT4CS in automode. Sometimes i will grab a paddle for a downshift however.

ipse dixit

Auto 95%
Manual 5% ... because sometimes the eye can see what the PDK-S cannot.

Fumes

zoiks

The PCA club that I track with sponsors having 2 Porsche Factory Pro drivers take you for rides in various cars during the HPDE events. It is an amazing learning opportunity. What I saw on a 10 turn track was 9 out of 10 turns they relied on the PDK sport plus mode. On one turn one driver down shifted every so slightly sooner than the controls. Literally something on the order of 4 feet at 60+ mph. And that's a pro. When you are learning, keep it simple. Learn the basics before making things more complex than they need to be. Definitely get to a PCA HPDE event that has instructors...you will continue to have a lot of fun.

matttheboatman

All so true! Auto PDK is wicked fast. Funny, but I don't think you will find one article or video test where the professional test driver allows the PDK to do the shifting. I would explain to my friends how much faster the auto PDK was versus the manual, and they see these test reports and say not so. Well, if those guys let the car do the work it is simply faster - particularly on the downshifting into the braking zone, and the ability to fire through the gears without upsetting the car in turns. One nice thing I will say about shifting manually with paddles is that you can quickly recover from an improper gear selection - so your track time does not suffer too much if you like rowing (flicking) through the gears.

LuigiVampa

If you are using PDK the most important thing is to make sure your beauticians license is up to date when you register for your event.

AAK GTS

I would rather torture the PCCB's than the engine/transmission.

txbdan

I'm wondering about this as well. I have lots of track time in other manual cars and just did my first event with the Cayman S PDK with Sport Chrono. I left PDK in Auto mode and had Sport Plus engaged. It did a pretty darn good job. It seems others think so as well. But for absolute fastest times, what is recommended? I'm competing in time trials fwiw. What do pro drivers/cars do? I guess they may not run stock PDK tuning? BGB, what do you guys do with the Cayman Clubsports?

amurph182

I run my ‘16 Cayman in auto, but I’ve found that just about every track I’ve been to has either a corner or a section that the PDK just doesn’t get right, so I’ll up or downshift once or twice a lap as needed. Usually it’s a slow-to-the-low-side-of-medium-speed corner where the car wants to stay in a higher gear. Other than that, auto works great.

85Gold

See post 17.

Peter

Tim the Engineer

To start out, Auto mode for sure.

For my race Cayman, the DME and PDK have been tuned, and the interlock between throttle and brake has been removed To get the high RPMs, manual mode is required. Also using full manual gives you an added degree of control, avoiding unwanted downshifts and upshifts.

Overall, however, the benefit of running full manual is marginal. For driver's with less track experience, running in auto allows you to focus on other things.

Martin S.

PDK makes it oh so much better for me, and others.

Manifold

In my 991.1 GT3, I use the paddles on both track and road. More fun and engaging, and I prefer controlling when the car shifts. Maybe a bit slower on track than auto, but it's not racing. I only use auto when dealing with traffic or taking it easy on the road.

txbdan

Thanks. I've driven two tracks now with the Cayman (SCCA TTNT last weekend) and PDK is pretty awesome. I've only run it in Sport Plus Auto mode. I do find the behavior sort of like: I brake into a turn and it downshifts nicely through a few gears, i apex and floor it and it holds in that gear for maybe 10feet and then it kicks down to a lower gear and pulls out. It's sort of odd to downshift while tracking out. It hasn't actually upset the car yet, but it seems like that potential is there. Is this how it should work? If i were shifting manually, i'd be in the lowest gear at the apex so i'm already in it for tracking out.

I don't have video, but i could share some Aim canbus data if helpful.