I use garage talk no dramas, NITT entries are pretty slim from older members, lot of newish faces. No Doug, Jake, Sam, Dave, Jason. The new 991.2 T looks good, plus Touring pack GT3, non P Car followers must find 911s so confusing haha

 

It is a bit sparse on older attendees. Apparently the GT4 contingent has thinned out post Targa as well.

I'm doing a half NITT, just Manfield then off to see my parents in Waikanae. I thought about Taupo but it's too pressed to get there Monday morning and still have quality time with the olds.

 

Haven't been here for ages. Time for some colourful pics!
These two haven't been together for a year. At any one time, one of them has been at Europacific

 

I had fully intended to go but just back from a long euro tour and things have stacked up at home and work, so had to make a tough call not to come.

 

Looking good Dave. Now all you need is to finish that house!

 

Ah, that house renovation, AKA two new GT3's......
It all started with me wanting to paint the garage floor.

 

I came across this guy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nickmurray22. He's a kiwi living in the US and makes videos about Porsches, among other things. I find him quite amusing.

Cars look great Dave, but do you have a finished garage to park them in?

 

No, so it has worked quite well having one at Steves place for the last year.

 

Great photos Dave. Will miss you this year. I think you were an inaugural attendee!

Pel. I dont get the 911T at all. Its 15,000 NZD more than a base Carrera with the same gearbox and output, comes standard with 20" wheels, lower springs, LSD and sports exhaust but you can only have cloth centered seats (leather is not an available option). Oh yeah, it weighs 20 kg less! Its not a limited edition car so will have no collector appear, to me its a cynical marketing joke.

By teh way almost all of the 20kg weight savings is from the PCM delete and rear seat delete which is the "most basic specification" they use for the official figures. Who will order with no rear seat and PCM/Navi/Radio?

By the time you spec a 911T in NZ (223.8K base inc ORC) with the most basic of acceptable features (i.e. leather dash and door caps not rubber ones, chrono pack for the auto blip etc) you are up to $240K! Not surprisingly you can spec a base Carrera 7MT to a similar level for less. Infact you can buy a well appointed Carrera S for that with a higher output.

Heck Ive got a brand new (still in "the wrapper") 2017 Carrera 2 Manual with 20K of options which is similar spec to the 911T that Id let go for 165K on the market right now. Thats got to be a useful 75K saving to someone over a 911T?

Ill even throw in some similar vinyl decals applied to the lower sill :-)

P.S. If they were going to do it proper - then a 6 speed gear box from GT3/R, lightweight glass and composite hood/roof, with larger Carrera S brakes and reduced sound deadening for a total weight saving around 50kg would have been nice and some dedicated wheels (forged).

 

All true, of course, Macca. About the best thing to come out of all this is an acknowledgement, followed up by action, that there is a demand for traditional manual gear shifting.
And that is a very good thing 😀

 

Understand that demand in theory, but from what I’ve seen it’s the manual cars that sit listed online longer than those with PDK.

 

Maybe... but I think they still get a premium in the end?

 

I haven't taken much notice of that, but it's beside the point.

Manual cars command a better price. But that's beside the point too.

The point I was making was that there is still a demand for a manual shifter among drivers who prefer not to lose one of the key elements of driver involvement. Among drivers who don't care if a PDK shaves fractions of a second off a lap time, when all the driver gets to do is marvel at the design and engineering perfection of a PDK, because it IS an amazing bit of kit.

Perfecting car balance and rev matching (forget "auto-blip"!) with heel-toe braking is one of the joys of driving that I for one wouldn't give up with the possible exception of a daily driver in congested traffic - but then an EV becomes a more sensible option...even <gasp> a driverless one

 

My experience is selling a new 911 with MT is hard bloody work. The demand is definitely higher for PDK in NZ (and most of the world) by probably 10 fold. The issue here is that enthusiasts might want MT but very few enthusiasts are the ones ponying up for a new Porsche. They are the ones buying the car once its 10-12 years old and 70-80K. Then MT is sought after, hard to find (and will be getting harder) and worth paying a premium for.

IMO there are two scenarios Id rather have a PDK than a MT modern day Porsche. In a congested city such as Auckland where the car was being used on a daily basis and on the track. Having spent alot of time in both varieties on road and track thats my opinion. For back road driving or for weekend use I would choose manual. For long distance commuting or living in the city PDK. For the track I would (and do) happily drive either...but I like how manual gives me one extra dimension of controlling the power (the clutch).

Products like the 911T are marketing hype. The car comes in PDK too and most of the cars sold in NZ will be PDK. The USA market is now the only reason manufacturers even make a MT sports car these days - god bless the yanks!

 

Makes absolute sense Macca.

Brand new is a significant investment and less likely to be a weekend car. It would be PDK all the way even with my short commute. However it's the opposite when paying $80k, you can justify that for a weekend drive.