PART II- Porsche guys and car guys give me your opinion.....PDK or manual?

[Investr]

THANKS again for all the comments about the color choice. The winner is Black and it was always my first choice. Now, there is one more thing I'm torn over and that's the transmission. First off, buying an S model is out of the question bc of what I'm looking to spend on this "fun car". Twice before Ive had a fun car to go along with a DD. I had a Nissan 370Z Roadster (auto trans) and a 2008 911 Carrera S (manual trans). They were both fun but with the 370 being a convertible and the 911 was not. Driving the 370 got a little old but the 911 never did. This would seem to be an easy call then to go with the manual trans, but both of the sales guys Ive talked with at Porsche strongly recommend the PDK mainly because its quicker than the manual. I'd love to hear any comments about what you guys think. Thanks again in advance!!

[rle737ng]

I've got PDK on my Boxster. I love it. It has the Sport mode if you want to change the shift points and throttle response. You can also shift manually if you want. Unless you're going to track the car, get PDK.

[skiahh]

Originally Posted by rle737ng

I've got PDK on my Boxster. I love it. It has the Sport mode if you want to change the shift points and throttle response. You can also shift manually if you want. Unless you're going to track the car, get PDK.

This. Except if you ARE going to track the car, PDK is the way to go; it's simply faster than any human could ever be and if you disagree with the gear, you always have the final say.

I went with PDK on mine and, while I like shifting, I have no regrets about getting this amazing gear box. Technically, it's an automatic manual, rather than an "automatic", with 2 separate gear boxes. One for the odd gears, one for the even, so it can shift as close to instantaneously as possible. And in any traffic, you'll obviously enjoy it over a stick.

Of course, the Porsche engineers know how to program it to shift optimally, based on the mode you're in. In normal mode, you may find yourself hitting the shift paddle a now and then. In sport, rarely and sport+ never, I suspect.

On the other hand, if you want the full "immersive" driving experience, the manual is the obvious choice. In this respect, I enjoy focusing on the scenery along the way, not just handling the car and managing optimal engine spped, so PDK was, again, the choice for me.

[Wingman244]

I had a PDK, but I used my Porsche as a daily driver. Have you driven a manual Porsche? I was surprised at how very heavy a Porsche clutch is. That was my tipping point. I was leaning to the manual, test drove it and hated how heavy the clutch was - a no go for stop and go traffic. If it was a "fun" car I would be hard pressed to pass on the manual. I hate salesmen who say a PDK is faster... Of course it is. Seriously - an old automatic is going to be faster than most normal people can drive a manual. If speed is the issue, 99% of us would be better with the old Triptonic.

[Investr]

To add- I'd drive both and easily decide but none of the dealerships have ordered a regular Boxster in manual trans so that's why this is tricky

[Cru Jones]

PDK if track car, manual otherwise.

[gnuyork]

Manual in my opinion. All day every day. I could care less about the 10ths of a second faster shifting. I like to do it myself (with a clutch pedal).

[droptopman]

Manual, especially if not a daily.

[swils8610]

Manual for me. Unless your racing the car you will never see the diff in PDK vs manual.


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[MonBK]

Open the door and count the pedals on the floor.

Now look down and count your feet.

Why would you want to have more pedals then feet?

[swils8610]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Open the door and count the pedals on the floor.

Now look down and count your feet.

Why would you want to have more pedals then feet?

Well said Mon!


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[Hollister]

Originally Posted by swils8610

Well said Mon!

Er, when you drive an auto, you only use one foot, but there's one pedal too many. So another meaningless post, best ignored.

I agree that the PDK is an amazing piece of engineering, but when it comes to driver involvement it's a step backwards, IMO.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by Hollister

Er, when you drive an auto, you only use one foot, but there's one pedal too many. So another meaningless post, best ignored.

I agree that the PDK is an amazing piece of engineering, but when it comes to driver involvement it's a step backwards, IMO.

In that case amputate one foot and save on shoe costs at the same time.

[Hollister]

Originally Posted by MonBK

In that case amputate one foot and save on shoe costs at the same time.

You put a troll post in the Cayman thread, and here you go again.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Open the door and count the pedals on the floor.

Now look down and count your feet.

Why would you want to have more pedals then feet?

You have a way with words

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Open the door and count the pedals on the floor.

Now look down and count your feet.

Why would you want to have more pedals then feet?

does this logic apply to number of wrists and number of watches?


OP,

with a 911, be a driver, not a motorist -- 3 pedal 911 is a bucket list item for many.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

does this logic apply to number of wrists and number of watches?

.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by MonBK

We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[KDS777]

PDK if it's a track car and money is no object. Now, or later..........

Been down this road with the tiptronic before.

Otherwise.........we all know what a clutch costs to replace...........what does it cost to replace a PDK unit once you are out of warranty ?

4 or 5 times as much is my uneducated off the cuff guess.

[Wine&watches]

I get bored easily manual for me!

[codecow]

I sold my PDK for a manual. If it's just for fun, manual is the way to go.

[Hollister]

Manual for road use, PDK for the track.

The 911 has a heavy clutch, but not the Cayman/Boxster.

[lig]

Originally Posted by Hollister

Manual for road use, PDK for the track.

The 911 has a heavy clutch, but not the Cayman/Boxster.

This. As previously stated before -the extra few tenths of a second aren't important if the mission of the car is to purely deliver pleasure.

If it is your daily and you have terrible traffic then a PDK makes sense.

[Wingman244]

Originally Posted by Hollister

The 911 has a heavy clutch, but not the Cayman/Boxster.

Really? Not when I was purchasing. 2009 Cayman had a really heavy clutch. Did they fix that in the new version? I got the 2009 - first year they put in a PDK for the Cayman, I really liked it, but on days when the traffic was clear, still missed a manual, on days (most) with traffic, did not miss the manual at all.

To be honest, I will never drive a car that small again for a daily. I swear, half the drivers out there today are not even paying attention, literally I see people coming at me in the opposite direction head down in their phone every day. I am constantly amazed there are not more accidents. I drive a Chevy Avalanche now. At least I am not constantly checking my "6" to see if the bozo behind me is going to stop.

[Hollister]

Originally Posted by Wingman244

Really? Not when I was purchasing. 2009 Cayman had a really heavy clutch. Did they fix that in the new version?

I drive a 2016 981. Compared with the 997 I had before, the clutch is a doddle.

[s14roller]

I drove manual almost all my life and thought I was a lifer, however, the PDK trans is a work of art...I'd go PDK no question. The manual on the GT4 was pretty fun, but if they made it in PDK, I'd probably still pick PDK.

[nick c]

Manual for the win!!

[Headshrinker]

I love the PDK; it's the best of both worlds.

[texex91]

PDK all day everyday.

Cannot shift faster than PDK, prefer it on track and in city three peddle is a pain IMHO.

Keep life easy.

[locutus49]

It is all about your traffic. I drove mine daily to work in lots of start and stop intersections and heavy traffic, so manual did not work for me.