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.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Goin2drt]

PDK all day long. It is probably one of if not the best trans out right now for any vehicle. It is quicker, better, faster than manual. When you want a little manual fun you can with the paddles and minus the third pedal it is just as fun.

[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.

[1st amg]

PDK, there is no way you can replicate the shifts in manual....I have been a manual guy my whole life, but these new generation sports cars with these boxes do everything like double clutch in a perfect executed manner every single time.

[Investr]

Lots of good points here. Just to reiterate, this is not going to be my daily driver. This car is an after work/weekend fun car. Also, Where I will be driving this car has very little traffic. I'm leaning very heavily to the manual transmission as I always have been.

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Investr

Lots of good points here. Just to reiterate, this is not going to be my daily driver. This car is an after work/weekend fun car. Also, Where I will be driving this car has very little traffic. I'm leaning very heavily to the manual transmission as I always have been.

If this is the case then go manual. There's no need for PDK since you're not going to be driving it in traffic.

[texex91]

Originally Posted by Investr

Lots of good points here. Just to reiterate, this is not going to be my daily driver. This car is an after work/weekend fun car. Also, Where I will be driving this car has very little traffic. I'm leaning very heavily to the manual transmission as I always have been.

It's simple if you like manual driving then no brainer.

Even if weekender, I get more pleasure out of shifting with paddles at 8k-9K RPM in my GT3RS than I would driving manual.

YMMV.

[Dyim]

Definitely consider manual if weekender.

The satisfaction of doing a perfect rev matched heel toe downshift is phenomenal.

981 clutch is not heavy. Haven't tried 718. Don't expect a big change.

[G8RDPM]

Had a manual 997s. It was more engaging to drive than my 997 Turbo Tip. Turbo was way better in every other way.

I think you should get a 3rd pedal while you still can.
I don't think this will be up for discussion in a few years.

Please understand that this is from a guy who drove cars with three on a tree!