[JoeFromPA]

A few thoughts:

1. More gears does not equal more likely to break. If you think otherwise, I guess we see alot more porsche gearbox problems since the 6-speed came out in the 911? Wait, we see less? How could that be?

2. Advancements in engine output go far beyond maximum output. Porsche makes engines with broader torque curves now than ever before - overall, a driver will experience more power at far more times than ever before. Look at in-gear acceleration times for good examples

3. Some amount of people, especially Porsche and BMW owners, will always want to go back to a "more visceral" experience. The air-cooled vs. the water-cooled crowd. The manual tranmission vs. PDK/DSG/etc. crowd. The e30 m3 against ANY CAR EVER MADE crowd. Etc.

There's nothing wrong with that. I fall into the middle myself. That being said, i rarely see the "visceral" crowd putting 10-20k miles a year on their "visceral" car of choice.

As each generation of cars come, they often exchange some visceral for some comfort. But, using the boxster or 911 as an example, usually it comes with a substantial increase in performance potential for a small decrease in subjective feel.

I haven't driven the 987 yet, but I look forward to it. However, one last note for those who will test drive one... remember not to confuse "feel" for "my 99 has a worn out motor mounts, cracked suspension bushings, and rock hard worn down summer tires, and I FEEL alot more of the road than this 987".