Anybody been tracking the Manual vs. PDK in Panorama??

[Bobiam]

Any automatic is fine if you NEED to have it. And for my daily driver Forester I'll take the automatic just to cut the labor of driving cities, etc. But this is a roadster. Not shifting it manually would be like hiring a chauffeur and not having to steer it either.

The Panorama article was right on posting the quotes that it did.

[thstone]

I'm squarely in the manual camp. Its irrelevant to me if an auto can shift faster, I want to be completely involved in the driving experience and an automatic simply cannot meet that objective.

By the way, the Panorama articles made a few references to women being drawn more to automatics and I am glad to say that my wife not only insists, but demands a manual transmision in every car that she drives. Yeah, and she's pretty too!

[sasha055]

Originally Posted by thstone

I'm squarely in the manual camp. Its irrelevant to me if an auto can shift faster, I want to be completely involved in the driving experience and an automatic simply cannot meet that objective.

By the way, the Panorama articles made a few references to women being drawn more to automatics and I am glad to say that my wife not only insists, but demands a manual transmision in every car that she drives. Yeah, and she's pretty too!

You know what they say.. never brag about your wife.. women will get jealous and men will want to check it out

But I totally agree. Some cars have to be manual..

[blue2000s]

I've driven my friend's PDK C4S. It's a great transmission. Tooling around, you can't
Even feel the shifts. Put the pedal down and it shifts fast. But it's still an automatic and I think it ruins the car as a toy. If I were to buy a car that I intended to run on the track compeditively, PDK would be perfect. But even for a "fun" track day, I still prefer the manual.

[Lil bastard]

Last spring, I had the chance to drive identical pairs of Boxsters and 997s back-to-back at the Porsche Sport Driving School at Barber. One was manual, the other PDK.

As mentioned, the PDK is a technological marvel and both a step up and great replacement for the Tiptronic S.

But, it was not only less satisfying than the manual, it was also marginally annoying.

Granted, the adaptive memory hadn't adapted to my driving, but it shifted at what seemed to me to be the wrong times. In one turn, it slightly upset the car.

To me, this only proves that this budding technology still has a way to go. Most likely a refinement of the software and shifting maps.

I can see the day when a clutchless manual has it all over a pure manual. But, I'm not sure that day has yet arrived. If I were buying a new Porsche product today, it would not be w/ PDK. 10 years from now...??

Cheers!

[Perfectlap]

I would much rather see Porsche and other sports car builders develop an extremely smooth, accurate and reliable manual. One made of ultra light metals, carbon fiber, etc. one that can last indefinitely, and one with the precision of well-oiled precise bolt action rifle needing minimal upkeep.

The empahiss shoul be on minimalism and precision. This apply to the rest of the car as well. This will be a better driving experience imho 9 times out of 10. The 10th being the guys who actually race these things, a sliver of a sliver.