Would you have gotten PDK if they offered it on the 986?
 

Obviously all pre-PDK cars are almost unanimously better with the manual transmission, as that affords much better interaction with the car and it's faster.

As 2009+ 987's come with PDK, that certainly changes a bit - even though nothing can replace the physical interaction of a manual.

So the question remains: Would you consider a PDK if you're a manual enthusiast, or is it still an automatic to you?

When I'm in my Boxster, and nailing it to 6500 RPM, and shifting, it's such an adrenaline rush as that engine screams behind you. I wonder if one loses some of that raw visceral feeling with the PDK instead of shifting the manual.

Thoughts? Not to stir up a manual vs PDK debate that I know often rages on the forums, but this is more of a personal preference queue to see what people feel.

I was watching a 2013 PDK go thru its shifts at an Autocross and its incredibly fast and smooth so I think you would not miss the manual all that much when your head gets pinned back to the headrest on a performance launch.

However, apparently the 2013 does not feel/handle as well as a 986 so you are giving something up.

Traditional Stick Shifting is just plain fun and part of the experience for some folks, so of course it depends on your personal preferences.

I like stirring the stick and pedals myself except when blasting the music.

I'm finding it hard to shift smoothly when I can't hear the engine.

Not a chance...
 

Just my personal opinion, but no way. There's a certain finesse involved in driving a manual transmission properly that even a PDK couldn't hope to emulate. It provides a higher level of connection with your car.
Obviously there are vehicle owners who, for health or other reasons choose the Tip. Each to their own.
Doesn't matter to me how amazing the PDK operates. For me, if it doesn't have 3 pedals, it's an automatic.

not for me

Me either. Love the six speed.

I drive a friends PDK (both Cayman R and 981 'S') and have pushed them extremely hard on mountain twisties and the PDK in Sport or Sport+ is amazing. It like having a very experienced track rat shifting for you.

I love my 6 speed 2000 'S' though and I'm not sure I could ever see it with a PDK. PDK is amazing for hard driving but for that general driving it is so nice to know I can decide when i want to shift down and when I want to drop into a high gear to coast and save gas. Think I'll stick with a manual in my 2000 'S'...but for daily driving/commuting I'll take PDK though mainly for physical reasons.

I find automatics confusing...my left foot has nothing to do & becomes restless...:dance:

No. I have driven a Cayman R and a 997 both on the street and at an autocross with the PDK and I did not care for it. Give me a manual anyday.

Yes. Although I haven't drivenn a PDK, from all I've read it behaves like an F1 paddle shifter or a sequential shift race car tranny.

Three pedals is the way to be !

But you can use a stick with the PDK. Or the flappy paddles on the steering wheels. You have the option of manually shifting, just slip it into manual mode. You use the same shifter, push it forward to shift up, pull back to downshift. Or mess around with those goofy paddles. Your left foot will have nothing to do, though.

And when you're tired of all that, or have a hankering to eat a burger while driving, slip it back into drive. It will adapt on the fly to however you're driving today. Drive sporty and it will rev up to 6000 before shifting. Drive calm, and it shifts at 3000. Driving in seventh gear and suddenly need to floor it? Go ahead, it will shift down to fifth for you and take off.

I have a 2009 with the PDK. I also drove a manual Celica for 6 years. The PDK shifts faster and smoother than I (and most others) can. I have autoX'ed it and it was awesome.

If it keeps working this well for the next few years, then it's genius.

Having driven a few BMW with the steptronic transmission I think I could accept a PDK transmission, but no way would it be as interactive. One of the reasons I drove motorcycles and this car is because it is just so darn fun to manually select the gears and rev it up trough the powerband when you want to. Even if you sometimes ... muck it up. :)

Same here, PDK is amazing :cheers:

Nope. There is something visceral about a drop top car and a 5 speed stick.

I have driven a Boxster Spyder with the PDK at a Porsche Sport Drive event last summer and it was impressive, but I have always preferred to shift gears myself (using a clutch pedal, not paddles). I like the interaction when I drive harder, and I don't even think about it in everyday driving or traffic.

downshifts in PDK are awesome and the lag from earlier versions is gone. But a manual is still more engaging. It's too bad the sports car companies are forcing it on their customers by slowly taking it from optional to mandatory. I think this is largely to charge more for the cars and to make sure folks stay in warrantied cars.
There are two things I will avoid from Porsche out of warranty, Turbos and those flappy paddles.

Nope. I've driven a PDK and it's not for me.

Manual , keeps the wife from wanting to drive it.

I have 2 porsches with tiptronic so the wife can enjoy them also and one 6 speed that i what I favor to drive. I have to admit that I have gotten used to manually shifting the tiptronic going in and out of the mountain road turns and still get a lot of enjoyment from it, but after 55 years of manual shifting, it is just what feels right. In my opinion after trying one, a PDK is just another better automatic. I would buy one for the wife but not for me.

I have not driven a Porsche with PDK. However, if it is anything similar to the Volkswagen DSG/Audi S-tronic double-clutch gearboxes, then it would have been highly considered.

I used to own a 2007 Volkswagen GTI with DSG, and I loved driving it. The shifts were crisp, quick, and still kept me engaged. Thetransmission services every 40k miles weren't a huge drawback. Sometimes I felt I should have went with the manual, but no regrets.

That said, if PDK was optional during the 986 run, I may have searched for one. I still enjoy my manual, though. :D