Yes, I bought two TIP Boxsters and the PDK is only better. I lived in a congested city and found an auto much more relaxing when battling through 12 miles in 45 minutes commutes.

it's better. I drove both (loaner cars) and the PDK was much sharper.
In the old PDK, I would have given the aero beetle the edge.

Drove the 2012 Cayman RS on a factory event at Sun Valley. PDK was OK, but I would only buy a stick.

No, I want the manual for the fun engaging driving experience...

Plus it can help stop thieves apparently...
Carjackers foiled when can't work Corvette's stick shift

Nope.
 

If you are physically able to use a clutch, I feel a manual transmission is a requirement.

To really appreciate the PDK, you need to drive one in something developing more brutal HP, like a Turbo car. Launch control is absolutely stunning for something developing that kind of power, and as the shift points come at you very quickly, it makes the car easier to control under WOT situations on any type of road condition.

On the downside, very little is available for servicing one of these gearboxes, other than changing the oils (uses two different types, one for the clutches, the other for the gearbox itself), and even that requires a PIWIS unit to accomplish. No parts or service information is currently available, and even the dealers are stymied at first updating the system software or replacing the gearbox if it acts up in any way. While not an issue while the car is under warranty, the gearbox costs over $18K sitting on the floor in a crate, so out of warranty problems could get very expensive very quickly as well.

You can teach your left foot to brake ;)
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

An out of warranty Porsche with PDK and high mileage will be avoided like a Cadillac Allante...Track guys don't want them, folks with modest budgets can't risk buying them. An already small universe of brave Porsche buyers gets even smaller. Resale prices drop severely due to higher supply than willing demand.

I see a niche business of shops stock piling whole PDK transmissions from wrecked Porsches.
shop:"Need a reubuild? I got a take-off from a 2009 right here for you... I'll sell it to you cheap."
Me: " uhhh what's cheap?"
them: "cheaper than that rebuild!".

That is the entire problem, there is no rebuild; they won't sell you parts, and the process requires more special fixtures and tooling than an engine rebuild. And I don't see that changing, as they are not the only OEM that won't let anyone touch the SMG transmissions..................

Hum that low mileage 2008 with Tip I'm looking at is looking a lot more appealing :)

That's not a problem because, what, 90% of all the new Pcar owners lease their vehicles? What kind of crazy people would buy a Porsche anyway? :matchup:

I rather doubt the validity of that number; far more of my clients own theirs, particularly as retail leases are such a financial losing proposition…….

Only slight problem with your theory is that PDK uptake on the 911 in Europe is up around 90% now. It's a tragedy, but it's true.

I suspect a cottage industry will spring up to make money repairing PDK boxes.

The very few manual cars will probably be worth more in 20 odd years time. But I don't think the PDK cars will be exactly hurt in terms of values.

Anyway, I can't stand PDK. I wouldn't bother with sports car if I had to drive an auto. Would simply slink about in a six-pot W124 Merc and find a different hobby for thrills.

When I bought my car in 2006 I knew it would eventually become a street legal race car (no trailer). In 2009 I got the chance to drive a new 911 s with sport chrono PDK. The PDK does everything I wish I could do, better than I ever will, with dead on consistency. In autocross, fastest time of the day often comes down to hundredths of a second. I wish I had the PDK!

No PDK for me. Just think of all the other mods you could have if you skipped out on that one. Maybe for the dedicated auto-cross crowd, I see a point.

And it seems that that might be the majority of the cars being bought. But like JFP said, its going to be ugly! It might be hard finding a 981S manual in a few years. But ESPECIALLY in a few years we won't have to worry about these young kids stealing it for a joy ride.

Porshe Chick no offense but I don't even allow the chewing of Gum in my car. :cheers:

anyone who can't manage one upshift from 1st to 2nd on their lonseome doesn't deserve a $5 plastic trophy from China! :D

I've not driven one yet, but I bet I will love it and plan to have it on my next Porsche. Makes DEs more fun (less downshifting to think about) -- my opinion -- and makes it a great DD for sitting in traffic.

At first PDK out of warranty cars will follow typical depreciation, nothing out of the ordinary, then as the mileage on these start to climb people will start getting burned on PDK repair bills.

With Porsche forums on every smartphone and tablet, stories of $10-$18K transmission repair bills will accelerate the pricing nose dive.
If you thought the IMS got a lot thread clicks wait until this new fangled PDK experiment approaches its sell by date. These Porsches will become like those once super expensive $120K Merc 600's that can now be had for cheap but no one dares go near them. Repair costs do not scale down with sinking resale and Porsche seem to like building things that are hard to take apart. Aint offering super discounts in their parts depts anytime soon either. Porsche is slowly becoming Merc.

Is there any evidence so far to say that the PDK may be unreliable? I think it has proven fairly reliable thus far, even though it's only been out since around 2009 right?

Time will tell! But I think it looks good and stable, definitely not as bad as the IMS issues.

There have been reports of them failing to shift properly in the automatic mode (shifting up or down for no reason while driving at a constant speed, failing to up or downshift when they should), as well as some that started having difficulties upshifting manually (shifting on their own instead of holding a gear until commanded to shift in the manual or sport modes). In some cases, uploading new software either helped or eliminated the problem, but there were more than a few that got new gearboxes. Because the PDK is used in so many different models, in typical Porsche fashion, no definitive information is available about model distribution or frequency of issues or replacement.

The PDK has been a topic of conversation in the independent repair market for some time as Porsche has made it clear that the only way to get new software updates for the transmission is their dealer network, they will not allow those that license the PIWIS system to do it, and the PIWIS remains the only diagnostic tool capable of reading the transmission related codes, or even do the required oil system changes.