I used to drive Honda Civic MT when I was in college... but now, 20 years later, I never driven one since then...

People think Auto (well, PDK) on 911 is ridiculous, and I too think stick could be more fun (and looks more sophisticated too... oh well...)... but as I forgot how to use stick shift, so I am worried if it is safe to order MT?

I remember I did not enjoy driving stick shift 20 years ago... Well, it was an under-powered Civic and I lived in a hilly place and always concerned about going backward after stop and go, etc...

Should I re-learn how to drive stick shift or order PDK? I don't think I can even rent a stick car in NJ.... I checked Hertz, Budget, and nobody offers them...

Help~~~~

 

You'll be fine. You could even ask the dealer to show you a bit. It'll take 30 minutes in order to drive safely, and you'll learn naturally as time goes on.

 

It's like riding a bike. You really never forget. Just get in or rent a "trasher" vehicle with a stick and try it out.

 

What frank said..........

 

never forget, porsche is forgiving esp if not GT series... clutch is easy and tq means no gas needed to get it going.

 

First, I am a MT guy and have been all of my life. If you didn't enjoy driving one 20 yrs ago, changes are you won't like it now. Sure, it should not take much time to get back to driving an MT car but why? Order the PDK, get the steering wheel with the paddle shifters. Have fun, don't be worried about driving a car you may not enjoy. The 991 is not a throw-away car like your old civic. Once you invest $100+K in one you will want to enjoy the driving experience.

Don't get an MT car because "it looks sophisticated".

 

MT in Porsches nowadays has 'hill assist', so that you don't roll backwards before starting to move forward.

I don't enjoy MT in heavy stop/go traffic, but I strongly prefer it in all other situations (including the track) in a sports car.

 

This is my second (of 15) Porsches with PDK. We live in an urban setting and I like it. And with the induction sound being piped in, the up and downshift sounds are amazing- something you will wish you could replicate with the MT. But if I lived in CT where I grew up, I probably would still have a MT (first of all, it's less expensive). I don't think you will need much retraining, like Frank said "it's like riding a bike".

Go for it!

Chuck

 

I agree. Porsche's manuals are really easy to drive.

 

Given the difficulty of renting a manual from the big rental car companies, you might want to try another strategy.

If you want to re-learn on something other than your new P Car, why not just buy a cheap manual Civic, Miata or similar from craigslist. Drive that for a week and you'll be confident driving your P Car off the lot. You can then sell the cheap car again and it won't have cost you very much.

You may even be able to rent/"borrow" a manual car from someone for a few days if you don't want to buy the cheap manual car outright.

 

+1 very good advice! I have PDK and love it! Very fun to drive with all the choices: manual, sport, and sport plus which is wicked fast!

 

Thanks everyone for the advice, 'hill assist' is very cool!!

 

Hill assist is kinda cool, i agree. though I find myself giving a lot more gas than i normally would to get the car moving, and on hills that I would probably not roll back on anyways

 

I find myself doing the same. I have to actually be more cautious to not give too much gas than if there was no hill assist. But overall I do like it.

 

Porsche calls this function "Drive-Off Assistant". It works well. Many MT vehicles today have a similar system so no more roll-back when on a steep uphill gradient. As far as relearning to drive MT, as others said, it is like riding a bike: it will come right back to you.