Today, the dealer gave a PDK loaner while my MT was at the shop. After driving the PDK for a few hours I have made a few observations:

• Regular PDK: As designed, car looks for any opportunity to upshift. Not involving to me at all, but perhaps appropriate for stop & go traffic. Can't see myself driving in this mode though.

• PDK Sport: A more natural feeling than driving base or Sport+ mode. Would be my preferred mode if using PDK.

• PDK Sport+: This setting shifts at redline all the time. Not a natural feel for regular driving on the street (i.e., who drives at 60 mph on 2nd gear on the street?). I am sure it works well at the track.

• PDK Sport + and Manual shifting: Works well when accelerating, but when slowing down, car downshifts when it gets to a certain RPM regardless of fact that you may be trying to continue to slow down and come to a stop. Like using the transmission to stop as opposed to the brakes.

• Manual: Found myself driving on Manual Sport + mode most of the time. To me that is the closest to the MT feel as should have been expected.

• Other: This car came with the paddle shifters. The shifters are installed on the steering wheel as opposed to the steering column as I have been used to. To my taste, the paddles on the steering column works better. I much prefer the paddles to the buttons. The buttons feel awkward.

I am a MT guy and given the choice, much prefer the feeling of engagement that the MT gives me. Hopefully, there will always be a MT option on these cars. If not, I probably can live with a PDK on manual sport + mode.

 

Interesting observations: thanks for sharing.

 

I came to the same conclusion when the dealer handed me a PDk S for the weekend. After testing the various options, I found myself using manual sport + as my default all weekend. Everything thing else was rather bland.

 

Picked up my car on Friday, it's PDK. I should have ordered the manual....

I immediately hit the sport button and throw it in manual mode.

Heading to Watkins Glen in 2 weeks, I'll reserve my full conclusion after some track time.

 

I have experienced both PDK on my c4s and manual on my gt3 on the track. At the Ridge yesterday track with the 3 having fun with heel toe practice and brought the c4s early sat (today) to Bellevue P dealer for window switch issue. Fixed under warranty. On the 405 fwy auto PDK. Slowish traffic. Want more economy with DFI engine. Side roads changed to manual and sport. Like PASM better too regardless. Only used sport plus auto when I tracked this car. Observations by Nicoff are spot on. You can switch back and forth on the fly which is convenient IMO.

 

Thank you for the observations and evaluations. I will be receiving some type of loaner from my dealer Monday, which I presume will be a PDK. Now I know what to do with the PDK and all the modes.

 

Nice summary. I had the same feeling when I first drove with paddle shifters on both the column and the wheel (different cars). I came to the conclusion that shifters on the column are better for street driving (where you would typically move your hands to different positions on the steering wheel and it's better to have the paddles in a fixed position so you know where they are all the time). On the other hand, having the shifters on the wheel is better on the track, where you'd typically keep your hands at the same position on the wheel all the time.

 

Im had both a manual and PDK 997 set up . Like yourself i drove the PDK mostly in manual /sport mode . To the 991 car's credit .. the new PDK is greatly improved .

PDK has some tremendous advantages . For starters it will ignore any over rev commands and thus preserves the engine . That alone makes the PDK a priceless option. Not to mention taht holding the paddle will automatically rev match downshifts .

One last thing .. In the Turbo the PDK maintains boost on upshifts making the acceleration efficient and in my opinion it is a must have option on the Turbo and Turbo S .

 

Very good observations and review. I had a 2009 C4S and had very similar experience. Sold it after a year and have bought 3 new 911s with MT since. Never bought another PDK 911.

 

I have PDK and love it after 35 years of manual shift Porsche's. I use Sport+ in the city or on twisty roads/highways. I shift manually bout 99% of the time. On freeways and similar I use Sport so that I can get into 7th if I wish to just "cruise". I prefer by far the paddles to buttons and have them on my BMW 650 and my '04 Turbo Cab with Tip S.

 

My C2S has the PDK and I have been driving it for about 6 months now.

The novelty has worn off a bit and I do find myself longing for a MT in this car. Don't get me wrong - the PDK is really good and if I would be buying another C2S tomorrow, I would specify the PDK again - just a bit less enthusiastically than last time.

Your observations are right on the money. Manual mode in Sport+ is OK so that is all I use if I don't use the automatic shifting.

However, I miss being able to floor the throttle and drop the clutch when it's just right. The PDK makes a half-hearted attempt at this in automatic if you floor it but it's just not the same. Of course launch control does a great job but that is hardly practical for day to day driving...

Rainier

 

When a MT guy drives a new, more advanced MT........

I've always driven manuals. Like since I was 7 years old. The H-shaped shift gate version of the manual transmission is my least favorite though, because it takes the most effort, it's the slowest and it hurts performance the most. I started out with the rapid shifting sequential manual gear box and wet clutch of a Yamaha YZ80. From there I went to a Honda CR125, then a Yamaha 650 special, at the age of 16 and finally on to the H-shaped shift gate relics of the past, initially in a Mustang, and then on to real sports cars. With every new car, I dreamed of having a sequential manual gear box like in the European hill climb cars. With every new bike, I dreamed of having an air shifter for 100 ms near uninterrupted shifts. Then when single clutch SMG's and finally dual clutch transmission came out, I was dying to have one.

If Porsche wanted to, they could have engineered the pdk like a hillclimb car, where it is just pull to up-shift and push to downshift. As a matter of fact, they have included that detail in the GT3. But.... when all of these cool technologies are available and everyone is using them, why be resistant and just leave it with no auto-mode? They would only be shooting themselves in the foot from a sales perspective. They included auto mode, drive and park just to make it familiar to everyone and to make it more palatable from a sales standpoint.

It makes more sense to call the pdk a robotized manual transmission. It's not an automatic. "Automatic" is just a name. But that name came after the introduction of GM's hydramatic, then people shortened it to automatic as a generic term when other manufacturers came out with their own versions. That term was, and still refers to an automatically shifting, clutchless transmission with a torque convertor, which makes for an un-fun sports car driving experience. An automatically shifting dual clutch transmission is not an automatic, just like a CVT is a CVT, not an automatic. The PDK is still a manual. It still provides the thrill of driving like a manual.....actually even more so! The blazing fast shifts can be done anytime and anywhere, even when pulling a 1g corner with both hands on the wheel. You just can't do that in an old school manual.

 

Pulling both paddles simultaneously disengages both clutches. That allows you to do anything you mentioned above, except control the rate of engagement of the clutch. But then again, the computer is going to be better at it than you are.

 

PDK is a robotized manual that has an auto mode. I just prefer having a clutch pedal and controlling the engagement has disengagement of the clutch.

 

Great explanation! It should be a sticky. There's no doubt that the PDK is a manual transmission but with robotic help. To call it an automatic is rather an insult.