I am in the process of shopping for a 2009 911 C4S with PDK. Is the multi-function steering for the PDK and voice control necessary/useful options? My current car is 2006 Mercedes E55 and have gotten used to those options. For those who have these options, are they useful at all? If they only have limited function then I can save some money and not getting them. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

John

 

The only thing I have found useful on the multi-function wheel is the mute function on the volume wheel. If you use the phone integration regularly then the button to bring up recently dialled numbers is kinda useful but limited by the clumsy phone integration itself. My ccar though is a 2008 so maybe that's better in the 2009 cars.

Like you I came to my 911 from a late model Benz. In my case a C-class but the multi-function on the wheel was pretty much the same. The difference is that while some of the things you use the buttons on the Benz for are things that either cannot be accessed elsewhere, or if they can it's harder to do so, whereas on the Porsche system virtually everything is really duplication of what can be done with one button on the console.

Can't comment on voice control sorry.

 

I would agree with Agie57. I had the multifunction wheel on my 997 and the main use was the volume wheel both for the stereo and the integrated telephone. I answered the phone many times from the wheel however the 997 had a separate sim card whereas the new 997.2 has the bluetooth so you dont need a separate sim card to have hands free. I ordered it on my new 997.2 as it was safer to make those adjustments with my thumbs from the wheel than take my eyes of the road to find it on the PCM

 

I have the multifunction steering wheel on my 2009 Carrera and find it very useful. You can use it to make several adjustments on the PCM and control your Ipod through the universal audio interface. If you are looking for points of interest or businesses on the navigation, the selection and start of the guidance can be controlled entirely by the steering wheel controls.

I have voice control on my other two vehicles and never use it. When we placed our order for the Carrera, we left it off the option list for that reason.

 

As I've got a 6spd, no multi-function steering wheel was available, so I cannot comment on it. I know I don't miss not having the multifunction wheel - its easy enough to reach the PCM buttons for what I need.

I do have the voice control - its operated by a button on the end of the OBC stalk. Press it, the voice control beeps and then I can tell it to change source, select a specific station, or make a phonebook phonecall. I like not having to take my hand off of the wheel to fiddle with radio stations. If its worth the expense, I cannot say, but I've found it has some limited use.

 

Thank you all for your inputs. I couldn't locate an exact car so I decided to order one. Here is the spec

2009 911 C4S
Guard Red
Black full leather
Self-dimming mirrors
Park-assist
Dynamic cornering lights
Sport Chrono Package Plus
7-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
PASM Sports Suspension
Wheel Caps with Colored Crest
19" Carrera S II wheel(standard wheel)
Wheel Caps with Colored Crest
Heated Steering Wheel
Heated Front Seats
Adaptive Sports Seats with Driver Memory
3-Spoke PDK Multifunction Steering Wheel in Smooth Leather
Storage Compartment Lid with Model Logo
Porsche Crest in Headrests
PCM Voice Control
XM Radio
BOSE High End Sound Package
Bluetooth Interface for Mobile Phone
Navigation Module for PCM
Floor Mats

It is set to build by end of month and hopefully to deliver by June. I was able to get a 8% discount off MSRP and felt good about it. I test drove a similiar car last Saturday and I was thoroughly impressed with the car, especially in Sport-Plus setting and the PDK. I was afraid the 997 wouldn't have enough "KICK" compare to my current 2006 E55 and the 997 didn't disappoint. I am looking forward to my first Porsche and being a regular contributing member here.

John

 

I have an '09 with both multifunction wheel and voice control. And they are completely redundant. I have never once used the voice control after fiddling with it on delivery day. It's much easier to use the multifunction controls which are immediately at hand rather than pushing the voice control stalk, waiting for the prompt, then repeating yourself once or twice until it gets the function right. Seriously, I would never get both again. I guess if I couldn't get a multifunction wheel I'd consider the voice control, but as far as I'm concerned I wasted 500 someodd dollars that I could have spent on nice fluorescent green stitching on the door. Which would have been more use than the voice control.....

 

Thanks you just confirmed my choice. I ordered my 997.2 and really questioned the voice control. I'm glad I left it off my list and ordered the multifunction wheel.
Welcome to the Board . I just really started posting a little while ago and its an amazing source of info and a lot of nice people

 

Thank you for the info. Regarding the multifunction steering wheel, can you scroll through the phonebook in the center dash display? For the voice control, can you program names/numbers for voice dialing? Thanks again.

John

 

John - nice spec on the order. Quite a list!

I'm wondering if the 09 multifunction is the same as the 08. It looks the same?

Reason is on the 08 to get to the phonebook using the multifiunction you need to select the telephone screen (using the "pages" button), scroll down to the phonebook, select that, scroll to the name, select that name, scroll to dial, select that....

way to complex. Easier to press tel on the PCM and use the right hand rotary dial for the rest. I hope the 09's are better!!