I've had 2-3 Porsche dealers tell me that 80-90% of the cars they sell are auto.

Don't know how true this is, but I know looking through inventory there are fewer manuals.

 

This experience is why pdk doesn't belong in a GT3 and wont be coming to it any time in the next couple of generations.

 

Great thread and great posts; all of them. What's most important, IMO, is not to confuse 'preferring a MT' with 'driving a sports car' as one is independant of the other. I'm lucky enough to still have a 98 chipped Viper GTS as well as a modded 997 C2S Tip, both with track experience. I honestly can't say that one is more fun than the other - they both are. Also, I really can't say that there is more 'driver involvement' with the Viper even though it's a hell of a lot more work; I suspect that this is because I consider a driver's skills and actions to be 95% mental.

Nothing argumentative here, just as people debate 2WD vs. AWD or coupes vs. cabs. or NA vs. turbo. The best performing sportscars the past few years are automatics, regardless of the terminology we use, but that's also why I love it when the Flying Lizards' GT3RSR - with a sequential shifter - beats the Risi F430 in the ALMS races.

 

Great post indeed. I have an 06 C2S pretty heavily modded and love the short-shift manual experience. I always wondered about how connected I would feel with PDK and think I should just hold onto what I have for now. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

Good thing is that you got what makes you happy because that's what you work and pay for. Even if it costs a little extra in the end it's better than living with what makes you unhappy. PDK is not an ordinary automatic transmission, and why it leaves some people wanting I think is more complex than meets the eye. PDK, in combination w/ the S 385HP engine, is one of the finest powertrain combinations Porsche has ever offered. It's better at what it does that most drivers and this, paradoxically, can render the experience sterile unless the speeds involved result in jail time. In manual mode you have to pay just as much attention to up and down shifts as you do in a manual, just w/o the clutch. But the clutch is the key isn't it? That's where the perfection of the PDK and the not so perfect human being part company. PDK is faster and performs better, but ironically, after decades of chasing performance, it seems that's not the whole story. It was easy to dismiss the torque converter automatic because it couldn't perform up to the standards of a manual, but if PDK doesn't thrill, we've got to go looking for another explanation. Just something to think about.

 

Some of us have applied the same principle to the significant other in our life.

 

Good for you going for what will make you happy. There's nothing worse than not being satisfied with an expensive purchase...better to lose a little to gain alot.

If it makes you feel any better....I have a friend that went from a Boxster to a 997 cab., to a 997S, to a 997TT, and back to a 997S (all in the '08 model year) in an effort to find a car that he IS happy with rather than one he THINKS he'll be happy with.

I could never lose the manual in my Porsche for a PDK. I find myself looking at all the new cars at the dealer when I'm there...from the outside admiring, then looking inside to see what tranny it comes with...always being disapointed and immediately losing interest in the car if it has PDK. This transmission will devide, right down the middle, the pool of available buyers for used cars....

J

 

That's absolutely correct and therein lies the rub.

 

We are all different and have different needs and preferences. A shame this costs you so much money. Hope you will be happy with the car you got now.

This must be the worst crap I have read for ages. I would never have bought a Porsche (which are quite expensive where I live) if I wasnīt convinced by the handling and the technical progress, and if I didnīt intend to take it to the tracks. You dont see the potensial of these cars other than on the tracks. I love the PDK as it is wonderfully fast and lets me steal some tenths of a second here and there and I dont feel it takes away the whole raw driving experience. On the contrary....
I would never dream of buying a tiptronic to go to the tracks, then the manual is of course much better. But to categorize all people with the PDK as not real Porsche enthusiasts or as people who dont like to go to the tracks or like to drive their cars agressively or similar is like saying that all islam people are dangerous. It makes no sense.

Good points tejoe!

 

Very interesting thread. Congrats on both a level of self-awareness and courage coming together to help you achieve happiness. Yes, it's a bummer that it cost you some money, but if conserving money was our greatest goal, we wouldn't own these cars to begin with.
As an aside, and not intending to comment on your decision, I increasingly wonder about the controversy re the PDK. Mostly in the context of the Ferrari's that have received huge acclaim for the F1 transmission. That seems to be the preferred model rather than the 6-speed, for reasons of performance rather than simplicity. Is it the GP relationship? Is it the paddles? Is it the sound of those cars? Is it simply that F-cars appeal to a different demographic than P-cars? Again, it's just curious.
I will say that when I did have a chance to drive an F430, I thought the F1 transmission was incredibly great. And I'm quite a purest. I always thought that shifting for myself was the only way to go. I've not driven a PDK, and don't plan to trade my 6-speed for years, but after the Ferrari, I always assumed that my next Porsche would be a dual-clutch. Interesting.

 

I'll get a PDK someday, but only if Porsche gets the shifters to be right. In that, I mean more like a masserati granturismo (or whatever it is called...huge paddles....better than Ferrari IMHO).

Jeff

 

I'm sorry, let me rephrase:
"I figure the PDK is for people that want a Porsche, but not drive it like one.
The PDK opens up the door for buyers with a different profile "

to

"I figure the PDK is for SOME people that want a Porsche, but not drive it like one. The PDK does open up the door for buyers with a different profile in addition to those Porsche already targets."

For those that don't live in or know Southern Cali, the OC, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, we do have alot of Porsches out here driven by "non-enthusiasts", ie. super rich Botox laden housewives.

Happy now? I don't understand why people get all shook up in their fannies. Not trying to generalize, but please don't take offense just because I'm forming an opinion. It's just that...an opinion. No right or wrong.

 

Forget about what it cost, that is now in the past. Just enjoy the feeling of dropping it into second just before a corner, getting your hand back on the wheel and pushing the limits of your traction control as you round the bend. Just glad you are doing what feels right for you.

Personally, I can't imagine driving a sports car that doesn't have a stick. I enjoy the connection it gives me with the car.

Having said that, there is nothing wrong with driving with a pseudo-automatic if that is what works for you.

 

Since you did not mention the clutch... you can "enjoy the feeling of dropping it into second just before a corner, getting your hand back on the wheel [from shifting with the console lever] and pushing the limits of your traction control as you round the bend" with a PDK-equipped car. You just do it clutch-less. Besides as tejoe said it's mostly mental.

 

Very well stated. This and other similar threads' problem is that people want at all costs to state personal/subjective choices as absolutes and do it in a way that they make their choices winners and their dislikes losers. That position is wrong because it's all about choice. I like potatos, you like potatoes.

Worse still, is that those deriding PDK have a hard time really accepting its proven technical/performance superiority. They forget that facts are stubborn things... in any case, it doesn't matter... choice is good - choose well!