I began driving as a die hard manual transmission guy . I walked into PDK and fell in love with it too . I have both .. but what if I had to pick just one.

IF -
You drive in traffic
You have other family members who don't drive stick
You track the car and want an advantage
1/4 drag strip time sheets are important to you .
You want the impossibility of engine over rev
You want the most precise and efficient shift
Get the PDK

PDK is the best all around multi purpose car .

IF -
You want a timeless transmission which would face extinction rather than evolution like the PDK .
What first captured your heart in driving is the simplicity and the basic nature of shifting each gear .
You don't want the choices of modes that you face rejecting.
Get a manual

If I had to pick just one what a tough decision and I bounce back and forth every day with it.

I suppose I dwell on my roots . I dwell on being 18 again and grinding gears and stalling . I dwell on Japanese cars reverse being in a different location than the German cars. I dwell on being in my 20's , 30's , 40's married to the 1 -4 then 5 , then 6 gears in an H pattern . I dwell on growing up .. driving a manual. There is something special in holding on to something cherished from the past fused into the contemporary .

My verdict is in .. it's a tie !!!!!!
That's why i have TWO freaking cars (at least for now) and I guess I will delay and procrastinate my final pick as the number one transmission.

 

Wow, like 6 threads on your new 997.2 - PDK -

 

wow, how lucky to be in your position Larry.

I agree with all that you have said...although my experience is not with PDK (SMG M3 experiences in the past).

The PDK just makes the driver a much faster driver. It's no doubt a feat of technological advancement, and a good move for Porsche.

If I had to choose one...

it would be the manual hands down, and not the automatic that my grandma can drive. Just makes my car that much more exclusive and fun to drive.

Thanks again for all your input, as you are probably one of the few 6speeders that can actually comment on both through real experiences.

 

The tougest part is getting into one car and missing the features of the other .
The other tough part is disliking some apect of both .
Or even worse --liking and disliking the same aspect.

For example -
I dislike normal auto mode for most driving .
I like normal auto mode for some driving .
I like that the manual has nothing like normal auto mode .
I dislike that the manual doesn't have normal auto mode for those times when its useful.

Do you see how one real aspect has multiple truths --some posive , some not , and it tilts the opinion in either direction .

And that's just one aspect .

 

Life is complicated.

 

I bought a 2008 C2S in November instead of a 997.2 C2 just because I wanted a manual car All the 997.2s were equipped with PDK, and did not want to wait and order a car from the factory...

I am a young guy with old traditions as my father calls... I like driving a manual car, I feel the car is in my control more. It is boring to drive an automatic... If you want to feel that you are in a race car, then go for the traditional 6 Speed Even the new GT3 does not have PDK just because Porsche wanted to keep the GT3 a traditional race car (or they want to put it in the next gen GT3 )

I would not give up a manual car, unless I turn 40...

 

Calling it a tie isn't exactly picking one over the other . Having both picks no favorites . The gt3 won't have it .. that's true and its a phenominal car . Yet it does not mean the next Gt3 won't have it .
PDK originated in motorsports so its not un "traditional" it's just new in Porsches street cars .

I also like driving the manual but I might split hairs on whether a car is better controlled with more efficient shifting . It's neither an "automatic" nor a manual.

Most of those who opt for PDK are actually the younger Porsche drivers . It's new , modern, and somewhat like a video game .

Many older drivers tend to cling more to their driving roots . I think of the manual and remember being younger and the 30+ years of cherished driving memories most of which took place with a manual . Those are reasons why an older person mighr cling to a manual . Leaving a manual behind is like leaving ones driving youth behind .

I am not 40 .. BTW . I'm over 50.

 

I am 21, and I prefer manual. For some reason it seems like that is the way a sports car should be, manual. You are right about the video game part, it is not the same driving experience...

I know PDK was developed om motorsports cars, for better and faster performance. But I like using the 3 pedals and shifting...

It's a personal choice in the end Larry, I am trying to save up for the Coilovers BTW. I am going to take your advice

 

Hey Larry, you & I are of the same vintage!

I grew up just like you, automatics were blasphemy!

But I have to admit the PDK is pretty amazing. I miss the manual a little but I think I have made the right choice. The PDK feels connected like a manual trans when you drive it and it is completely without the slop of a typical auto box.. ya just got to love it!

 

Having had a Porsche (actually 15 of them) in my driveway for the past 35 years, I will tell you that my 997.2 C2S, equipped with manual, sport pasm, short shifter, adaptive seats, sport chrono is right up there as the best road car I've ever owned. I just love ripping off shifts that I can control - the PDK is the finest automanual I've driven, but I fear it would bore me after the novelty wears off.

 

I am over 60 and perfer a manual. Maybe I will get the PDK when I am 80.

 

I'm right up there with you guys - sin911 aside, there are not so many younger guys with the finances to buy a 997. (Don't want to start a flame war on that one!) God, if I owned this car when I was 21, I'd be long dead - run into a tree or something trying to drift it!
Larry, I have to say that your posts harken me back to when I first got my SMG E46 M3. I told myself - hell, I told everybody - that manuals were dead and this is the way of the future. Maybe not the best, but manuals were on the way out. I convinced myself that I had the fastest shifting transmission made - as fast as a Ferrari F1 box. I had ultimate flexibility to drink a Coke with the right and hand drive with the left. I didn't need to worry about a clutch in traffic. Great.

But time wore on. Took me over a year to drive it smoothly. Unlike the PDK, it shifted pretty hard even if you ease up on the gas to shift. Auto on the highway was fine, but if you got on the gas it downshifted with a lag and you don't know the gear. As you said, PDK will downshift by holding the paddles, but what is the final gear? Wife and kids were never happy with the shifting. Half of the time, downshifts didn't rev match. Something about the programming with lower RPM. Leave it in auto and it downshifts as you come to a stop - exactly like the PDK. Jerks your head on every shift.

Got tired of trying to justify it. My manual rocks! After a month, I can shift the car like butter, or slam it into the next gear. The engine has great torque so it will pull from low RPMs if I'm in traffic, cutting down on shifting if I'm lazy. I'm lucky that I don't sit in traffic. I'd probably want a PDK. But for now, my 997 manual is the ultimate in driving pleasure!

 

Different folks, different strokes...

 

Funny thing, I too had a M3 SMG. Like Ryem3, at the time i tought it was the greatest thing in world, manuals will be gone. After driving a SMG almost 3 years, i was bored, tired of looking at the gear indicator to see what gear i was in, counting paddle flips, never getting a good predicable start off the line. It seems i was always flipping paddles. In a MT, I can be cruising in 6th, if i need to go to 3rd, one quick movement, I'm there. SMG, in my head, i'm counting 6,5,4,3 paddle flips. After getting past the fast shifts, my driving was just not fun.

When getting my C2S, I test drove the PDK on the track and on the street extensively. On the track it was perfect. On the street, the same lag when starting, counting paddle flips, kicking down to the lowest gear and losing count, always looking to seeing what gear i'm, which mode should i use... too much.

PDK is a great trans, it was certainly tough for me to pick a trans. I guess it depends on your mood at the time you are ordering the car. Since SMG, my next 2 cars were 6MT, PDK almost got me this time. Who knows, maybe next time will be PDK.

 

SMG was just not as good as PDK - SMG/Auto was pretty much horrendous and I rarely used it. I reckon that is why BMW has moved on too.

I drove Manual well into my late 40s - and to me, a BMW, much less a Porsche, with an AT was like having its ***** cut off - not even a real BMW as far as I was concerned. But SMG was intriguing and the techno-geek engineer in me could not resist the curiosity - so I leased one - didn't want to get stuck with it. I loved a lot about it - manual "sport" mode was great. Auto - ugh - for the wife only, and even she preferred the e39 M5 stick - that's how bad SMG auto was.

Its not like I am marrying the car anyway - I'm just dating it. I may go back to a manual next time - who knows - I still have some love for that experience, no doubt.

PDK is something that takes some getting used to - especially for me - I'm having to realize not only that it is not a manual, but it is also not SMG - something completely new and takes a while (I'm starting on month 3 now) to get it all sorted out.

I need to drive an "S" with normal/auto I reckon to see what the problem is - but in the base car, normal/auto is just fine. Driving around town, there's just not a scenario where it is not plenty ready to go...quickly. For manual mode though, I am tending to prefer the throttle response and shift timing of Sport or Sport+...for now...