I drove a PDK C2S and after the first 5 minutes of saying that this is just a sharp automatic transmission, I (well, actually it) started to rip off 7K RPM shifts with precision that I could never do on my own. So after 15 minutes, I can now say I "get it", i.e., what you PDK guys are so excited about. I still wonder if after a few days of these perfect shifts, I'd be back to being bored, but ...

and to change the subject, if I see one more movie where the Porsche driver is a ***** (if that is censored, let's try jerk-off)...the latest one is "It's Complicated". Lots of shots of a 997.2 cab driven by Alec Baldwin who is an immature, adulterous, a$$hole lawyer. What the heck is wrong with you guys that you have such a bad image?

 

Well, I've been called a "*****" (jerk off) my whole life so I can't help you there. I think I'm a nice guy personally, but I won't be taken advantage of. I know what I want and how to get things done and I'm not afraid to ruffle some feathers of those who don't.

 

hell yeah!

 

I think it was Jeremy Clarkson who once said the difference between a porcupine and a BMW was that the porcupine has its ****** on the outside. This perception probably tranfers to all german cars.

 

1) First the pdk -- I am not bored yet . I still do enjoy having three other cars which are manual though but having the PDK offers interesting diversity . I still drive it like a manual most of the time as I prefer shifting my gears . If I was racing on a track I probably woild use sport plus auto mode though and overrride when needed . It would avoid hitting the rev limiter which I have only hit once in manual mode . The car will not over rev . Instead it completely cuts the fuel until you shift into the next gear OR if the foot is floored it will shift for you . That feature alone where over rev is impossible makes PDK extremely impressive. .

2) Hollywood Image -- I don't actually think the hollywood producers and script writers believe that Porsche owners are rude and arrogant . I think they try to guess what middle America thinks when they select items used in movies . The car is merely a prop used to fill their fantasy and most people either can't afford a Porsche so it adds a nice accessory to a character .

I think in general a sports car is perceived as impractical and selfish . The logic is that if one has a family sedan he is more flexible and emotionally giving . A sports car is considered more playful and less serious . Of course all these prejudices are grounded in ignorance and there's also some jealousy . They can't critize the car itself because it has proven itself in its category so the attention is deflected onto the owner .

 

I think it is much more in that - in all recent liberal stereotype getting imprinted into brains of mass population that it is a shame to be successful and work hard for success. Youths are fed by MTV programs where 20 year olds spend time trading t-shirts and copulating, mass culture also shifted heck knows where. I am not an old person myself but I was raised on perception that any person HAS TO WORK. But now..

Hollywood caters to masses and masses mostly dislike all those who are above them in any aspect. Then we get movies about prominent NYC lawyers giving up and moving to north dakota, about doctors who gave up CA practice and settle down in the middle of nowhere sh#thole, etc, etc.

Or take all that recent rant about CEO bonuses. Just become a CEO you damn lemmings and then decide who earned what. But, as we migrate not even into Russians` version of socialism but into something even more ridiculous, all that looses any sense and logical objectivity.

 

About image: Damn yrralis, very nicely said. Feeling eloquent today are we? lol Yeah, what he said...

And ditto to utkinpol's post as well.

Some image problems are self caused. I am sooo non-prickish in my driving, however I do love rally style, four-wheel drifting, roostertails-off-the-front-wheels snow driving. And my neighborhood always has snow on the streets this time of year. Hey, it is not my fault you walk your dog on the streets...

Got a dirty look off that situation today lol. How can it be so wrong if it feels so good???

Regarding PDK, especially if you have Sport Chrono, and choices of shift/throttle maps, and manual via shift stick or wheel buttons, no reason to be bored if you feel like involving yourself. But of course bored is respective to the individual and the situation.

I love hearing the thing crack off perfect throttle blipped downshifts and sharp upshifts. And as a certified gearhead, it is rewarding to me to always be reminded of the engineering that went into making it.

It has never done me wrong, or left me wanting for the shifts to be handled in any fashion than it always seems to do. And if you do take it on a track, it really is amazing how it goes about its business and NEVER EVER upsets the car while doing so. A constant smooth linear power flow regardless of the situation.

 

Well said:
Let's hope that Porsche doesn't go the route of clothing brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren a few years ago and start targeting the bling bling money fast rapper crowd. When LED lit stereo systems fill the frunk of the 911 it'll be over. Hopefully their being a Euro company can prevent this and always keep the new models looking like classics.

 

I am more curious to see what VW will do to 911 brand, all those talks about same new aluminum chassis that will be shared across 911, boxster and some new car they want to make to substitute boxster - it makes little to no sense to me. 911 was such a bulletproofed design, at least its frame and suspension, why do they want now to change this too is beyond me.
from other perspective, who knows, may be it will be new great design.

 

I think the most impressive about PDK is how little it affects the car. Very little if at all any power transfer shifts which unsettle the car. In situations where you would not upshift in a manual because it would be too short before you have to start to brake, down shift and turn-in, you can in a PDK. Just a few seconds before you hit your braking point but you are already hitting the rev limiter in a manual you would have to let off the gas early because upshifting and then immediatel downshifting would hardly give you any advantage but the power transfer of disengaging and re-engaging the clutch will unsettle the car. In a PDK wihtou hardly losing any power and without unsettling the car you can upshift and down shift and let the computer do the clutching wihtout disrupting your cars balance.
Still all my cars are manual ...

 

Still 2010 turbo with PDK will most likely be one of best 911 cars ever made. If not the ultimate best.

 

The PDK is awesome and great for a daily driver BUT nothing takes the place of a true manual (clutch on the floor, shifting yourself). I love driving the Porsche but sometimes driving a car EVERY day could take a little of the excitement away. When i drive the Vipers (which are only manuals) you feel more involved with the car...hard to explain. But I could never drive them everyday.

 

I would never go out to see a movie with Alec Baldwin. Too bad he's seen driving a 911 - not a good image for the car.

Maybe that's the sub-plot. They want to cast a bad light on the car. Does the good guy in the movie drive a Prius?

 

Haha...

Not sure if you meant that to be funny, but I thought it was !

Burning gasoline vs burning coal... hmmm...

Oh yeah I am not supposed to think of that! Ha! Not "politically correct"

 

Very astute - yes, there is a Prius featured in the movie driven by a innocent looking girl who plays Baldwin's sweet-as-can-be youngest daughter..