whats the thoughts on this.. I asked the dealer about it and im still up in the air... PDK sounds nice as the car is going be more of a toy around the house, but when it does see the track, am i going to be sorry that i didnt get a manual? it's always something isnt it or is it just a good probelm to have... I am awaiting for a confirmation on a Cayman R all optioned up.. with PDK..
ive been youtubing the car all week
the other thing is the weight savings, after you add in the a/c and pdk, have you saddled the car as for what it was meant to be?
i dont care im buying a gt3 or a cayman one of these days..

 

From my experience, it's more the other way around. Many of us will get more pleasure in the street and spirited country road driving from a manual transmission Cayman R or Spyder. It engages us more in the old art of driving a sport car. Shifting is part of that grand tradition and it gets us more involved in the whole driving experience with our cars.

It is on the track that you might miss PDK. Do don't have to worry about missed shifts, over-reving the engine, double-clutching, etc. You just concentrate on braking and your line. PDK does add a weight penalty but you can compensate up for that in other ways (lithium-ion battery, sport buckets, no optional A/C). My next Porsche (a PTS 991 in a few years' time) will probably be PDK. And in the future, a manual transmission might be hard to find in a new Porsche (due to tougher emissions standards). But I ordered my '12 Spyder with a Manual since this will be a street/country road kind of car for me, not a track-oriented vehicle. z356

 

A motor-head freind of mine (who doesn't own a Porsche) had a good explanation for the PDK vs. Manual debate. He felt that the PDK was being raved about by people operating it in the "extremes", such as the track or heavy traffic. For all the people in between, a manual is still very fun and acceptable.

 

I disagree with this part, I think Porsche unlike Ferrari and Lamborghini will stay with the roots of driving. Porsche caters the purists and what kind of purist would zip around town with a PDK? Just MHO. As far as emissions of all the sports car makers Porsche has little to worry about they are on top of the emissions bullcrap between Hybrid 918s, Electric Boxsters and everything in between.

As far as the OP choice in Gearbox... I would say stick with the Manual. z356 is correct the time you may "regret" not having a PDK is when you are trying to shave seconds off your lap time. So unless this car is going to spend the majority of its life on the track stick the manual it will be more rewarding and you wont be hated upon for having flappy paddle shifters...

 

It is not a question of what Porsche would like to stay with ('roots of driving' or whatever), it is about what Porsche has to do to meet tougher standards required by both CAFE in US and the Green Party in Germany!

Don't be deceived by Hybrid 918's and electric Boxsters, they are just prototypes. When these models begin be built in series, their numbers will be a very small part of overall Porsche units produced. Same for hybrid Cayennes, Panameras and the upcoming 911's. Small numbers for all of these extra fuel efficient models, which will not effect their overall sport car averages that much.

Porsche will benefit from their acquisition by VW, since the corporate fleet consumption averages of that global group are much lower than if they just counted Porsche models. But Porsche is not immune to the mounting engineering pressures (given the regulations in place and forthcoming) to use computers and PDK to curb gas consumption in their engines. Unfortunately, from my point of view, the manual transmission is a truly 'endangered species' in all modern sport cars! And it has nothing to do with wanting to stay, or not, with their 'roots of driving' - it has to do with the regulatory climate that rules over them in our age! z356

 

Only the future can tell. However, I think you are exaggerating the benefits of PDK over manual in fuel consumption. In most of the vehicles it is a difference of 1-2mpg. Considering the majority of Porsches are already PDK or tip (soon to be all PDK) and have Hybrid counterparts not to mention all of the the VW empire levied in the mix... it makes getting rid of the manual transmissions out of their sports cars to help meet emissions requirements rather moot.