I have always thought that GTS was kind of a sacred word in the Porsche model lineup only reserved for special editions. I also thought it was always synonymous with sporting driving pleasure - usually a Manual Transmission (MT) was offered. I was really really looking forward to Porsche using the GTS release as an opportunity to bring over the MT to North America (Canada and US). After the rave review Chris Harris had of the Panamera S (MT) I was super excited they would pull the trigger (I mean they did it with the Cayenne) but to my utter dissapointment they decided against it.

I recently picked up a copy of the Excellence magazine and also read that there was a 12% uptake of the Cayenne GTS in MT. That's big numbers for a Porsche SUV to be in manual and I could have imagined that the uptake for Panamera would have been even higher. North American's like MT and that is seen from BMW's recent introduction of the M5/M6 in MT only for this market. Yes I know MT is a going to the grave but I still hope that by the time I need a 4 door sedan Porsche will deliver something because I really don't want to have to try and figure out how to import one!

Chat soon..

Joe

 

Sorry am I missing something, isnt it possible to buy a Panamera S with mt in the US like you can in Europe?

 

Don't think you'll ever see it. If the dual-clutch is good enough for Ferrari "purists", I doubt any other manufacturers are going to see fit to make it happen. Audi has already announced the next R8 will be dual-clutch only. Frankly, the amount of engineering and development costs associated with designing a car both ways, not to mention the build and maintenance costs, are simply prohibitive given the few numbers that will actually move. Whereas BMW will likely offer a manual this time around, it will certainly be the last, particularly if none of their competitors are doing it.

Building this car with a manual transmission would result in LOST revenue, when you consider that they couldn't possibly ever re-coup the development costs on the handful of units that would be sold. For as much as we like to think we are purists, the sad reality is that given the choice, most would choose the PDK, because it's just better. The best car I've owned is a six-speed Audi A6 2.7T ... but whether I've become lazy or the dual-clutch is just that much better than I can ever hope to shift myself, I wouldn't even be tempted by a manual Panny. Okay, maybe a little bit, but ...

 

Honestly, the concept of a 2 ton luxury sports sedan with a manual transmission just doesn't make sense to me. Anybody that can afford to buy a Panamera can afford to buy a Cayman as well. If you lust for the feel of a manual that much, buy a Cayman and get your manual tranny in a car that was designed for it.