How do other drivers run at the track with their PDK 911? Are you running in full automatic (assuming Sport +) or manual mode or some combination?

I have run both and prefer full automatic using the paddle shifts, however that changes from session to session depending on the concentration required for a given track.

 

Having driven a C4 PDK around Willow Springs, I admit that I couldn't stand leaving the car in full automatic (per the owner's recommendation). I can't imagine not having control over the gearbox, especially when it is as easy as pulling a paddle.

 

I think Porsche recommends Sport + and fully automatic. Let the computer do the thinking. My own guess this would be harder on the brake pad life though.

 

I drove my first PDK car (997.2S) at the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham in the Spring of '09. At that time I was driving a 997.1 MT, and most of our miles on the track at PSDS were in 997.1 MT's. When we first drove the PDK's, the instructors told us to experiment with it. Drive some laps in automatic; drive some laps in manual mode and use the button shifters (no paddles yet); and just generally mix it up.

When we came in, the instructors asked us what we thought. When we were done they said "well here's what we do, we just leave it in automatic." Their opinion was that the PDK was so consistent and reliable that for the most part they just didn't need to shift manually, although a few of them downshifted manually only at the downhill turn by the museum. And remember, this was the very first version of the PDK. It's been improved repeatedly since then. I've owned three successive PDK 911's ('09 S; '11 GTS; and '13 S) and each one has been better than the last.

Personally, I put my PDK in automatic; put the car in Sport Plus; and I go drive it. That applies both to track and autocross events. It's so darned quick, and good, that it's easier just to concentrate on things like line and trail braking and leave the PDK to its own devices.

DMoore
'13 991S PDK
'13 970GTS PDK

 

After having experimented, I agree that full automatic yields results that IMHO, no human can consistently outperform. Truthfully, I get shifting out of my system when leaving the Pit for the open track. I still have a hard time grasping how exceptional the PDK in Sport Plus mode performs. Frank C.

 

I run Sport+ and only manually shift if I don't like the gearing in a particular corner. I found I only did that in one corner in particular...

 

Having done about a dozen track days, I started in manual control, but found myself leaving it more often in full auto, depends more on the track for me personally.

 

I've done around 30 or so track days in the 991S. Played around with manual but much prefer auto Sport+ so I can focus on braking, throttle and the racing line.

Even when the box shifts, mid-corner, it's not abrupt enough to upset the balance.

 

Full automatic and shift via the steering wheel buttons when I need an extra downshift.

 

Agreed

 

Yes, exactly.

 

Yes and no. Yes, Sport+ & PDK in auto is probably quicker around a track than what most of us can accomplish by shifting manually with the paddles. And the shifting is so fast that I have never seen it upset the car. Unlike manuals or other gearboxes, there is no point in hitting the limiter or staying in a lower gear to avoid shifting as it will not save you any time.
Still, the PDK has no eyes and will at times shift where you would never do it (at least with another car than the 991). There are places were the 991 shifts in auto where I would never dare to do so with my E46 M3 SMG. So, just use the PDK the way you like. But do no forget to pay attention to the right shifting points when you get back to another car after that

 

ditto.

Only a couple of times did I believe the car needed to go down a gear.

Marc