Sorry for my lack of jargon precision--I've got a number of sports cars and they all seem to use different names/brandings for what is essentially the same nanny-technology. So, using Porsche-approved(tm) descriptors:

*I turn on Sport Plus mode, which automatically engages PDCC.
* I turn off the traction/stability control (by engaging the button right below PDCC, which shows the wavy lines like you're doing a burnout). :-)
*I force the dynamic aerodynamics (front splitter and rear wing) ON -- I don't want the car managing the dynamics, changing the car's setup in the middle of turns!
*I turn off the PAS. To disable PAS (Porsche Active Safe, I think it's called), you have to go into the vehicle settings. And you REALLY want to do this if you're lapping with other cars. The PAS, which governs anti-collision and the auto-sensing cruise control, will actually take over braking the car if you come up too close (in Porsche's eyes) to the car ahead of you, or if your closure rates are (what the car considers) too high. This can be REALLY disconcerting in an environment where you're nosing in behind someone at track speeds, especially as you come into corners and the other car hits their brake point before you need to). Note: I'm not responsible if you rear-end another car because you've gotten used to have Porsche systems do your braking for you. :-)

...oh yeah, and I turn off the Parking Assist, because I don't want the car beeping at me when I tuck my nose up under the guy in front of me, or vice versa if someone's drafting me into a brake zone!

As for the PDK vs manual shift question: As far as I'm concerned, you can manual shift if you want to play around or if it somehow makes you feel more engaged. And that's what I've done in every other car I had which had a PDK (including a GT-R and McLaren 12C). But this 991's PDK is so brilliant that I just let the car manage the up and down shifts and focus on all the other elements of hitting my marks and lines through turns. The PDK is just incredible--to the point where it's almost preternaturally consistent, allowing you to almost subconsciously incorporate its behavior into your braking and turn-in, and exit steering and throttle management.

 

Thanks - I am clear now. I don't have the PAS on the 991 Turbo S but I do have it on a Cayenne Turbo, so I know exactly how it responds - NG on a rack track.

Forgot to mention that I am going to a Porsche World Roadshow at Monticello Motor Club tomorrow, and I understand that one of the events is a ride with a Porsche instructor in a Turbo at the end of the day - "full out" on the track. Should be interesting - I'll ask him a lot of questions about his experiences in the car and how it would compare it to the new GT3 which I cancelled after waiting too long.