It may be a pride thing... Porsche does not own the patent for paddleshifters and may have to license it from its owners. I think Ferrari first delpoyed paddleshifters in F1 cars so they may own the patent! Ouch!

 

Very good car

 

Patent Schmatent. This doesn't have anything to do with patents or rights...it's a design/revenue thing.

First of all, I'm willing to bet that Porsche spent all sorts of time and effort and came to the conclusion that the button design is more intuitive than paddles. Porsche is not the type of company to release a product with a completely different design for a common function without doing their do-diligence. Given that, Porsche is going to stick with that design as their base offer, but they're not stupid either. They have seen and heard the demand for paddles, so are responding.

Second Point: as a for-profit business, Porsche sees an opportunity to make additional revenue (minimal for the optional sport steering wheel) in order to meet the demand for it. While we moan about having to pay extra for this, there are a lot of P-Cars out there with THOUSANDS of dollars of optional PTS, interior upgrades (paint, leather, carbon, etc), wheels, sports exhaust, etc that add ZERO functionality but cost much more. Add to that the added options of Sports PASM, LSD, Dynamic Engine Mounts, etc on cars whose drivers have little ability to actually notice, much less use to their advantage.

So if they want to make a few extra bucks on a steering wheel? All the more power to be able to do it. I'm sure they prefer all of the other expensive options that cost them little to actually upgrade.

No different than a restaurant. They LOVE to sell alcohol...$5 for a beer that costs them $1. Make a decent profit for the dinner, but make your bonus on the drinks. Same with cars: make a decent profit with the car, make your bonus with the options.

OH...and then let the dealers make that profit again when you trade it in and get next to nothing for all of those optional extras that you paid through the nose for.

 

Wow! You sound angry and disgruntled at Porsche! Time to write a letter!

Everyone knows that car manufacturers make money on options (primarily) and dealers make money on service (primarily) and restaurants and strip joints make money on liquor (primarily). The point I was making was that Porsche doggedly stuck to the stupid finger device / buttons first introduced with the 996 tiptronic suspension and later evolved to what it is on the 997s today because they wanted to avoid copying (hence my statement about it being pride) Ferrari on the paddles. It is more about pride than making money on this particular option. I know this because I have a friend inside Porsche and the last time I visited him in Zuffenhausen in 2009, he told me this over dinner! It is possible that he was wrong but not likely!

 

Actually just the opposite, but I can see how my rant was taken that way. To be honest, it was more of a dig at people complaining on spending a few $$$ on a steering wheel upgrade and then turning around and spending more $$$$ on painted center consoles and carbon fiber interiors.

I'm a firm believer that if a business can find new ways to add incremental revenue to their profit flow, congrats to them. That's one of the many fundamentals of a good capitalist society.

Now, I may not like spending all that extra cash building a car the way I want it with all the extras, so I have to understand my limitations and develop priorities.

So my latest pitch in the 'Vote Johnson' campaign: that's why I love my GTS so much...it has all of the features and options that I would want in my 911 and helped limit the spending on superfluous options.

Hmmm...apparently I'm in a 'typative' mood today.

 

I don't think Johnson sounds angry. He does raise a lot of valid points.

I personally think that if it really was a pride issue, then Porsche would not offer the option of paddles at all...hence the profit motive makes sense to me.

Oh Johnson, did you read the article posted here? Lots and lots of people are apparently questioning if the 991 is truly a 911 in terms of looks. Sounds like great news for your campaign and my pocket book.

 

Here are some motorshow pics ........


http://www.autospies.com/news/FRANKF...re-Show-66509/

 

Does anyone know if C4 models are going to have a wide body just like 997 or they are all the same?

 

Good question, also curious on 991 wide body. 997 wide body is 44mm wider which doesn't seem like alot but visually very noticable imo.

 

I agree 100% with your entire response. I do love the GTS BTW also for the same reasons. Awesome car.

 

Looks good too me without being too much different. I wonder about the increased wheelbase and electric sterring just like everyone else does. I have a feeling it will all be fine because this is Porsche after all.

 

looks great, i will be there

 

See the difference?

 

Audi wheels ? hehehe...

Porsche is loosing their roots, totally !

 

I think they look like 997 Turbo wheels but I know what you mean. I like them.