Does anyone have info on what percentage of 997.2 sold were MT vs PDK? If the MT percentage is fairly high, seems that Porsche would be making a mistake to offer a less satisfying version of the MT, or discontinue it altogether.

 

I sincerely hope you are wrong. I can't imagine the GT3 being made with a forced induction motor, that would go against the very core of the car. As far as the tranny goes i suppose Porsche only selling a PDK is possible but not likely, especially in the GT series cars.

 

The US is the only market where MT numbers are significant, if not for that market, we would only have pdks today. Even in the US the MT numbers have been steadily declining over the years, the last time i checked around 40% were MT. So porsche is not going to suddenly discontinue the MT but continue to taper it off without admitting it is being done.

As far as naturally aspirated engines, in the next 5 years or so all super cars will have forced induction. If you look at gasoline prices in Europe you would already wonder why there are still those e63s and M5 v10s out there, oops those have already been downsized and turbos added.

 

That's what they said about the M3 and M5 also.

 

Not quite the same, anythings possible but the GT3 going to a forced induction motor would be an enormous change and would change the very foundation of the model. BMW with the M3's and M5's were never committed to natural induction, just high HP. M3's have had forced induction since virtually the beginning of the model.

The high revving, fast throttle response, natural induction motors in the GT3 are the very core of this models design.

Like i said anythings possible but it would be a monumental change for the GT3.

 

As I said, that was said about the M Cars also.

Hmmm.. Not sure what you are basing this on, but it was one of the traits of the M engines before they started tinkering with SUVs.

From the factory? Which factory M car are you referring to? (The 2002 is not an M car.) If you are talking about aftermarket modifications, I don't see what that has to do with the manufacturer's design ethos.

Again, something that was one of the traits that made the early M cars such a joy to drive (e.g. - E30 M3).

 

40% MT in the US is pretty high. If Porsche discontinues MT, I think they would risk losing a lot of those customers to other brands. And one would think that if they can put out a million variants of the 911, each with a million possible options, they could at least keep MT avaiable?

 

I stand corrected on the M3, I was thinking one of the early 4 cyl. versions was turbocharged. The M5 is a different car altogether, it's a very high performance 4 door sedan with no racing heritage to base a street version on. I don't think many BMW M5 owners would care if the motor was normally aspirated or not.
The GT3 has a huge racing heritage based on a normally aspirated motor which the street car is based on.

The GT3 motor is almost baked into the DNA of the car. In any case I sincerely hope that that Porsche never puts a forced induction motor into that model, if so that would be the end of Porsche for me. After owning numerous 911 models, the GT3 is the only one I would purchase, and only with a manual. I did the Turbo thing and would not go back, doesn't belong in this type of car.

 

I have a PDK now on my 99.2 but ordered manual for the 991.
The PDK changes the whole character of the car......

 

That's surprising to me. Seems like many more people in Europe drive manuals than in the US. Ever try to rent a car with an automatic transmission in Europe? You have to get almost half way up the list of cars (from the cheapest) before you even get an AT.

 

Mainstream Europeans do prefer manuals solely because petrol is precious there, and manuals consume less of it than automatics. But I suspect those that afford a porsche ignore the price of petrol and chose the PDK for its practicality.

 

I haven't checked it, but I suspect that my gas mileage is lower with manual because of the way I drive it.

 

disagree....not in our lifetime

 

When considering the future of the 911 variants, I think it is important to look at regulatory pressure to increase MPG and reduce emissions. These will be big influences on where Porsche will take its designs along with mechanical features just like any other car maker. It is debatable what this means to the GT3 going forward, but I would suspect that change will come to the high-reving NA engine that could cause us to look back on the recent GT3 RS 4.0 and wish we had one.

 

The new PDK is a whole 'nother animal. And I'm a 6MT guy going to PDK.

Besides, I needed a car my 16 year old could learn to drive on (not)