As an American male, I learned to drive in my father's big Pontiac with hydromatic transmission. However, my brother taught me how to drive a stick in his 1960 VW Beetle and my first car was a 4-speed TR3 in 1964, so I've always been a manual transmission "guy". My wife was born in Cuba and after 1960 lived in Mexico and Panama before coming to the States. She learned to drive in an early version of the clutch pedal-less stickshift: a 60s-era Mercedes sedan in which the shifter was on the steering column and there was an electric button on the shifter which would engage/disengage the clutch. She's always enjoyed a manual transmission and would drive one today for fun, even at age 65, and she's not even close to being a petrol head!

We decided in favor of the PDK when we ordered our 911 because she couldn't see herself in stop-&-go traffic in Miami using a manual tranny as it would be unpleasant and detract from the fun of the car. I readily agreed because I'd heard about how phenomenal the PDK and other dual-clutch trannies are and wanted to snap off lightning quick shifts and downshifts. I doubt that my wife - who will only drive the car maybe 10% of the time - will use the manual mode but I for sure will use it 99.9% of the time, same as I do with my 8-speed ZF automatic now.

The world of the automobile has evolved but some gear heads are doomed to become dinosaurs because they keep looking back to when it was "their day" rather than forward to where it is all unfolding. I'm 66 and know that I'll eventually be too old and demented to drive a car but until then, I want to drive the most advanced, most exotic cars I can get my hands on. And the state-of-the-art today is in dual clutch transmissions. They are fun to drive and even though not as engaging or as error-prone or as challenging as a regular manual, they are the present and the future while true manuals will go the way of buggy whips, carburetors, B&W TVs and dodo birds: extinct.

To quote Bob Dylan:

Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

 

^^^ Totally agree with that! ^^^

Suzy991

 

Manual mode 99.9%.

 

I'm with Suzy on manual being the plain Jane gearbox over here in Europe, everyone can and does drive manual here.
My pdk is always in manual mode, pdk stick for dd (very involving as Porsche choose to switch around the + and -), paddles for assertive driving.

 

A few points -

1) I had a PDK 997.2S for two years and the only time I used it in auto was to warm up the car in normal mode .

2) As for the concept fusing of the Panamera driver as being a previous Mercedes owner --
I get from this that Porsche has gone soft . It actually is one of my biggest gripes about the 991 in general . I do believe that a PDK box in a less lavish styled interior would make a difference . I have felt from the beginning that the 991 interior is too similar to a Panamera and mated with a PDK and the large interior it almost resembles a baby Panamera and I believe taht is why so many posts appear in this forum talking about cars like the Jaguar or Mercedes as compeitors . This never occured in the 997 forum and even moreso when the 991 GT3 photos first came out in that forum . I do feel that the more traditional 911 owners are trying to warm up to the 991 . I myself even like the 991 I am just not sure if i love it .

 

I can understand the argument being made here. PDK and the like have lowered the technical barrier of entry. I'm one of those guys who's never driver a traditional manual, and I wouldn't have purchased a 911 if it was only available with a stick. I grew up with automatics and since no one in my family had a manual, I simply never learned how. Eventually I 'learned' how to manually shift from video games, but to this day I've never driven a stick. I imagine as more people of my generation get older, this will be a common story.

However, I have to say, you can take solace in the fact that no one is gonna drop a paddle shifter in a classic car, so manual guys get to dominate that arena. Go buy a Countach! I always double take when I see sweet old cars like that.

To answer the original question though, I drive in auto mode during commute, manual when having fun. So, that's roughly 80% auto, 20% manual.

 

1). So what.

2). Arrogant.

 

What he said.

 

More American cars are automatics than manuals and long ago the American car companies were once quite established . In the 1950's and 60's it was quite prestigious to drive a Cadillac and to this day its very common here (especially in retirement communities of South Florida) to see elderly people driving big Buicks , Cadillacs, and Chevy's .

Groing up here meant that our parents drove those cars often so we learned on them. Of course Mercedes, BMW and porsche were here too but they didn't sell in the massive numbers as seen today .

It wasn't just elderly folks .. in the late 60's through the 70's the american muscle cars also grew in popularity and some of them did have manuals but not all.

So yes liking a manual usually meant the driver might be :
1) a driving enthusiast wanting connection to performance
2) economically savy --hoping to get better fuel mileage
3) may have learned on a farm or with large trucks helping family

There are still many people in the states who view cars merely as a form of transporation rather than a enjoyment of driving . Automatic cars are
still popular . Many do not know how to drive a manual or dont even care to learn . PDK does offer a new segment that seems to cover all bases . It can be race car precise or become just another commuter vehicle .

 

There are obviously two demographics here: The old guard that has owned many Porsches and thinks the direction the 991 has taken is too soft and cushy and not as hardcore as it once was. Then there are those of us who never liked Porsches much in the past because they were too plain and not very warm (i.e., too Teutonic). I am one of the latter group and really like the direction Porsche has taken.

The argument that the advent of the PDK is now attracting buyers who can't/won't drive a stick is a spurious argument because the 911 introduced the Tiptronic in 1990, so there is a long history of semi-automatic transmissions in use in 911s. Porsche actually invented the manumatic so I don't see why demographic #1 is so adamant that the 911 should be a stick shift car. Almost half the 911's 50 years of existence there has been an automatic option, so this is nothing new. Get over it. And get over yourselves.

 

^^^This^^^ +1

 

Just to clarrify -- on point 2

I never said that PDK was for those who could not drive a manual . In fact i myself owned both a manual and a PDK car and liked both equally .

What PDK does offer however is something more efficient than a manual as well as offering the capabilities of an automatic . In fact it is an "auto-manual" . The demographic has thus increased to satisfying anyone . The hard core manual driver as well as the commuter can both drive the same car andget their very different needs met.

 

Just to expand on point 1 -

The 911 was built long before the 991 . It's criticism is not too much different than when the 996 was offered and to this day the more traditional 911 cars (like 993 and 997 ) have been hailed as success and that reveals itself most in used car prices . The mere fact that a 997 Gts will price equal to a used 2012 991S or that 2011 Gt3 will price HIGHER does not just represent an "old guard" mentality . It represents the loyal buying power of core afficianado of the Porsche 911 .

In contrast the short term leasing crowd of the 991 almost reminds me of BMW . It's an attempt to secure a more attention deficit car shopper .
In my opinion just as that flock "never liked Porsches" in the past they might not want them in the future .

Who do you think Porsche will turn to then ?

Be glad that some of us loved Porsches enough to buy 9 of them or even more . Because it was enough guys like that whose consumer interest gave enough company profit to fund the research and development to make the attention deficit car . It made the 996 . It made the 991 .

For what its worth most of us bought the 996 and wil probably buy a 991 at some point . I just dont think it will ever be the 911 that I will remember most .

 

TL;DR. So elitist/sexist. I know you did not mean it this way, but really it is quite offensive to some.

I for one am glad that more people can buy P-cars, Lambos, whatever. At least this means that 50 years in the future, I will probably still be able to buy a 911 (although I probably won't be alive to see that time).

More folks buying sports cars = more sports cars made. And that's good for all of us.

Bear in mind that the 993 almost bankrupted Porsche, and it took the 986 and the 996 to turn the situation around. I too dislike the 996, but don't be too hasty to discount that model's importance to the continuing existence of Porsche.

 

Exacty!!

Suzy991