How many PDK users keep their car in auto most of the time?
Registered User
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 8
Rep Power: 0
This is only an issue in countries where the automatic transmission is more common than a manual I think. It's not the transmission that intimidates people... it's the speed and acceleration that they feel they can't handle. It has nothing to do with the transmission. But that's just my personal opinion.
Suzy991
Suzy991
As for myself, I've driven tons of manuals. For that 2% of the time when I'm in just the right mood, the road is good and windy and traffic is light, I LOVE driving a manual. That special feeling when the shifts are just right, it connects you with a car that you just don't get in any sort of automatic/double clutch transmission. The fact that you are always improving even after 20 years of driving manuals, it's the kind of thing that never makes it boring. But for the remainder of the time, I love a double clutch box. It's great for laid back driving, it's great for spirited driving where you use the paddles.
That was more lengthy than I thought, sorry about that
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,182
From: Switzerland
Rep Power: 113
I think your observation is spot on, I've often thought the same myself. Born and raised in Europe, basically all cars are manual. The last 5 years there's been a shift towards more automatics, that used to be mostly a high end luxury item. But a manual is still very much the norm. In the US, the automatic is the norm. So when US drivers want a really sporty car, they have somewhat equated that to manuals, Just look at the last M5. Lets forget the fact that it had the dreadful SMG box for a moment. They did a manual only for the US market. The rest of the world didn't care, but I suspect lots of US drivers want the manual because it is more exotic and "sporty/racy".
As for myself, I've driven tons of manuals. For that 2% of the time when I'm in just the right mood, the road is good and windy and traffic is light, I LOVE driving a manual. That special feeling when the shifts are just right, it connects you with a car that you just don't get in any sort of automatic/double clutch transmission. The fact that you are always improving even after 20 years of driving manuals, it's the kind of thing that never makes it boring. But for the remainder of the time, I love a double clutch box. It's great for laid back driving, it's great for spirited driving where you use the paddles.
That was more lengthy than I thought, sorry about that
I love manuals, but I adore a decent dual clutch transmission like the PDK for daily driving. (Only decent ones... No Ferrari F1 trans, which are terrible when driving at lower speeds in city-traffic, at least the one in a 430)Btw... BMW does this trick again with the M6 Gran Coupe. There is a manual option for U.S. Market only. But I never would choose that old 6-speed MT over the fabulous ZF 8 speed dual clutch.
Suzy991
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,080
From: Split my time between Miami, Sanibel & Woodstock, VT
Rep Power: 77
Suzy, I have the 8-speed ZF automatic in my Bentley and it is not dual clutch. Wish it were! It's probably the best automatic transmission available (assuming we don't lump the PDK in that definition of "automatic") but it is still a pure automatic with torque converter and no clutches. In its manual mode it does make quick shifts with the paddles and is fun to drive but make no mistake, it isn't a manumatic like the PDK with dual clutches. Just wanted to set the record straight.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,182
From: Switzerland
Rep Power: 113
Suzy, I have the 8-speed ZF automatic in my Bentley and it is not dual clutch. Wish it were! It's probably the best automatic transmission available (assuming we don't lump the PDK in that definition of "automatic") but it is still a pure automatic with torque converter and no clutches. In its manual mode it does make quick shifts with the paddles and is fun to drive but make no mistake, it isn't a manumatic like the PDK with dual clutches. Just wanted to set the record straight.
)But it is brilliant. I've driven the M6 coupe and I'm gonna drive one tomorrow, allthough in a 640d gran coupe xDrive, which my mom gets for a day to test it. She's thinking about buying that car. I really love that transmission, even when it's an "old fashion" automatic.
suits the car very well IMO.Suzy991
Last edited by Suzy991; Jul 1, 2013 at 07:48 AM.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,080
From: Split my time between Miami, Sanibel & Woodstock, VT
Rep Power: 77
It really is an amazing transmission. It manages to compensate for the Bentley V8's lower HP and torque to match the performance of the more powerful W12's performance. I use it in manual mode 99% of the time and in S the rest of the time.
Registered User
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 276
From: Houston
Rep Power: 39
Well I think there is a big difference between old manual and new manual (F1). Manual, foot activated clutch is one thing and many people like it but it is going away, period. Manual sport or sport+ no foot clutch and separately auto sport or sport + with manual over ride? Well what's not to like about that? A choice for every girl and boy, less mechanical failure, lower cost over time, lower accidents (in and out of the car) from newbie bad clutching, etc. The testosterone, gender, age, location, "experience" "ramblings from a getting older manual tranny guy" I won't comment on.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 566
From: Los Angeles
Rep Power: 47
I had a 2009 C4S PDK. Kept it for one year and sold it and have bought 3 911's since with MT. When I had the PDK car, I put it in auto 90% of the time. Manual shifting on a PDK car is faster but with less control and less fun, so I didn't bother to do it much.
Now I am a tried and true Manual guy. It's in my blood by this time having owned a manual car for the past 43 years. I have had automatics and I have "manual auto-paddles (I had a Stradale for 4 years). I have noticed that since the advent and popularity of the PDK, F-1 (Ferrari style) and all the other clutch-less transmissions, the automakers have been able to sell more cars to folks who never would have considered them in the past.
I know that PDK is faster than manual but it seems to me that many drivers who have this type of transmission tend to use it more and more paddleless i.e. in auto.
I will not go into the argument about how a manual keeps the driver more involved in the driving process (which I believe). But it seems to me that something is amiss when I see a 70+ female getting into the driver's seat of a new Panamera. You know that before PDK, this lady would be driving her S550 Mercedes.
It use to be that the manual transmission separated the real car people from the recreational drivers. I define recreational drivers as those who consider the Mercedes SL550 a "sports car". Gone are the days when there were cars that most people would be too intimidated to drive because they did not feel they had the appropriate skill level to manage. I miss those days. They left when transmissions like PDK made it possible for granny to get into a Lambo, Porsche, etc. and drive it like a Chevy.
Just a few ramblings from a getting older manual tranny guy...
I know that PDK is faster than manual but it seems to me that many drivers who have this type of transmission tend to use it more and more paddleless i.e. in auto.
I will not go into the argument about how a manual keeps the driver more involved in the driving process (which I believe). But it seems to me that something is amiss when I see a 70+ female getting into the driver's seat of a new Panamera. You know that before PDK, this lady would be driving her S550 Mercedes.
It use to be that the manual transmission separated the real car people from the recreational drivers. I define recreational drivers as those who consider the Mercedes SL550 a "sports car". Gone are the days when there were cars that most people would be too intimidated to drive because they did not feel they had the appropriate skill level to manage. I miss those days. They left when transmissions like PDK made it possible for granny to get into a Lambo, Porsche, etc. and drive it like a Chevy.
Just a few ramblings from a getting older manual tranny guy...
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 859
From: Pacific NW
Rep Power: 78
Rest of the time was automatic because that's what the thing does best and really, it is difficult to believe people who say they use their PDK in manual mode all or most of the time. Just saying.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,182
From: Switzerland
Rep Power: 113
Exactly. I too had an '09 PDK. I really tried to use the car in manual mode and it was not satisfying at all - I added a Fabspeed exhaust to the car and only used manual mode rolling up to a stop sign to hear the engine downshift.
Rest of the time was automatic because that's what the thing does best and really, it is difficult to believe people who say they use their PDK in manual mode all or most of the time. Just saying.
Suzy991
Registered User
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 276
From: Houston
Rep Power: 39
Thread Starter
|
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 357
From: Boca Raton-Santa Monica
Rep Power: 38
Exactly. I too had an '09 PDK. I really tried to use the car in manual mode and it was not satisfying at all - I added a Fabspeed exhaust to the car and only used manual mode rolling up to a stop sign to hear the engine downshift.
Rest of the time was automatic because that's what the thing does best and really, it is difficult to believe people who say they use their PDK in manual mode all or most of the time. Just saying.
Rest of the time was automatic because that's what the thing does best and really, it is difficult to believe people who say they use their PDK in manual mode all or most of the time. Just saying.
This was one of the observations I made after speaking to a lot of Porsche enthusiasts.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,080
From: Split my time between Miami, Sanibel & Woodstock, VT
Rep Power: 77
Registered User
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,806
From: Dallas
Rep Power: 177
There is a world of difference between the 997 PDK and the 991 PDK as far as I experienced. Didn't like the PDK in the 997 allthough I've never owned one. Only driven it a few times and never really enjoyed it. In the 991 on the other hand I think it's almost perfect. Just MHO
Suzy991
Suzy991
ChuckJ
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,080
From: Split my time between Miami, Sanibel & Woodstock, VT
Rep Power: 77
The Tiptronic is just an automatic transmission with a semi-manual mode. It isn't a dual clutch automated manual so of course your first generation PDK was better than the Tiptronic. The Tiptronic was revolutionary in 1990 but soon became commonplace in even econoboxes.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,182
From: Switzerland
Rep Power: 113
But who knows... Maybe we'll say the same thing in 5-10 years about the 991 PDK. Technology keeps getting better all the time and every new version of the PDK will be better than the one it's replacing.
Suzy991