Went out this weekend and drove a White on black 2009 Cayman S w/ PDK. Let me start out by saying I have been a fan of manual transmissions all my life, not much love for automatics/steptronics/etc. While driving, I felt the shifters on the steering wheel are no replacement for good ol' paddles. When shifting, I used the center shifter exclusively because of the weird paddle/*****. The car accelerated smoothly, I knew the power was there but did not feel overwhelmed by it. Heres the good part...The Salesman strongly advised me to floor it...man, really smooth shifts...felt like it had continous power. Heres the better part...He let me use launch control! Left foot on brake...right on the gas...bring up RPMs to approx 6500k...release break...and whhhoooosh we blasted off with an instant surge of power and left quite a bit of rubber on the road! Kinda really impressed with that. Looked in the mirror and saw only one tire mark on the street no LSD...In the end though, I will stick to manual shifting cars..PDK is a new novelty, pretty trick, but I think I would get bored of it rather quickly. IMHO

 

Yeah, LSD is an option. I think it's about $900.

 

The LSD option is something I would get without hesitation on a new P-car.... I wonder if you can get an after the fact, dealer installed LSD in a used 997.1???

 

Thanks for the write up - I'm very old school, driving a manual is part of the driving experience, even if it is slower than an automatic it makes you more connected with the car.

What RPM level did you use when you used the launch control? It would be interesting to compare it to a manual transmission launch.

 

I was lucky enough to do a launch control in a PDK Cayman S also. The revs max out out 6500, then the launch control activates and you can release the brake. The take off force is really something. I've never done anything remotely close to it in my manual Boxster S.

 

Wow! I would never dump my clutch at 6500 either .

Hope that using the launch control is under warranty or we'll end up looking like the GTR forums...

 

Agreed, its like its on race/auto pilot...LOL Just hang on for the ride!!!

 

Aprox 6500 rpm...

I am old school as well. Drove the 2008 997 C4 manual right after the Caymen...felt right at home! the shifter and clutch were smooth as butter. Its like I had driven the car for months already...

 

yeah, not sure about all these LCs but if they work without breaking, i am sure it's fun!

 

Quailfe makes LSD for MK1 987 & 997.

 

When I went to the 997.2 launch, I was allowed to do a launch control on a new 997s and the dealer stated it did not void the warranty at all (like BMW or Nissan) and that the car would not allow you to do it again for about 1 minute and 1/2 or so tp allow time between to cool down etc.

he said that by allowing the car and the computer to control wheel and clutch slippage you were doing less damage than if you dumped the clutch in a manual at 6500 rpm which is why it didn't void anything.

Some could be BS but I have heard several times launch control does not void the warranty.

 

nissan did void warranty for using LC for 1st year model (or was it 2nd?). LC is big no no for nissans at least. (GTR that is)

well they didn't void warranty but they refused to fix it under warranty so idk if that counts as voiding.

 

Nissan seems to be subjective about voiding the transmission warranty - "excessive" use of launch control is prohibited.

Here's a video showing a launch resulting in a blown tranny - seems to be a $20K touch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUCn-yPnJF4

 

such a fragile car.

 

Bump...Added pix to original post...