Get the manual if your wife lets you!

This will warm Gman's soul.

[www.theglobeandmail.com]

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

OK, we all know the computerized shifting is getting better and better. I believe that those who are now growing up with these "better" computer-controlled shifts will love them.

It's kind of like digital sex. If they told you that was better would you jump right in or let some younger type go for it?

Quote
tom coughlin
OK, we all know the computerized shifting is getting better and better. I believe that those who are now growing up with these "better" computer-controlled shifts will love them.

It's kind of like digital sex. If they told you that was better would you jump right in or let some younger type go for it?

I'm not the retired SC lawyer who claimed he was getting an automatic PDK only so his wife could drive it, only to have her admit at BRBS that she would NEVER drive his Boxster toy.

You will have to tell us more about your digital sex escapades, Tom, cause, no, I don't look forward to that sort of activity.

I agree with you that driving with a PDK automatic makes driving a non-event, and Porsche loves getting another $5K when it's ordered with SC+. But eviscerating what is otherwise a world class sports car with an automatic, mainly because it's easy to play F1 driver, when one doesn't actually plan to regularly track the car, is an enigma. Why not just buy a nice, comfortable, big sedan with auto park, rear view cameras, the big 'D', four doors, computerized everything...and stop trying to kid yourself and those around you...cause you ain't a sports car driver anymore.

As I've said before YMMV, and 'to thine own self, be true'.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

it just makes one a driver in a sports car.

Of course, that leads to the question...just what IS a "sports car driver?" And how does that differ from a "race car driver?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2013 04:16PM by RainyDayGarage. (view changes)

Happy Mother's Day, Rainy

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

The rain has FINALLY lifted in Boston and will be taking the Boxster out for a drive...for what else? Fried clams at the Clam Box down by Wollaston Beach!!!

Wow! Could not have said it better myself.

Yup I enjoy an automatic as much as I'm in eager anticipation of having the opportunity to drive a mini van. Not sure that my heart could stand the excitement.

Then having Ayrton Senna's ghost taxi me around. Ouch! Sorry Ayrton, didn't mean to touch the wheel. I'll just take another sip of my beer while you drive.

GREAT article. Thanks for posting, Roger.

19 days. Gosh, I'm going to have to do all that shifting and turning the wheel myself.

Gotta have something to do while sitting behind the wheel.

I’ve long contended that our society is undergoing a transformative, unhealthy, and disturbing feminization of the American male.

I don’t get the entire metrosexual thing, men wearing makeup, and otherwise healthy men, who have zero desire to track their Porsches, ordering 100 grand cars with automatic transmissions.

YMMV.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

As to the other "concerns"...you are assuming that the American Male was a "healthy" individual in the past.
Monoculture is what is unhealthy.

The broader the spectrum, the more resilient the group...as "diseases" come in many forms.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

These are the sports cars I've owned over the last 52 years: MG TD, Fiat 124 Sport Coupe, 1985 Corvette, 2000 Corvette, 2002 Z3, 2008 Corvette, and now the Boxster. Not that I haven't had other transportation. Several BMW motorcycles, GM vans, and a Honda Pilot among others. I can't imagine any of the sports cars with an automatic transmission. I've done some HPDE with the last two Corvettes, but I've decided to give that up. There might be a point to PDK for those seriously into competition, but I was never part of that crowd. The article linked in the OP makes the case for manual far better than I could.

"Monoculture is what is unhealthy." - isn't that what the PDK trend is representing?

Driving a manual is a preference now that performance is no longer an advantage.

It is more akin to using manual focus vs auto focus on a camera, manual exposure/shutter speed vs program mode, etc...a skill to be sure, but no longer represents higher quality results for most and usually less optimal results for many.

Quote
RainyDayGarage
Driving a manual is a preference now that performance is no longer an advantage.

It is more akin to using manual focus vs auto focus on a camera, manual exposure/shutter speed vs program mode, etc...a skill to be sure, but no longer represents higher quality results for most and usually less optimal results for many.

True, but then again the question is why people choose to buy a Porsche.

It used to be about the notion of being "one with the car", feeling the feedback from the steering wheel, immediate throttle and steering responses and certainly taking corners at speed.

Now, it seems the designers are taking the car in the direction of less driver interaction using more automatic systems, that preform functions that the driver used to be required to do to get the most out of the driving experience. Perhaps, that is the logical evolution of all of these systems--doing things better, faster--than a driver could do, but it ultimately leaves the driver doing what somebody in a Lexus is doing--putting it in "D" and occasionally stepping on a gas or brake pedal. Ultimately, it leads to a car where the driver is mostly disengaged from what is going on, as they go from point A to point B. Lots of other cars can do the same thing for substantially less money.

I'll guarantee you that 98% of Porsche owners buy the car because they have the money and they like the looks, the badge, and the prestige -- not the performance. This group actually cares about the cars and the performance, but face it, we are not the norm. That's why (a) you have so many Porsches for sale as used cars that are 10 years old with 20,000 miles on them (b) so many are sold with PDKs, and (c) why the Boxster got the reputation as being a ladies' car in the first place? Our local PCA has less than 40 "regulars," and most of their cars are not new. The PCA may not account for all the "car guys" out there, but you cannot reconcile 40 PCA members with the overall number of Porsches in our metro area of 2,000,000 people. Obviously the dealer is selling a lot of new Porsches to people who never go near the PCA or care a fig about performance.

And BTW, I have a manual and I enjoy it a lot, but I think it is kind of offensive to stereotype owners who own PDKs as being feminized males. Every time I am in a traffic jam or I have to take off from work to take my car into the shop (because my wife can't drive it), I think, "WTH didn't I buy a PDK for my own convenience?" Darned if I will ever criticize those who like a PDK better.

Bought it because of its amazing looks. The fact that it is also a great car to drive is kind of a bonus.
Would have never purchased the car if it drove amazingly well, but looked like crap.

What is the point...

Driving is fun, making machines work is fun, it is what car enthusiasts like to do.. being an integral part of a machine and experiencing fluidity and harmony is rewarding, getting feedback from the car is a joy,,
Practicing a skill in pursuit of perfection is a journey that drives us..

"With the PDK, it was easy – a non-event, in fact."

All those things you say are absolutely true, but the pilot of a p-41 Mustang might say the same of today's fighter jets, an archer of guns, and so on.
Being "one with the machine" is a state of mind which can be achieved by increasing the demands when new capabilities eliminate old requirements.
- shooting further and more accurately with a gun
- doing maneuvers with a jet that will rip the wings of a Mustang

So it is with a fast car which does not require the driver to shift allows the driver to perhaps concentrate better and attempt a trickier course with more turns at faster speed?

The mind can only do one thing at any given time, to do more...one has to bundle smaller things into a bigger thing.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2013 03:51PM by RainyDayGarage. (view changes)

This article from Road and Track on a test drive of the new GT3 has some interesting things to say about PDK vs. manual, and some info on the electrically assisted steering which is an improvement over that available on other Porsche models.

[www.roadandtrack.com]