What PDK does if you are driving lazily in traffic, 40 mph on 6th or 7th and then you want to (manually, using the paddles) downshift to 2nd? Does it downshifts one by one, until you reach 2nd (so you have to pull the paddle 3-4 times) or does it skip some gears?

If it downshifts one by one, then well, your statement is far from being true – even unexperienced driver, driving normal manual, would run circles around such automatic transmission when downshifting from 6th to 2nd ;)

Otherwise, what really brothers me, does PDK automatically downshifts in manual mode? If so, when exactly?

Is it as engaging as a manual, absolutely not. Why? Because you can put it in D and do nothing and let the computer do the work. The advantage of this is when you are in traffic you dont have to go crazy with the clutch. Here in the northeast there is a lot of traffic so it makes life easier.

On the other hand when you want to shift it, you can at any point just like VAG’s DSG. No it doesnt have paddles but frankly who cares. Porsche never does things the normal way, you should know this by know. Yes it has buttons but they are not buttons in the sense of a radio, these are buttons that slide along a track. I dont see what the big deal is about it. My Audi A3 has the paddles and it works great but so do these buttons.

The transmission can be kind of lazy around town if you are not pushing it. It shifts to the highest gear it can as soon as it can just like the VAG DSG. Get on it though and watch it shift quickly. You can jump into any gear at any time just by hitting the buttons. The transmission shifts far faster than any human being every could.

I would strongly consider PDK if I was buying a new Porsche. It just makes it easier to drive. Hey they use them in race cars, thats good enough for me.

Neither the PDK nor even the Tiptronic were ever meant to be used in auto mode if you want to drive these cars like sports cars. Simply put, there are no auto boxes, either with Sport mode or not that can read your mind or see the road ahead and deduce what your appetite is.

Both the PDK and Tiptronic are meant to be driven in Manual mode if you want to drive the car sportystyle. That’s it.

Of course the car will shift to sixth until 30mph if you don’t step on it. What did you expect? That’s the whole logic of an auto box, with all its limitations and advantages.

What’s interesting is that if you read an European review (manual shift culture and habit) the PDK is enshrined in magic as the next best thing to sliced bread.

If one reads an American review (auto shift culture and habit), they say its crap.

The thing is that you will notice that the reviewers who praised it are using it the way it is intended: manually. Auto shifting is just a footnote on those reviews.

Simply put, there is no such a thing as auto shifting sports driving. Period.

Always drive in manual ;)

Is it a crappy Tiptronic update? A problematic first gen SMG? Or VW GTi DSG good? You make it sound like the computer brain renders the PDK into a Tiptronic disappointment while Bob basically says that PDK will hold revs to redline like VW’s DSG (I’m reading between the lines on Bob’s comment).

So which is it?

When driven aggressively the PDK changes its style and holds gears longer. I ran an autocross and to my astonishment, leaving the car in automatic worked just fine. The shift logic seems almost telepathic. In manual mode it behaves like the Ferrari F1 tranny except that the shifts are a lot smoother.

With the sport chrono plus option (and here I agree with you,it should be standard equipment) the game is upped to track readiness.

I drive a cab, a C2, a C2S and a C4S, the “s” cars with Chrono sport plus. Amazing performance. Launch control provided brutal acceleration although it isn’t anything I’d use in the real world.

The AWD cars did not understeer a whole lot, the new clutch pack is a big improvement over the previous viscous coupling. Were you accelerating before the apex? Turn in was pretty much the same as the rear drive cars.

All in all I was delighted with the new engine and especially PDK. The faster cycling ABS was also impressive. Normally I can outbrake ABS, but not on this car.

Best,

Bob

1. Buttons, rather than paddles. Paddles are used in GP cars, Le Mans cars, etc., not because they’re cool, but because they’re functional and intuitive. In fact, almost 99% of Ferraries have gone paddles. For god’s sake, even the Audi A3 or GTI have gone paddles. Why Porsche decided to put buttons on its race-car-for-the-street 911, I don’t understand.

2. The console lever. I notice that in sequential shift Porsche race cars, pushing forward means a downshift, while pulling backward means an upshift. It is quite intuitive, given how the body moves due to inertia when under braking (and downshifting) as opposed to accelerating (and upshifting.) In fact, that’s how the lever is set up on all sequential shift race cars (e.g., Porsche Cup or GT3 cars, Astons, older Champ cars, Japanese GT cars, etc.) But apparently, what’s good enough for a Porsche race car is not good enough for a 911. [In fact, only BMW and Mazda seems to get this shifting sequence correctly.]

Very disappointing. At least, a manual transmission 911 is still great, cheaper, and easier to maintain.

Your loyalty while admirable, is misdirected. You should give feedback to the engineers. The car should adopt to the customer, not the other way around.

Von

If I were going to buy a 911, it would be a C4 with a manual transmission. The only options I would consider are PASM (if the ride is too hard to tolerate) and power seats (so that my wife and I could conveniently swap driving positions).

(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

wince…but back on topic:

jybt – you’re wrong. Towler at CAR Magazine agrees with Jay on the gearbox, and I read another one somewhere that I can’t remember.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Porsche-911-Carrera-4S-PDK-2009-CAR-review/?content-block=2

No other car site believes that the PDK ruins the car or that the interior has too much plastic.

Well two things. First, thanks for the compliment. Seriously. We really don’t mind being different.

Second, the writer of this review, Jay Shoemaker, doesn’t speak for “what TTAC believes.” He’s just one of our maverick writers, free to express whatever his own (very, very well informed) opinion is.

I’d imagine at some point someone else will review this car for us in a “take two” review. Perhaps their view will be different. Perhaps not.

JB

No other car site believes that the PDK ruins the car or that the interior has too much plastic.

I beg you to drive the car again, drive it like it’s meant to be driven and you will fall in love with it like I did and all my associates and clients.

I also strongly recommend you drive the car with the Sport Chrono Package and you will give it the 5 star rating it deserves.

No, because I bet the PDK, as bad as it is, is still way better than the old Tiptronic. The old Tiptronic was something you’d expect from GM. Plus, the 09 C4/C4S model has that cool reflector on the back.

Even if it shifted gears perfectly IMHO there’s no way you get any driving pleasure from fiddling with some buttons on the steering wheel that might as well be the radio volume controls to shift gears.

On a different note, I think you didn’t drive the best 911, because first of all it’s a ‘4′ and second, it’s not the S model. The ‘4′ probably has a lot to do with the understeer, too, while the S has just that little more grunt to make it feel that little bit faster, as well as tougher suspension settings (unless your regular Carrera had PASM as an option). The Carrera 4 is more GT, while the Carrera S is more sportscar.
Also, as much as I like the red reflector and the bigger “hips” of the ‘4′ from the front and back angle, it kind of looks out of proportion and weird from the side.

Did the DI engine feel noticeably stronger than its port injected predecessor?

Looking forward to your (re)assessment with a Sport Chrono equipped PDK car…hopefully an “S” model at that. And yes, it is ridiculous to have to pay another $4k for that option!

Amazing that they couldn’t outdo Bord Warner and VW. Thanks for the straight scoop.