Gen 2 PDK

[cayman]

Its arrived. Driven this now for 2 days with the PDK gear box. Having read all the reviews about the swithches being the wrong way round all I can say is that having learnt how it operates its fine. The gear stick option of changing gear with the auto box is fun and although does not have the same movement gives a new sensation.
Cannot wait until 1,000 miles on the clock to play with the launch pad. The 7 speed box means at 85mph its only doing 2,200 revs.
We gambled on the colours and thought long and hard.
We had seen lots of GT silver with the red but could not find a dealer that had put bassalt black and red leather together.

 

[dereksharpuk]

Looks great Martin. You will love PDK, but now I leave it in auto because it is better than me. I only use manual when I get bored [] Also, like you, I have got quite used to the steering wheel buttons, but I still prefer flappy paddles.

 

[tscaptain]

Lovely looking car, Martin. I've done 3k with the PDK, including Castle Combe at the weekend[8D] and it just gets better. Launch is a great party piece. Enjoy![] Alan

 

[chrisH]

I had a drive in a Cayman S Gen 2 PDK around Chobham track and was more impressed with PDK than I expected. Although my initial reaction is I cant justify the price for PDK, there are some advantages I cant get out of my mind: It has a high 7th gear so 80 is only 2200 rpm-hence better mpg. I was taught how to use the accelerator to change gear not the gear lever or paddles The gearchanges are silky smooth and can be made sharper in Sport mode You can have ultra fast changes and rev limited changes in Sport Chrono mode Can any users give me their experience of PDK on the road and is it worth the money?

 

[dereksharpuk]

Without doubt, I can give you a totally unqualified YES. You liked it initially. When you use it for 6 months you will never want anything else. It does not take anything from you, it is most efficient, totally controlable (the 3 modes are completely different), but the best thing about it is that on track, you can concentrate of line and braking knowing that you will always be in the correct gear. Finally, the acceleration because of that is nothing short of phenomenal. I tried an Aston Martin V8 Vantage the other day. The lovely saleslady suggested that the acceleration was something special. You should see the look on her face when I replied "No"

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk I tried an Aston Martin V8 Vantage the other day. The lovely saleslady suggested that the acceleration was something special. You should see the look on her face when I replied "No"

I tried a 4.7 and agree about the acceleration but the car is certainly something "special" [8D]

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: chrisH Can any users give me their experience of PDK on the road and is it worth the money?

For me, without doubt. The first car I've ever had in 39 years of driving without a clutch pedal and I don't miss it at all. Road or track, cruising or pushing hard - it does it all.

 

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: daro911

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk I tried an Aston Martin V8 Vantage the other day. The lovely saleslady suggested that the acceleration was something special. You should see the look on her face when I replied "No"

I tried a 4.7 and agree about the acceleration but the car is certainly something "special"  [8D]

Don't agree! OK, it looks great, but it is rather cheap and nasty, full of Ford bits and rather glitsy. If you buy the 4.3, you get a Ford Ka key; if you buy the latter, better version, you get a thing called thing called 'Emotion Control'; I ask you, how crap is that? And whilst we are talking about clutchless manual, the 'Sportshift' gearchange is incredibly jerky. I could go on. Better still, drive one yourself; preferable on a track! Mind you, a test drive will stop you parting with about £100K for that is what you pay for a car that is light years behind a Porsche 911 PDK. Oh, one good point besides the looks. It will always be clean, because you will always be taking it back for repairs and they will wash it for free!

 

[chrisH]

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk Without doubt, I can give you a totally unqualified YES. You liked it initially. When you use it for 6 months you will never want anything else. It does not take anything from you, it is most efficient, totally controlable (the 3 modes are completely different), but the best thing about it is that on track, you can concentrate of line and braking knowing that you will always be in the correct gear. Finally, the acceleration because of that is nothing short of phenomenal.

Thanks guys - I agree on the track it seemed perfect as it was in the right gear all the time and allowed you to concentrate on line and speed into the corners . I did find on the road it was a bit hesitant reacting to right foot inputs compared with manual and this was even more laggy when trying standing starts, seemed to be 0.5 sec lost whilst it decided what to do when you floored it. Maybe I had it in the wrong mode. Did not try launch as the instructor did not offer me to try it - he said he thought it was a bit of a gimick. One thing he did say that I didnt know is that PDK was developed by Porsche for racing and is nothing to do with VW's DSG apart from the twin shaft concept. I thought they had bought in the DSG box from VW and given it a fancy name. They said at Silverstone PDK was a wet (oil cooled) system whereas DSG is dry so launch will not wear the clutches out and has a temperature control cut out. Any more PDK user comments would be welcome in helping me justify the £1970 cost, I suppose you can argue the short shift £372 cost would be saved. Did you find the resale value of yours is 2k more when you traded your 997 PDK in?

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: chrisH I did find on the road it was a bit hesitant reacting to right foot inputs compared with manual and this was even more laggy when trying standing starts, seemed to be 0.5 sec lost whilst it decided what to do when you floored it. Maybe I had it in the wrong mode. Did not try launch as the instructor did not offer me to try it - he said he thought it was a bit of a gimick.

I presume you mean hesitant in changing down when in "Auto"? It does adapt to the way you drive but in "normal/economy" mode it does not change down that readily but in Sport, especially if you're driving hard(ish) is is very responsive to your right foot. The more aggressively you brake also affects the gear change response time. I tend to drive mostly on the buttons on the road anyway and the gear change is quicker than a manual! BTW, launch may be a gimmick but it's a crowd-pleaser!

 

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: chrisH Did you find the resale value of yours is 2k more when you traded your 997 PDK in?

You will never recover the cost of an option when you sell. That is a fact of life. That said, I did get a simply brilliant price for my car for a number of reasons: 1. It was the only PDK C2 Cab in the country for sale. 3. It was Aqua, a new colour. 2. I did order another! I think you will find you do get a better price for a PDK car, especially when the World wakes up to just how good PDK is. I confidently predict that all cars will be PDK in 10 years time! However, when you spec a car you should spec what you want and not consider what you will get back for it. Read my article 'Options. are they really optional?' in Porsche Post June 2008. Back copies from Cornbury House.

 

[chrisH]

Derek, I would like to think as PDK is so good, and I am now convinced I would get back a good proportion of the 2k. Strangely enough the spec I chose is also Aqua Blue, the other key factor for me is PASM as I really miss it on my current Boxster, hence the change and to Cayman. Do you rate PASM? Chris

 

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: chrisH Derek, I would like to think as PDK is so good, and I am now convinced I would get back a good proportion of the 2k. Strangely enough the spec I chose is also Aqua Blue, the other key factor for me is PASM as I really miss it on my current Boxster, hence the change and to Cayman. Do you rate PASM? Chris 

Interesting that you ask me that! I ordered PASM on my last 4 Porsches. I did so because I wanted a soft ride and was told that PASM is softer (& harder) than without. This was true of my Caymans, but I suspect I had a fault with my C2 Cab (which they never found). I found very little difference between Sport and Normal. Would I have PASM again? Not if I had the choice.

 

[Alex Postan]

I drove it at the Silverstone Porsche Experience - or whatever it's called - and it is most definitely not for me. Horrid, expensive and heavy.

 

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: Alex Postan I drove it at the Silverstone Porsche Experience - or whatever it's called - and it is most definitely not for me.  Horrid, expensive and heavy.

Each to his own, though I would suggest 30 minutes round a Micky Mouse track is hardly sufficient to judge. Listen to those who have it! Yes, it is heavier than a manual; but the figures don't lie. PDK is not only more economical, but also provides better acceleration. However, if you really are concerned about weight and cost, can I recommend a Fiat Panda? It is both cheap and light []

 

[tscaptain]

ORIGINAL: Alex Postan Horrid, expensive and heavy.

Synchromesh was a retrograde step too, eh Alex?![]

 

[chrisH]

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

ORIGINAL: Alex Postan I drove it at the Silverstone Porsche Experience - or whatever it's called - and it is most definitely not for me. Horrid, expensive and heavy.

Each to his own, though I would suggest 30 minutes round a Micky Mouse track is hardly sufficient to judge. Listen to those who have it! Yes, it is heavier than a manual; but the figures don't lie. PDK is not only more economical, but also provides better acceleration. However, if you really are concerned about weight and cost, can I recommend a Fiat Panda? It is both cheap and light []

I tend to agree Silverstone is not really a good test, you can only do 90 in one place. It wasn't until I had driven round Chobham that I could see what PDK is like on a faster circuit. I managed 134 on the straight. It is more expensive but you don't get something for nothing. I have no doubt its quicker and more economical than a manual, as that is the case does 30kg weight penalty really matter?

 

[cayman]

Having driven with PDK for 2,000 miles in the Gen 2 Cayman S I think it is fantastic, so much better then Tiptronic, which with hindsight pales into insignificance.. Using the Sport button keeps the gear down and loosens the PSM, Sport Plus moves it down another geear keeping the revs up high. Driven hard its fantastic, so responsive, frighteningly quick and so much fun. The steering wheel buttons about which so many complain are fine, you get used to slightly gripping your fingers and changing gear and you can use both hands. You change gear before your hand has left the steering wheel to head for the gear stick. The speed of gear change is fantastic and so smooth. Put it round some country roads with clear sighted bends and its so much fun. Launch control at 4.9 secs to 60 mph, and certainly the crono times agrees with that, and its simply hold on tight off we go. If you can change gear that quickly then I would be amazed. In terms of resale only time will tell but I still reckon that in 3 years the after market will be good for a Gen 2 as so few second hand cars will be around, but do I really care? What will be willl be and in the mean time it is a great drive.

 

[James_G]

ORIGINAL: cayman We gambled on the colours and thought long and hard. We had seen lots of GT silver with the red but could not find a dealer that had put bassalt black and red leather together. 

In my opinion, that's a fabulous colour choice. (Carbon) Black with Red is a very nice colour combo and seen fairly regularly on M3s and Z4s, and remains one of my favourites on any car.

 

[chrisH]

ORIGINAL: cayman Having driven with PDK for 2,000 miles in the Gen 2 Cayman S I think it is fantastic, so much better then Tiptronic, which with hindsight pales into insignificance.. Using the Sport button keeps the gear down and loosens the PSM, Sport Plus moves it down another geear keeping the revs up high. Driven hard its fantastic, so responsive, frighteningly quick and so much fun. The steering wheel buttons about which so many complain are fine, you get used to slightly gripping your fingers and changing gear and you can use both hands. You change gear before your hand has left the steering wheel to head for the gear stick. The speed of gear change is fantastic and so smooth. Put it round some country roads with clear sighted bends and its so much fun. Launch control at 4.9 secs to 60 mph, and certainly the crono times agrees with that, and its simply hold on tight off we go. If you can change gear that quickly then I would be amazed. In terms of resale only time will tell but I still reckon that in 3 years the after market will be good for a Gen 2 as so few second hand cars will be around, but do I really care? What will be willl be and in the mean time it is a great drive.

I see you are an Auto man. I am not as they do not do "what you want, when you want it". However upon reflection the Chobham experience is making me think again, the instructor did say there was only one person who did decide to go for PDK after his demo. Can you clarify that Sport is standard on PDK and I guess that gives you Sport mode if you have PASM. I not you did not go for PASM, for me a must as the Gen2 is a very hard ride. To get Sport Plus you need Chrono Sport, Plus dont you and that option goes up to £720 when you have PDK. This makes it £1970 + £720 03690 to get the full capability 0-60 in 4.9. I think I may need another demo of PDK to see what its like on an every day drive.