I am totally sold on DCT after driving a few Porsches with PDK. I will keep the current NSX but am looking forward to own the new NSX with DCT. I see the old style manual transmission a thing of the past. I won't miss it at all.
Steve
I'll definitely miss it - I love being able to row through the gears on a sports car. Paddle shifters do nothing for me - I never use them if a car comes so equipped.
Most who experience DCT, PDK, dual clutch type transmissions for more than 30 minutes, quickly learn the manual is an inferior shifting technology - either you get it or you don't.
well I guess nobody denies that, also human being driving the car is an inferior technology to e.g. google automated car that drives itself
the thing is there are people who like to drive not get driven
P.S. I didn't understand this article at all since real-world fuel consumption for automatics and manuals is mainly the same (sometimes manuals are better sometimes autos), it's more about car makers pushing for bigger profit
I'll definitely miss it - I love being able to row through the gears on a sports car. Paddle shifters do nothing for me - I never use them if a car comes so equipped.
Picture this....You're in your new 20XX NSX, it's about 11PM, pouring down rain on I-5 in a 10 mile long- 5 MPH stop & go traffic jam.
You've only got another hour or so till things clear out. How's that left leg feeling with that "must have" manual?
I probably wouldn't be out after dark or in the rain in my present car, let alone the new one. Too many deer ready to jump out of untrimmed road shoulders and craters that will ruin a rim and tire in a flash. My night vision isn't what it used to be.
From what I remember manuals always got better fuel economy.
I have and always will enjoy driving a manual, but I also understand while automakers are moving away from them, most new drivers dont know how to drive a manual and much less a rwd car without traction aides. So they make all the cars in pdk so as to attract more buyers and sell more cars. Having owned an smg M3(E46). It was great being able to relax in traffic, but still control the shifts via the pedal and smg controls.
Also test driving a few different Porsche's at Montecillo, It is clear that the ecu's are perfectly matched to the new cars.
All that being said. I would still rather have a 997.2 GT3 than an 991.
Picture this....You're in your new 20XX NSX, it's about 11PM, pouring down rain on I-5 in a 10 mile long- 5 MPH stop & go traffic jam.
You've only got another hour or so till things clear out. How's that left leg feeling with that "must have" manual?
Threads like this give the dual clutch haters a "reason" not to purchase or......to expound on how they are going to re-engineer the new car they plan on buying
into having a manual transmission.
Threads like this give the dual clutch haters a "reason" not to purchase or......to expound on how they are going to re-engineer the new car they plan on buying
into having a manual transmission.
There's always debate on forums. I just wrote my statement succinctly to match your "game over" sentiment.
If it makes you feel better I wouldn't even try to re-engineer a car to have a manual because that is an undertaking beyond my skills and likely a waste of resources. If I cared all that much I would just buy a different car like a 911 or new Z06 like Doc mentioned.
Honestly I am reluctantly willing to forgive the sin of auto shift if the rest of the car makes up for it. I can only think of two: Ferrari F430 Scuderia and MCLAREN MP4-12C.
I would always prefer a true 3 pedal manual if offered. It is a tragedy that the market is driving us towards this day, but even I can see that it is going to be the unfortunate future.
Manuals are being phased out because of technology. Car makers are after MPG, and technology has advanced to the point that the control they can have with an auto allows them to put up better mpg numbers. The best autos are also now faster.
That said, I still prefer the feel and control of a manual. I don't think I'll ever sell my manual BMW or NSX.
Picture this....You're in your new 20XX NSX, it's about 11PM, pouring down rain on I-5 in a 10 mile long- 5 MPH stop & go traffic jam.
You've only got another hour or so till things clear out. How's that left leg feeling with that "must have" manual?
or even picture this, you are in a car and you have to steer its wheel and pay attention all around, and you could take a taxi your whole life for the price of new NSX and just sleep during ride
Why nobody mentioned safety argument? With amount of power new cars have average joe needs to have automatic transmission. Or if you want chase time. But that's track not street context anymore.
There is that feel when you execute perfect shift.. I don't want that to be taken away from my interaction with machine. I'm not about shaving milliseconds on the street.
Racing is and has been going the DCT route because the shifts are faster and more efficient than any human is capable of performing. I wouldn't mind owning a DCT equipped sports sedan for daily driving. But, there is nothing like the feeling of getting shifts right on a curvy road. So, I will always have to have a manual in the garage. It's a risk/reward thing. It seems so many of the electronic aids that are being introduced to cars these days are taking the risk/reward out of driving. Some of my GTR friends have made this complaint about their cars. And one friend who tracks his cars replaced his GTR with a Laguna Seca Mustang as his track car. However, he still loves his GTR because the technology is cool for local street driving.
In the early 1990s many said the same thing about the NSX being so easy to drive to the limits compared to its contemporaries. The difference being that the NSX used superior mechanical design to improve handling and not just electronics to drive the car. My .02. This seems to be the challenge that the new NSX design team is wrestling with.
I have not heard of a single 2014 - 2015 991 GT3 owner who is unhappy with the PDK. No manual offered in that car & they still can't build enough.
I believe 1000 cars for the USA this cycle and nearly all are spoken for. Starting MSRP of $130K & most ending at $150K.
The percentage who track is slightly higher than the regular 991, but many DD too.
The manual gearbox is just an arbitrary solution to the torque delivery failures of the internal combustion engine. You only know and love manual gearbox because you are used to it. The problem is not letting go of what you are used to and blaming purity of driving experience. I would argue that pure driving should only give control of direction and speed.
To me it's akin to those mourning the carburetor because they can't accept the benefit of fuel injection. I love a twin clutch. Since buying my first a while ago, every car I've had since has to be one. That said, if they produce a proper internal combustion engine with the torque delivery of an electric motor and could do away with the twin clutch, I'd be more than happy with the increased efficiency, weight saving and simplicity.
I think a possible compromise for us shifty kinda people would be to have the pdk or whatever dual clutch,but with a sequential like shift lever...up down bang bang...that would be fun.
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I just wrote my statement succinctly to match your "game over" sentiment. 
