[Fabspeed Motorsport]

If you walked out to your garage and had both a PDK and a manual 718 GT4 to chose from....which would you drive most often? Have you seen this throttle house video...interesting info on the daily driving aspect the stick car..


GT4 PDK or Manual?

 

[Chris NZ]

I watched this last night. The fact that the PDK is going to have shorter ratios has been widely reported. Yes the long ratios on the manual gearbox are less than ideal, especially second, but my understanding is that they are less of an issue in the 718 than they were in the 981 due to the increased torque of the NA 4.0. Personally i'd stick with the manual as, for me at least, it would still be more engaging than the PDK.

Their conclusion that the Spyder is a softer, less focused version of the GT4 was a let down and made me question everything that came before it as the cars are effectively identical except for the roof.

 

[gatorfast]

Long gears or not I would still always choose the manual. My 718 now does well north of 70mph in 2nd gear so its not like it is a huge increase from the other models in the 718 lineup.

 

[GregW]

Daily driver?—PDK.
Sporty driving only?—Manual in the past but with my dodgy left knee—PDK.

 

[sevencyclist]

Manual, no hesitation.

 

[DriveInHouston]

PDK. My last manual was my previous car.

 

[Baka1969]

For $100k +++ I want to buy as much stock speed as possible. PDK for me at that level.

 

[alf_17]

I would definitely choose PDK over manual, the modern PDK is just so good, and even though I have been driving manual exclusively for the first half of my "driving life" and intermittently since then, I just prefer having the car execute perfect shifts, as I know I could not do so every time during spirited driving and that would annoy me too much.
I would however prefer the Spyder over the GT4, as the open air just adds to and enhances the experience.

 

[jimmuller]

The car I bought already had the PDK. It selected me, not I it. But despite having 50 years of manual gearbox experience in traditional sportscars I am delighted with it. In a different kind of car, for example a smaller roadster with less power and seeming less luxurious, I might prefer a manual.

The thread title mentioned "a perfect world". Alas, the world is far from perfect so the question as asked is moot. In my Cayman I like the PDK. I'm sure I'd like the manual too, and possibly prefer it in a Boxster. Or maybe not.

 

[mattkidd93]

100% PDK

Now that Ive been spoiled with a PDK GTS I would struggle going back to a manual.

Especially when it would be a performance drop from a GTS PDK to a manual GT4

 

[Naptown]

PDK

 

[Soda]

This is just another review that trashes the F4T for no good reason. I went through their video history and they’ve never even driven the F4T! When are we going to start seeing brave reviewers like these run a GTS vs the new GTS 4.0?

I would even want to see a GTS vs the new GT4. Aside from a track and the noise, I bet they are a lot closer than people think. And their chief complaint about the GT4 - the gearing works much better with the more torqued F4T.

 

[DocCayman]

Manual until I have hair on my chest and face as they say. Sorry for talking

just saw this.https://youtu.be/Vcf5kjz-FME

Watch between 11.00 to 12.00 minutes, explains what manuals are all about

 

[RotorOver]

For me a perfect world would be offering the GT4 and Spyder with a turbo engine. Sorry, I'm permanently converted. And I'll stick with a manual.

 

[GTS]

If we're really talking about a perfect world, why choose at all - get one of each. MT and PDK both have pros and cons, but I chose the MT in my GTS because I planned for and use my car as a back road toy, not to chase lap times.

I my dream Cayman garage, I would save the PDK for my PTS GT4 RS with PCCB's and the fixed back bucket seats. Park it next to my current 718 Cayman GTS and a Peridot 987 Cayman R.

 

[jimmuller]

This is just another review that...

What? There was a video? Oh, yeah. I didn't bother with it. I like my PDK.

 

[MLJJ]

Yawn. What's going on and why was this posted by them?

 

[Chris NZ]

This is just another review that trashes the F4T for no good reason. I went through their video history and they’ve never even driven the F4T! When are we going to start seeing brave reviewers like these run a GTS vs the new GTS 4.0?

I would even want to see a GTS vs the new GT4. Aside from a track and the noise, I bet they are a lot closer than people think. And their chief complaint about the GT4 - the gearing works much better with the more torqued F4T.

They are close, Porsche's own figures confirm this, but I think that misses the point. The initial change to an F4T engine was not motivated by performance gains, likewise the change back to an NA engine for the GTS in the guise of the new 4.0, was also not motivated by performance gains. Both the 718 GTS 2.5 and the 718 GTS 4.0 are still GTS models and their performance is benchmarked accordingly.

As for the GT4, again Porsche's own figures confirm that there is not much in it in terms of straight line speed between the GTS and the GT4, but again that misses the point of the GT4. The original ethos for the GT4 was that it was a car designed for people who prioritised driver engagement over pure speed. Andreas Preuninger suggested that if you prioritised the latter you should consider the GT3.

As for the GT4 gearing, it is less of an issue with the new engine due to the fact there is more torque available across a broader range than in the previous 981 version. Will a F4T engine deliver more torque lower down the rev range? Of course it will, but GT cars are not about prodigious low range torque.

 

[982CS]

It always surprises me how sensitive some folk appear to be about the ‘F4T bashing’. To me the reference to it in this wasn’t anything more than a very brief, passing comment - and in comparison to some other reviews, a very mild one at that. Perhaps you / we should be thankful that they didn’t for once make it the focus of their review. Whether we like or not the press and YouTubers have a preconceived opinion about the 718's F4T that will be set in stone from now to eternity – irrespective of whether they’ve tried it, or even secretly like it.

Anyway, with regard to the manual / PDK question, it will be interesting to see whether the shorter ratios of a PDK will really address all of the gripes about being able to rev it out to 8000 rpm.
Assuming they used the same ratios and drive as the current 718 PDK, wouldn’t this mean that second gear would still be good for ~77mph (as opposed to 84 for the manual) and ~107mph in third (as opposed 117)? Is that really going to make such a huge difference in the scale of things?

Finally, I couldn’t agree more with @Chris NZ’s comment about missing the point if you think the GT4 / Spyder is all about speed and straight-line performance. Personally, I’d take any GT4 in a heartbeat - whether it be a manual or PDK – if I had the resources to do so. And for the record, I absolutely adore my (Ehresmann Stage 2) 718S PDK.

 

[LongRanger]

PDK.