I’m John from the Peak District in Derbyshire. I currently own a 2.7 981 black edition manual but looking to trade up to a 718 PDK Boxster in the not to distant future. I look forward to being a member on here and bothering you with all sorts of questions... The E89 username is from the Z4 forum where I had a new 35is and it’s sort of stuck, I probably wouldn’t recognise any other name now....
Welcome John! We have quite a few active, knowledgeable folks from the UK that I am sure will be chiming in soon. Keep us posted on your 718 quest, though, seems like you're a drop top man at heart......
If your current Boxster is Manual why change to the PDK in the 718 ?
When we had the last UK get together at Gaydon of the seven 718’s there, mine was the only Manual.
I presumed that UK residents would go for the Manual gearbox to get the best experience of this drivers car, especially considering our winding country roads.
I test drove a couple of PDK’s before choosing my Manual, but felt I wanted more involvement.
Probably opening a can of worms here, but I’m curious to hear your reasoning.
If you want to drive my car back to back against your 981 it's no bother... We are on the A5 anyway.
I had a 2.7 981 Manual like you, 60,000 miles on that beast before I went for the 718 PDK,now at 32,000 miles! After much deliberation I have decided to keep my car for the long run, perhaps another 5 years and just run it as hard as I can, extending the warranty along the way. @Muppet I miss manual SOMETIMES, I drive so much I only miss it on country roads, the PDK is the more effective tool for the car performance wise... IMO anyway
I am and always was a buffoon with a manual box - I blame long legs and size 12 feet (and that is the best excuse I have) - so PDK all the way for me
in any traffic at all - no contest
I drove a manual and a PDK at the experience centre tracks and there was SO much torque in the CS I drove that I am not sure you change gear anywhere as many times as you would do in a 981 so I question , maybe, the lack of involvement in the PDK
and the PDK is just faster and more fuel efficient and the speed of the changes when you are on it in sport+ - OMG!!!! and you keep both hands on the wheel at all times which is no bad thing as you will be covering ground at some pace before you know it
at the end of the day - drive both and buy the one you love!
I’ve been hanging around on this forum since acquiring my Boxster GTS a couple of months ago. I was at the Gaydon meet last month and intend to get along to next month’s meet, hope to see you there.
I have had my 718S - Manual - for two years, approaching 20k miles. Based in Ireland. I also have a Macan so it's PDK by default. The manual is more engaging and interactive, but in traffic, the PDK is fantastic.