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reginos said:
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STRADALE said:
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reginos said:
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STRADALE said:
[Huh? I own a car w/ paddles (F1 F430), also own a 6-speed stick so my opinion is not based on "internet forums" or
"pre-conceived ideas". That's a lot of mud slinging and accusations, how bout you besides test driving a PDK, do you have some sort of vast car collection where you have gained all this first hand ownership experiences?

I never said anything about anyone elses likes or dislikes of buttons on the steering wheel, never said anything about them being "ignorant idi0ts". My remarks were directed at the type of system, not the people who would select it. IMO button type shifters on the steering wheel suck compared to stationary paddles on the column & I'm disappointed in the direction Porsche took that's all. I guess my opinion seems to be shared by some here & it doesnt surprise me that the comments on PDK from recent tests so far have been far from favorable. But if you feel compelled to promote it, be my guest, I'll never accuse you or your opinion of being "dangerous", after all it's just people talking about their opinions on an auto-forum not some vast conspiracy against an auto maker were talking about here. Porsche will survive no matter what I say so Chill bra..



No, I don't have a vast collection of vehicles and perhaps it is one of the reasons I don't get confused between systems.

Anyway,I've tried the PDK and I enjoyed immensely in all 3 modes. each mode has its purpose very logical very Porsche.

I didn't have a problem selecting gears using the buttons and additionally flicking the stick instead of selecting via the buttons is a very handy alternative in certain driving situations.
Moreover, I haven't read any negative comments on the PDK in the auto press (European and US), just some moaning about the buttons, which amounts to a different thing from what you wrote above.


I can appreciate that some people might prefer another system for their own reasons, valid or not. However, of all the posters here who object to PDK I doubt if more than 1 or 2 and maybe none have tried the system. This is where my objection comes that people shouldn't be led to form opinions by a minority of influencers whose credentials we don't know. Unfortunately this attitude extends beyond cars and to more serious matters in life in general.

We differ on this matter but as long as we enjoy ourselves with our respective preferences that's what matters.




You could be right, perhaps that's the reason. Can I ask have you ever owned a Ferrari or other car w/ an F1 type shifter? Because that is my basis for comparison vs. shifting buttons on the steering wheel. Do you own or have you owned a Porsche? I'm just asking because when it comes to understanding someones opinions I think it helps to understand what their real life experiences are like & because you brought it up regarding what people read on the internet & "pre-conceived ideas".

Yeah I know PDK is not tip but I'm not referring to the actual tranny just thumb button shifting which is very much the same for both PDK & Tip. I can understand peoples opinions here about being upset Porsche mounted thumb shifter buttons again because they're upset w/ the feeling of shifting w/ your thumbs on a moving steering wheel which is essentially the same thing as a Tip only worse probably because you actually have to push w/ your thumb while accelerating & pull w/ your fingers while decelerating; the very OPPOSITE to what your body naturally wants to do in those circumstances.

There's been a few articles already that have been less than favorable on PDK, I was reading one this past weekend where the writer said he'd still select a stick over PDK.

That's all I was saying - There isnt a right or wrong, just personal preference but like I said I know A LOT of people that disliked the way shift buttons on the steering wheel performed, wishing Porsche would go the paddle route but so far havent really heard F1 style owners wishing that they could have thumb shifter buttons on the steering wheel. That's why I was asking above re: your experiences w/ F1 paddles just curious if you've been an owner of that type.


I've never owned a Ferrari and I am not an expert on this Italian chariot of gods. I have owned several Porsches since the 80s and I still own one but all manual. Moreover, I get the chance in the course of my interests to drive all Porsche models. My experience with paddles comes from our family VW GTI DSG a very competent cross country car with an excellent double clutch system. I've driven on occasions a friend's M3 with the SMG automated manual system and I prefer the VW double clutch much more.

When I tried PDK extensively I've had none of the problems many of you mention, like buttons/paddles , counter-intuitive press/pull blah blah blah.

Honestly, driving the car I was left wondering what was the reason for all this hostility towards this innovative
engineering tour de force.

Compared to a good Porsche manual it can be somewhat more detached and less immediate and I can see why someone might opt for manual according to his own set of parameters. Similarly a Ferrari driver can prefer nanual to F1 and this doesn't make the automated system bad.

I don't want this to carry on forever because we will end up going in circles with the same line of argumentation.

But many posters give me the impression that they have already decided that they don't like PDK without trying it ,based on rumour(and this is my objection) and try to find reasons to justify this pre(mis)conception.

Anyway, there is no end to prejudice



I think you would understand my opinion much better if you owned a Ferrari type F1 system in the future, or at least drive one for a few days because that's the WHOLE basis for my point. Porsche must have thought this through quite a bit so I'm sure there are people like you that enjoy driving w/ thumb button shifters on the steering wheel, I'm just not one of them. Sucks for me that I dont really enjoy both types. (Tip/PDK & F1) The actual PDK can be the very best tranny in the world but because of it's shift button location on the steering wheel I will unfortunately never buy a PDK car and honestly I'm kinda disappointed. I'm not getting any younger so I had already been thinking that if I do buy the next Turbo Cab if it was similair to how my F430 shifts than I would go from the manual Turbo Cab to PDK. I would love to hear their thinking behind it, because to me it doesnt make any sense. I hate driving tip's, I just feel so un-comfortable shifting w/ my thumbs on a moving steering wheel, I look forward to driving a PDK but there's just no getting around the fact it's still the same basic thumb button shifting on a steering wheel & that's probably why you're getting people already that have been saying they wont like it which I can completely relate to. When I get in my F430 shifting just feels so much more intuitive, it's like night & day for me. Maybe you shouldnt own an F1 Ferrari, it could ruin your opinion for moving buttons shifting. Anyway,

August 2008 "car" - Well respected rag:

>>But before you've even felt the new hill-holder brakes release, you spot that Porsche seems to have done its upmost to reduce the potential enjoyment of the system by comprehensively fouling up both shift interfaces. Because as on the old tiptronic the almost universally recognized left-down, right-up paddle layout is eschewed in favor of of a push/pull system on both sides of the new and disappointingly fatter wheel. I'm sure you'd get used to it but me and the F1 grid are quite happy with the other method.

And because a push on the wheel means up, so does pushing the stick on the tunnel, when in fact it feels more natural to pull back to go up a gear, as you would in a racer with sequential transmission. Even Ford's new dual cluth box gets it right so why cant Porsche? Damn It, it's had 20 years to get the thing to market.

But why are there no shift paddles? Instead changing ratios is a confusing push/pull job instead of the more intuitive paddleshift system. Purists will still be better served by the manual. <<