Whoopsy:

Not an expert, far from it indecision

I haven't driven the new GT4, but the new one is using the same gearbox as the last one, and the 2nd gear is exceptionally long as compared to the rest of the ratios. Lots of corners that can be negotiated in 2nd gear in just about any other cars can't be done in the GT4 with grace, it needs a down shift to 1st to have any power coming back out. It's the same deal in my GT4 Clubsport. 

A couple of my racing friends drove and raced the new Clubsport, and said the extra torque in the new engine helps a bit to mask the long gearing but it still needs a shorter 2nd for sure.

I haven't heard of problems with the manual, but I do know the PDK box didn't quite stand up to the rigours of racing though.

I thought the PDK in Clubsport has different ratios than the Manual.  IMO, the manual gearing issue is overblown.  It seems perfect at the Nordschleife and on German roads and autobahnen.  It only seems too tall if you're driving on mountain road with very tight corners (particularly uphill).   The 981 GT4 and the 991.2 GT3 Manual have very similar top speeds in each gear, but the GT3 is at 9,000 rpm while the GT4 was at 7,800 rpm.  The new 718 GT4 has identical gearing as the 981 version, but because the redline is now higher at 8,000 rpm, the speeds in each gear are even 3% higher than before with the same peak torque (limited by engine ECU software to 420NM due to gearbox specification).

It's possible that this torque limitation is removed in the Clubsport (and from the road GT4 when choosing PDK option), as I think only the Audi-sourced Manual has this limitation.  Unrestricted, the torque should be in the neighborhood of 460 NM...

I think this difference may help sell more GT4 with PDK (curious to see the option cost), as they'll be able to show a significant Ring time advantage which otherwise doesn't much exist.


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18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi