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    997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    ...in the rain, unfortunately. Went down to Porsche Centre Bournemouth today to collect our Boxster (I've had short shift and aluminium gearlever and handbrake retro-fitted). The salesman kindly let me take out their demo Cabrio for an hour, together with wtsnet who purely by coincidence was also at the dealer.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Amazingly potent (I guess it would be after our Boxster S) and the PDK box is so fast and smooth, definitely better than the similar box in the M3 cabrio we tried recently. Of the various modes fully automatic in "normal" changed up very early, driving almost diesel engine fashion at very low revs, but it did show off the amazing flexibility of the engine. "Sport Plus" was for normal driving too extreme the other way, keeping the revs between 4,000 and 6,000 all the time. Lightning fast changes and instant, almost brutal acceleration on demand. The best compromise was "sport", I thought, a balance between the two extremes.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    The jury is out on the PDK steering wheel controls, with the "push for up" and "pull for down", several times using them I wasn't sure which way to go, certainly not as intuitive as the more conventional paddles with "-" on the left for down and "+ " on the right for up, but I guess in time you'd get used to it. I wouldn't have the fiddly multi-function steering wheel, but at least now it has the round boss rather than the triangular style of the original. The new wheel is better styled than the oversized central boss of the outgoing sport steering wheel. Nice and comfortable to hold, the smooth leather noticeably better than the standard sports wheel we've got in our own car.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    This car was pretty much fully loaded, although it didn't have the rain sensing wipers which I really missed. Only Porsche would get away with a car at this price not having such features as standard. The ventilated seats are brilliant, even in the cool (16 deg. C) you could feel how great they would be in hot weather. Not cheap, but well worth speccing, I would say.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    The new PCM is certainly tidier than the outgoing system, love the matt black finish, blends in much better than the grey. Touch screens are fine in theory, but constantly cleaning off finger marks would be irritating. The semi-3D map display was fine but I wouldn't say it was any better in practise than the 2D screen on PCM.1.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Was the demo a 3.6 base or 3.8 S?

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    Louis said:
    Was the demo a 3.6 base or 3.8 S?



    3.8 S.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    The downside of touch screens, finger marks!

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Thanks for the write up! Nice snaps too! What did you think of the new alloys? I put my order in yesterday for a December delivery and went for the standard S wheels - was thinking of the sports design.....wife chose the Carrera S II...

    Was the gear shift light any good? Where exactly is it in the dash?

    Did you try a manual car too? I am getting the PDK just for the hell of it even though I am strictly a 6 speed man normally....

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    Porky Tokyo said:
    Thanks for the write up! Nice snaps too! What did you think of the new alloys? I put my order in yesterday for a December delivery and went for the standard S wheels - was thinking of the sports design.....wife chose the Carrera S II...

    Was the gear shift light any good? Where exactly is it in the dash?

    Did you try a manual car too? I am getting the PDK just for the hell of it even though I am strictly a 6 speed man normally....



    I like the new Carrera S wheels, quite elegant. I like the simpler spoke designs myself, (we've got Carrera Classics on our Boxster). Sport designs look great, but tricky to clean, especially inside the rims.

    Gear shift indicator is the little window to the left of the "PRND" indicator in the right hand dial.

    Didn't try a manual car, although I've driven 997.1 with standard transmission. The salesman offered me the car to try as a taster of what PDK would be like in the forthcoming Boxster upgrade.

    whilst the PDK is a really clever piece of kit, I have to say I prefer the short shift 6 speed manual box in our Boxster. I didn't like the normal or sport plus mode, as stated above, make sure you order sport chrono if you are specifying the PDK otherwise I guess you only get the "normal" option.

    Just a shame the weather was so bad, couldn't really extend the car, a couple of times I felt the rear breaking loose when I got too enthusiastic, didn't want to have to tell the garage that I'd parked their nice new car backwards at high speed into a field...

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Thanks for the quick reply!
    The facelift doesn't arrive in japan for a few months but I am in the UK the week after next and might try and get a test drive! Or maybe in Germany the week after! I ordered Meteor Grey with Sandbeige! The Mrs really prefers the "automated" boxes rather than the manual we have in the current car - so its more for her than me!

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    No problem, it's cold, wet and windy here today (so much for global warming) so I'm tucked up indoors on the PC.

    Congratulations on your order, probably no more P cars for me as we are about to spend the equivalent of a new 911 extending our home So the Boxster will be a long term keeper, PDK or no PDK. This is why we've retrofitted various bits over the last year, (sports exhaust, Cayman sports tips, short-shift, aluminium & leather gearlever and handbrake) to get the car just right.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    dreamcar said:
    Just a shame the weather was so bad, couldn't really extend the car, a couple of times I felt the rear breaking loose when I got too enthusiastic, didn't want to have to tell the garage that I'd parked their nice new car backwards at high speed into a field...



    Thanks for the write up! You cover the important points and illustrated too!

    Just allow me two questions:
    1.What speeds were you doing to feel the rear losing traction? Was it at the level that PSM intervened?
    2.How was it in the wet compared to the Boxster?

    Thanks a lot.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    reginos said:

    Just allow me two questions:
    1.What speeds were you doing to feel the rear losing traction? Was it at the level that PSM intervened?
    2.How was it in the wet compared to the Boxster?

    Thanks a lot.



    1. Low speeds, exiting bends a couple of times had to catch the rear when applying a bit too much power in "sport plus" mode in first gear. Yes, the PSM caught it as much as opposite lock on my part. Admittedly it was very wet, the car had only done a few hundred miles so maybe the rears weren't fully scrubbbed in.

    2. I'm more comfortable in the Boxster "in extremis" but I guess that's because I'm more used to it and of course the 997 has a lot more power to put down. The weather, combined with quite heavy holiday traffic meant I didn't get to reach any high speeds.

    This car with the PDK 'box is definitely an amazing piece of kit very addictive. Now, if I can pursuade SWMBO that our money would be much better spent on a new 997 S PDK than our home extension...


    Nicosia? We're in Cyprus in November....

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Just had a similar demo and the controls are awful! I found the steering wheel controls uncomfortable and my hands started aching after about 20 minutes. Then, the central "gearlever" is totally counter intuitive. It really needs conventional paddles.

    However, the gearbox is amazingly good and I'm sure you would get used to the controls over time. The thing for me is that the gearbox is too good, which takes the pleasure away from driving. For example, it can change up and especially down way faster than a human, it blips the throttle on the way down, it will nail the redline for you perfectly. It left me feeling a bit redundant and therefore robbed much of the pleasure from driving quickly and smoothly. And that's why I drive a Porsche, not to shave a few tenths of a lap time.

    So manual and short shift for me next time and Pounds2k better off.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    GR said:
    So manual and short shift for me next time and Pounds2k better off.



    I agree totally. Just had short shift fitted to the Boxster and it's fabulous, much more precise than the standard shift which feels sloppy by comparison, although you don't realise it until you've experienced the short shift. Feels even better with the aluminium gearknob.
    It's real aluminium, not Porsche plastic syntho-aluminium.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    GR said:
    Just had a similar demo and the controls are awful! I found the steering wheel controls uncomfortable and my hands started aching after about 20 minutes. Then, the central "gearlever" is totally counter intuitive. It really needs conventional paddles.

    However, the gearbox is amazingly good and I'm sure you would get used to the controls over time. The thing for me is that the gearbox is too good, which takes the pleasure away from driving. For example, it can change up and especially down way faster than a human, it blips the throttle on the way down, it will nail the redline for you perfectly. It left me feeling a bit redundant and therefore robbed much of the pleasure from driving quickly and smoothly. And that's why I drive a Porsche, not to shave a few tenths of a lap time.

    So manual and short shift for me next time and Pounds2k better off.


    Actually I gather that this and similar boxes are not supposed to be driven in manual all the time or even most of the time thus necessitating constant use of the selection interface.
    You drive in D and overide the auto selection whenever it suits via buttons of lever.
    To reinforce what I say, the timed Sport Auto time of 7:50 at NBR (very good time) was done in D at sport+ mode

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    dreamcar said:
    Quote:
    reginos said:

    Just allow me two questions:
    1.What speeds were you doing to feel the rear losing traction? Was it at the level that PSM intervened?
    2.How was it in the wet compared to the Boxster?

    Thanks a lot.



    1. Low speeds, exiting bends a couple of times had to catch the rear when applying a bit too much power in "sport plus" mode in first gear. Yes, the PSM caught it as much as opposite lock on my part. Admittedly it was very wet, the car had only done a few hundred miles so maybe the rears weren't fully scrubbbed in.

    2. I'm more comfortable in the Boxster "in extremis" but I guess that's because I'm more used to it and of course the 997 has a lot more power to put down. The weather, combined with quite heavy holiday traffic meant I didn't get to reach any high speeds.

    This car with the PDK 'box is definitely an amazing piece of kit very addictive. Now, if I can pursuade SWMBO that our money would be much better spent on a new 997 S PDK than our home extension...


    Nicosia? We're in Cyprus in November....



    Thanks for the info.

    November is good time, weather much cooler but still you can enjoy the sea!
    If I am not on a trip abroad, we might meet

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Thank you for sharing

    I only wish they had this paddles....

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    reginos said:
    I gather that this and similar boxes are not supposed to be driven in manual all the time or even most of the time thus necessitating constant use of the selection interface.
    You drive in D and overide the auto selection whenever it suits via buttons of lever.




    I think Porsche have set it up heavily biased towards a tiptronic replacement because its behaviour mimics an automatic and the controls do not encourage manual use. But the technology is more than good enough for manual only or a predominantly manual application. And that ought to be available on what is still first and foremost a sports car

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    GR said:
    Quote:
    reginos said:
    I gather that this and similar boxes are not supposed to be driven in manual all the time or even most of the time thus necessitating constant use of the selection interface.
    You drive in D and overide the auto selection whenever it suits via buttons of lever.




    I think Porsche have set it up heavily biased towards a tiptronic replacement because its behaviour mimics an automatic and the controls do not encourage manual use. But the technology is more than good enough for manual only or a predominantly manual application. And that ought to be available on what is still first and foremost a sports car



    With the car I drove I had no problem keeping it in M if I preferred to do so.

    It was just more satisfying (for me, that is) in D with manual intervention.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    From what I observed from the passenger side, it seems like PDK in Sport mode is a better drive than the existing Tiptronic box, which in my experience behaves more like PDK behaved in normal mode, always trying to change up to struggle at low revs.

    Don't know if DC said this, but the car also had seat ventilation, which was quite cool, excuse the pun. Not something I'd use, but try before you buy.

    Also the car was iPod prepped - there's an iPod connector in the rear centre console compartment, though I didn't take mine in the car to try it out unfortunately. Also there is the Bluetooth connectivity on the PCM but we didn't sync phones to try it out.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    DC, thanks very much for the review and shots! I guess the weather didn't allow for any top-down driving, but how would you compare the exhaust note of the 997.2 to your 987S PSE?

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    dr.j said:
    DC, thanks very much for the review and shots! I guess the weather didn't allow for any top-down driving, but how would you compare the exhaust note of the 997.2 to your 987S PSE?



    My pleasure.

    More distant, more muted, but the weather was so bad I dared not boot it as it was definitely twitchy when I attempted to explore the performance. The 997.2 had a nice gruff growl on start up from outside but the engine isn't as vocal from inside as the outgoing 997, which is a shame as I love the 997 engine sound, with or without PSE. I reckon when PSE comes out for 997.2 it would be awesome in combination with the PDK 'box.

    Went to my mother-in-law last weekend with the Boxey and the highlight of the trip was blasting through the 1/4 mile long Southwick tunnel, on the A27 between Worthing and Brighton, top down, and the sound was really incredible and deafening. I wish I could have recorded and posted it here.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    dreamcar said:
    Went to my mother-in-law last weekend with the Boxey and the highlight of the trip was blasting through the 1/4 mile long Southwick tunnel, on the A27 between Worthing and Brighton, top down, and the sound was really incredible and deafening.



    I know what you mean. On any visit to your mother-in-law, the drive HAS to be the highlight of the trip.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    One last photo I overlooked posting after even this brief drive I want a 997.2 S badly Ruby red coupe, please.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    I'll take you for a spin in mine if that helps further wet your appetite - it really is stunning!!

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    mex99 said:
    I'll take you for a spin in mine if that helps further wet your appetite - it really is stunning!!



    "spin" was nearly an appropriate word for my all too brief drive in heavy rain and flooded roads

    Thanks for your kind offer - I guess that would only make the itch worse. Stunning colour, must really stand out especially in these hot sunny summers we are having courtesy of global warming.

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Thx - I love the colour; its just a bit different but not to loud....someone at work today told me that they didn't like my maroon car - I said that was OK and that when they buy theirs they can order a colour they prefer!!!

    When are we going to get a UK meet organised????

    Re: 997.2 Cabrio PDK - Brief Drive...

    Quote:
    mex99 said:
    Thx - I love the colour; its just a bit different but not to loud....someone at work today told me that they didn't like my maroon car - I said that was OK and that when they buy theirs they can order a colour they prefer!!!

    When are we going to get a UK meet organised????



    I'm always up for a meet with like minded enthusiasts with good taste (those with black, grey or silver cars are also welcome of course )

    We had several South Coast Meets back in 2005 when 987 Boxster first came out, they've been sadly lacking since
    In the meantime let us know if you fancy a run down to the South coast, or we can meet somewhere in between, not sure of your location. We are off to North Yorkshire tomorrow for two weeks, relaxing in the Dales.

    We've met porsche-jeck, RichC, wtsnet, easy-rider, DrPhil, ente, erpel, and others (sorry for those I've missed), I am at work and supposed to be busy with nmatters other than Rennteam, got a Type 23 frigate to sort out although that is clearly not as important as organising a Rennteam Meet


     
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