A manual transmission on mountain roads is ideal!
08-29-2015, 06:44 PM
#46
To the PDK drivers: Can you - e.g. while approaching a curve - leisurely switch from top gear to 3rd and wait until the exact right moment to engage the gear and accelerate?
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
08-29-2015, 07:29 PM
#47
Burning Brakes
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In summary, a 7MT allows you much greater control then the PDK.
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This makes it much more fun on mountain roads then double clutch transmissions are.
QUOTE=one-rennlist;12548867]To the PDK drivers: Can you - e.g. while approaching a curve - leisurely switch from top gear to 3rd and wait until the exact right moment to engage the gear and accelerate?
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.[/QUOTE]
This makes it much more fun on mountain roads then double clutch transmissions are.
QUOTE=one-rennlist;12548867]To the PDK drivers: Can you - e.g. while approaching a curve - leisurely switch from top gear to 3rd and wait until the exact right moment to engage the gear and accelerate?
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.[/QUOTE]
08-29-2015, 08:16 PM
#48
Rennlist Member
I live in Western NC, just North of I-40. Try Hwy 209 to Hot Springs. There is also a road that drops down to Leicester off 209, about halfway to Hot Springs, somewhere around the wide spots called Luck and Trust (you can't make this stuff up!) and it is awesome wiggly down the mountain to Leicester.
I'm not touching the transmission thing - I thought this post was about awesome NC roads.
I'm not touching the transmission thing - I thought this post was about awesome NC roads.
08-30-2015, 12:06 AM
#49
Burning Brakes
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thanks for the info--i will check out these roads! more important than 7mt vs PDK
I live in Western NC, just North of I-40. Try Hwy 209 to Hot Springs. There is also a road that drops down to Leicester off 209, about halfway to Hot Springs, somewhere around the wide spots called Luck and Trust (you can't make this stuff up!) and it is awesome wiggly down the mountain to Leicester.
I'm not touching the transmission thing - I thought this post was about awesome NC roads.
I'm not touching the transmission thing - I thought this post was about awesome NC roads.
08-30-2015, 01:51 PM
#50
To the PDK drivers: Can you - e.g. while approaching a curve - leisurely switch from top gear to 3rd and wait until the exact right moment to engage the gear and accelerate?
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
08-30-2015, 05:47 PM
#51
Rennlist Member
To the PDK drivers: Can you - e.g. while approaching a curve - leisurely switch from top gear to 3rd and wait until the exact right moment to engage the gear and accelerate?
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
I skip gears all the time (also up, as from 4th to 6th). And sometimes I pop the gear out and coast - by my own will. Often when cruising I fully press the gas pedal while in low revs - and it stays in the same gear!
I really admire the almost sequential character of the PDK but in the end it's a computer operating the clutches, having its own mind. Sometimes in curves the gear changes are really slow and soft, almost like an automatic gearbox. And operating the paddles so often for the simplest of maneuvers is silly (and distracting!). For track work PDK is undoubtedly superior to a manual transmission - but in the mountains where you don't know what's around the next corner I feel much more at ease (not faster!) using a manual transmission.
09-05-2015, 12:23 PM
#55
As boring as I find PDK to drive, I would purchase one in a heartbeat if my Porsche were a DD and I regularly drove in stop and go traffic. Shifting a couple hundred times while travelling about a mile is not my idea of having fun.
09-05-2015, 12:34 PM
#56
You've just made a solid argument for a driverless car. If you consider all of the computer aids on modern cars, we are just a half step away from the driverless model, and I suspect that its advocates will use a similar argument that you presented to refute those who still insist on turning the steering wheel and operating the brake and accelerator pedals. Moreover, properly programmed the driverless car will produce lap times much quicker than virtually any human.
09-05-2015, 02:36 PM
#57
You've just made a solid argument for a driverless car. If you consider all of the computer aids on modern cars, we are just a half step away from the driverless model, and I suspect that its advocates will use a similar argument that you presented to refute those who still insist on turning the steering wheel and operating the brake and accelerator pedals. Moreover, properly programmed the driverless car will produce lap times much quicker than virtually any human.
Cars without human input will be faster in the near future. Will the same sports cars owners who are happy with PDK/dual clutch/F1/teptronic/SMG, etc all buy cars that free them from the monotony of providing any input to the car?
09-05-2015, 04:35 PM
#58
Yesterday I drove over a mountain pass, a difficult one with steep angles, lots of tight unpredictable curves in the forest and very uneven pavement. It was quite a handful, my shifting was all over the place and heel & toe while braking left a lot to desire. It would have been a more satisfying experience with PDK surely. And in a 991 it would have been a smoother ride certainly. But is it mastery if it's easily attainable?
09-05-2015, 05:05 PM
#59
Burning Brakes
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You simply need more practice!
Yesterday I drove over a mountain pass, a difficult one with steep angles, lots of tight unpredictable curves in the forest and very uneven pavement. It was quite a handful, my shifting was all over the place and heel & toe while braking left a lot to desire. It would have been a more satisfying experience with PDK surely. And in a 991 it would have been a smoother ride certainly. But is it mastery if it's easily attainable?
