At one point in the past, every single Porsche on the road was fitted with a manual gearbox. Then, in late 1975, Porsche introduced the world to its all-new 924 model — the first Porsche to be offered with a fully automatic transmission. While the Audi-sourced three-speed automatic was nothing to write home about (it arrived with the 1977 model), it did serve as a mindless alternative to the four-speed manual gearbox of the time. Performance was lackluster, regardless of which lever adorned the coupe’s center console.
Nearly 36 years later, enthusiasts are facing yet another crossroads in the transmission department — and all blame is pointed at the PDK.
Launched in late 2008, the “Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe,” or PDK, is a conventional 7-speed manual gearbox with two electronically-controlled clutch packs (more commonly called a dual-clutch gearbox). It is nearly flawless in smoothness, lightning-fast in operation, and it performs as beautifully around town as it does on the track. I’m not lying when I say it is just about perfect.
But therein lies the problem.
Consumers are choosing the PDK over its manual counterpart 80 percent of the time, says Porsche. And, with each subsequent model year, there is less demand for the old-school standard gearbox. With the next-generation GT3 reportedly only offered with a PDK (it is faster on the track, and that matters for the enthusiast-tuned model), the manual transmission’s fate may have already been sealed.
It’s time to grab that box of Kleenex.
