Are Spyders Becoming Extinct At OPCs!
- Thread starter daro911
- Start date
Nice reading flat6 and your point about the harshness of ride was also true when comparing the 987S but not as much as the new improved chassis and suspension the 981 now has Do you agree with what sales keep saying refs a 981 has to be a pdk today even though the stats are very much 50/50 unlike the 991's Have you tried a 981 stick shift I haven't as all demo cars seem to be pdk only[&o]ORIGINAL: flat6Earlier this week I had this for a couple of days.ORIGINAL: kitchens Just had the Spyder's first service done at 5036 miles and it was Free part of the negotiations when i bought it in May 2013 with 1450 miles on the clock . No advisory points .hand brake was adjusted and that was it . I spoke to the salesman who sold me the car and i was telling him about the following we have on the PCGB forum.He was amazed at the number of hits . He was the one that specked the car when they ordered it in Sept 2011 and i told him he did a good job and ticked all the right boxes . I said some have non Spyder wheels and Sports seats etc he said at one point buckets and wheels where in short supply this may answer why some have what is considered the wrong bits.[] I was given a loan 981 manual Boxster 2.7 with Sport Mode and PSE but have to say was not taken with it .Had Alcantara seats not sports fitted if you think Buckets are firm you should try these the buckets fell like a comfy arm chair in comparison .I did like the gear shift to be fair a lot easier to select than the short shifter . He had 4 inquiries after he sold my car and has people on a list if a car becomes available . Have to say i prefer the Spyder over the car i drove did not like the electric park brake or the stop start mode it suits PDK but not a manual the boot is small also no chance of golf clubs fitting in .
It's the 3.4S PDK. Drove it home in auto but the following day I drove it to work in manual for a bit a I used the gear lever rather than steering wheel buttons. It didn't have paddles and without much thought I just opted for the gear lever. Doesn't take advantage of shifting from the steering wheel but I wasn't going flat out. Was quite nice when accelerating through the gears and keeping the throttle open. When driving slowly all I could think about was "I bet the car knows better shift points". In a manual you don't think about economy and just shift up when you feel a certain pull from the engine, whether that be a strong pull to know its safe to shift up without dropping the revs too much, or if you're pushing on, when the acceleration flattens out at the top end. The engine is so smooth that I just shifted up at what felt was good for normal driving and I think that was around 2000 rpm. When I was accelerating hard it was easier to get the signal from the engine when to shift. Down-shifts were smooth when slowing to a halt but did feel a bit pointless trying to manually, smoothly slow a car down to stationary when it has an auto box that does it so seamlessly. On the motorway, and back in auto, the kickdown was instantaneous. In fact, driving anywhere that was the case. But on the motorway, opening the throttle full, the kickdown from 7th to 2nd was quick. The 987 PDK (in my limited experience) would ponder for a bit and say "What the... Oh ok, you need to be somewhere in a hurry. I'll give you, erm, 3rd" by which time i'd lost all confidence in diving out into traffic in auto in normal mode again (I appreciate I don't own a 987 PDK and not so used to how to use it best). Not so in 981 PDK which is so responsive in normal mode, giving you gears you didn't know you'd prefer, even swapping between 7th, 6th and 5th when you're not on a charge, just mildly accelerating (or sneezing[
I have driven manual 981s. They are an absolute joy. The lever is higher up than in our cars hence closer to the steering wheel. Very sweet shifting, I rate them highly.
Thanks daro[
] The question of PDK is a personal one but i'll answer whether I think the car needs a manual option. Personally I think it doesn't. I've driven manual 981s and the gearbox is slick, but I think the only reason Porsche makes a manual is because they recognise that plenty of people want a manual. I guess some prefer to stick to what they know, or what feels best in terms of enjoyment or what feels best in terms of how they drive. With the 987, the latter was my reason for staying with manual. However, i'm up for embracing change when I think it's clearly better and to me, 981 PDK is clearly better than a manual. I think it will take a while to get used to automated transmission, which isn't going to happen on a few test drives, but i'd take it anyway in the belief that I will adapt, rather that keep myself stuck in the past when the future is actually the present. We all embrace change where we feel it benefits. E.g. some happily use a calculator and let their mental arithmetic ability waste away. Some will battle with getting to grips with computers and smart phones even if it almost blows their brain, if they feel that the pain is worth the gain. Some may feel they're too long in the tooth to be faffing around with something new when they could be continuing to enjoy what they're happy with. You can't miss what you don't know. But does the 981 need a manual? Automated transmissions are clearly quicker and more efficient in terms of performance and economy. The GT3 was falling behind its competition and needed PDK. To not offer manual on the 991 GT3 says a lot to me. It doesn't need it. Some potential buyers may want it but it wouldn't be the car Porsche wants it to be and it would have purely have been a move to cater for nostalgia. Engineers need to continue to develop their machines to try to be ahead of the competition, especially in the performance car arena. Along with their test drivers, they will have concluded that swapping gears manually was too far behind all the other advancements they had made. You could say that a manual transmission couldn't be made to keep up. I personally reckon that the only reason the 997 GT3 was manual only was because there was a sufficient number of buyers of the right type to enable Porsche to skip developing a PDK for the Mezger engine. Now those loyal buyers feel left out in the cold because they believed that Porsche believed that the GT3 must be, or needed to be manual. Instead, the manual went when the Mezger went. Conversely, Porsche feels that the new 991 GT3 must be PDK and has skipped developing a manual for it, which would have only been to satisfy certain buyers rather than being worthy of the product they were out to build.
Don't forget brand new Boxster is still (currently at least) the entry level Porsche starting at a smidge over £38k. You wonder what the split in sales would be if PDK wasn't so expensive?
Woops!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hStcyDj830Q
Yikes! That's pretty shocking!
Yeah but the foot was too heavy on the brake pedal, if he'd lifted it off he may have got round
Yeah, I think so. It's £1922 - am sure plenty of people would rather invest that in built in satnav!
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