Does The Porsche Cayman GT4's New PDK Automatic Fix its Gearing Issue?

[ralphmusic]

 

[Scrounger]

I've read and watched quite a few reviews on the NA 4.0 in the GT4 and GTS that say the gearing is just too long. Many reviewers find themselves driving around in 3rd all the time and to get the best out of the engine you need to get it into the 4-5000 rpm range which, with the gearing, puts you into licence loosing territory.

Matt Farah is quite a good reviewer (currently watching his review on the 992 Turbo S as I write). He's not over the top and doesn't expect every car to have a bucket load of power. His review on the Boxster and Cayman S was very good and he said he actually liked the sound of the 4 pot.

 

[AndrewCS]

A `to be expected` review - outcome and following on from same with the 981, all a bit tiring now as most all know this prior to acquiring these models .... which leads me to shout - [link]https://youtu.be/up7pvPqNkuU?t=88[/url]

 

[Twinfan]

I've read and watched quite a few reviews on the NA 4.0 in the GT4 and GTS that say the gearing is just too long. Many reviewers find themselves driving around in 3rd all the time and to get the best out of the engine you need to get it into the 4-5000 rpm range which, with the gearing, puts you into licence loosing territory.

If people are driving around in third all the time they're doing it wrong - they should use second and keep the revs up. They should also use first as a proper gear, not just one for setting off, and people seem to forget that if the gears were shorter you'd run into traction issues. Longer gearing stops you wheel spinning everywhere when you boot it!

Personally I find the gearing just fine, especially with a LWFW and replacement silencer which help the engine power through the ratios better. It's a 420bhp car for crying out loud, it's not going to be set up to do 70mph in third!

 

[geoff lane]

Forgotten how hot Rihanna looks, that's an old song, must be 10 years ago.

Anyway back on track, there are a lot of exhaust options to sort the sound but I have not seen anyone advertising gearbox mods to sort the gearing are there options ?

 

[Twinfan]

Yep, Sharkwerks in the US plus RPM Technik and Ninemeister in the UK. They only re-gear 3/4/5 though so you essentially end up with two second gears. All because I think 1/2 are fixed in the box(?) so very costly to change. This is why it's not a popular option as the benefit doesn't outweigh the cost. Better to get the car to go through the existing gears better [] I'd get a LWFW over a re-gear as you might guess!

I don't think dropping the overall gearing down through the final drive is an option either as you lose the cruising 6th and traction in gears 1 and 2...

 

[Motorhead]

Agreed Dave, and I think the long gearing issue has been done to death … time to move on.

Although the PDK transmission has a slightly lower 2nd gear and different overall gearing, when I looked at it a little while ago I wasn’t convinced that it was going to provide a sea-change over the manual. The faster shifting is probably going to be the key issue for most owners.

Jeff

 

[JohnCRS]

Seems we have the best of both worlds with our cars as they are. Going out to the Yorkshire Dales there is Sport or Sport+ and the first three gears to enjoy the twisty bits and a nice relaxed top in normal mode for the dual carriageway on the way home. (And if COVID goes away swap dales for the Alps and the A1 for Route du Soleil[])

 

[Brian_Innes]

Agreed Jeff.

For lap time aficionados PDK is the one to go for. On busy tracks like Knockhill and Oulton Park, PDK allows both hands on the wheel with milli-second gear shifts.

PDK also better in the wet for short-shifting during corner combinations.

Just my observations following extensive track experience with both manual and PDK.

Brian

PS. With regard to gearing, the shorter gear ratios of the PDK in all the intermediate gears, however small they may seem on paper, have a noticeable effect on the improving the performance of the car in acceleration across the rev range.

 

[Twinfan]

I've just found this posted on Rennlist which looks like it might be pretty accurate?

 

[Brian_Innes]

David,

That is a brilliant illustration of the relative difference in road speeds between PDK and 6 speed manual gearboxes. Thanks for posting that very illuminating information.

Brian