pdk gearbox

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: silver s

Thanks all for your thoughts as Derek said there has been an up-grade but when did this happen
I had original look at a 12 month old car but have over the weekend looked at newer models

Sorry, but I don't have a date. Your OPC might be able to tell you. Personally I found nothing wrong with the original PDK

 

[Lancerlot]

Some early boxes did suffer from random selection of neutral, but this appears to have been fixed by software upgrades. Judging by the feedback here, reliability does not now seem to be an issue.
Regards,
Clive

 

[Clewsey]

Sorry Adrian and I have to say this, what a lot of absolute rubbish!!

I'm very happy with my 1 year old PDK equipped car and find it to be great on road and track. Yes, double clutch boxes take some of the feel away on road perhaps in normal mode but on the track it comes into it's own.

I've had no problems with mine to date either for the record and I'm sure the other PDK owners will agree that the buttons don't cause any problems for people who own one instead of write about one after 5 mins of driving.

[]

 

[Clewsey]

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

ORIGINAL: adrian996

If you're looking for a 911 then it just has to be a manual.

Adrian,
Hear Hear!!!!


You want a manual 911.... well buy one. Nothing to stop you.

Personally I'm with Alan and the rest of those drivers who know what they are talking about. You really have to drive the car for a good 1000 miles before you get used to it. Then it is brilliant. Bottom line, don't knock it until you have driven it a decent distance.

By the way, why do F1 cars not have manual gearboxes?

Why does the Ferrari California or 458 Italia have PDK type gearboxes?

The reason is that they are far more efficient!

But if you want to live in the dark ages, buy a 3.2 Carrera. Nice car, but no ABS, no power steering, no air bags. Go on, do it, you know it makes sense []

Mind you, I agree with you on one point. The 997 does depreciate at a disgraceful rate. However, I have to say that PDK cars are fetching more than manual ones. So there! []

 

[pboldmonts]

I found these posts very interesting. I'm new to the 911 having moved up from a Boxster (2.7 MY 00), which was my first Porsche and kept a smile on my face for the 6 wonderful years it was with me. I drove a Gen 2 at Silverstone earlier this year and just had to have one. The PDK was a sensation on the track and it took no time to get used to. The thing for me is its options for use. Want to pootle around - leave it in full auto. Want a quick overtake - either put you foot down and take off or drop down by using the steering wheel shift. Want to drive hard - select manual with sport pressed and control the whole thing on the wheel. The options are many and it is so flexible it is impossible not to enjoy the total flexibility it offers.

That all said, if you want a manual go buy one.

I have just done 2500 miles in mine on holiday in France and it was an absolute delight. Overall I'm already up to 7000 miles. BUT - I think I may have a problem with the PDK. I seem to have a momentary delay in it disengaging the clutch when pulling away from standstill in 1st gear. This appears as a hesitation and then a jump forward. Nothing dramatic but discernible all the same. I don't remember this being so in the car I drove at Silverstone. On two occasions it has done more than that - it, again momentarily, appears to have deselected a gear and gone into neutral before regathering composure and setting off. Long enough delay for me to be checking the lever to see if it has moved.

A trip back to OPC Solihull needs to be fitted in. Anybody heard of anything similar?

 

[dereksharpuk]

ORIGINAL: pboldmonts

BUT - I think I may have a problem with the PDK. I seem to have a momentary delay in it disengaging the clutch when pulling away from standstill in 1st gear. This appears as a hesitation and then a jump forward. Nothing dramatic but discernible all the same. I don't remember this being so in the car I drove at Silverstone. On two occasions it has done more than that - it, again momentarily, appears to have deselected a gear and gone into neutral before regathering composure and setting off. Long enough delay for me to be checking the lever to see if it has moved.

A trip back to OPC Solihull needs to be fitted in. Anybody heard of anything similar?

Yes I noticed this a couple of times and don't recall it on my 1st PDK. Maybe it is a product of the recent software change. Not sure though that it is a fault. Moreover, I have not experienced your second potential problem; that of appearing to deselect a gear and move to neutral. Please let me know what your OPC says.

However, once PDK is engaged it is perfect. For example, on setting off from a standstill at traffic lights the start is as smooth as silk. Probably because the clutch is already engaged at that time

 

[tscaptain]

There have been previous discussions on here about the PDK behaviour from a standstill. Some have remarked it's as if the car goes into neutral if at a stop for a period of time and then there is a short delay before it re-engages when you come off the brake and on to the gas. I tried various experiments and could not get mine to do this, even when stopped for 5 minutes in "D" when the brake was released it started creeping straight away.
Try looking through this thread-

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=461216

 

[dereksharpuk]

This from Porsche may provide a clue to the PDK hesitation:

The sports since 997C4S gen 1 have had a PSM functionality upgrade, known as "˜drive off assistant' - you may be aware of this already - my apologies in advance if I am reiterating a known area.


Essentially, Porsche "˜Drive-off Assistant' (DOA) holds the brakes for a few seconds before the driver pulls away; the system has a number of conditions that have to be met prior to it functioning, not least an attitude change from horizontal of > +/- 5o (primarily it is a hill start aid).

I have attached a copy of the drive off assistant service information for you, another description of function is available in the owners handbook. I'll post this if anyone is interested


It is my feeling - without actually experiencing the occurrence in the car in question - that the driver is triggering the operation of the DOA system, its sporadic occurrence may be due to the operation criteria not being met, does this sound feasible?

 

[spyderman]

DOA - not sure I'd be all that pleased with their choice of acronym!

 

[circleace]

Hi. As a guy who has just bought another 911 manual after driving various cars over the years, here is my view for what its worth!! I have not tried the pdk gearbox, but can somehow relate to it as had a Maserati cambiocorsa which worked as a clutchless manual with paddle shifts. There was a delay sometimes once coming to a standstill when you try to start moving off again as a split second is needed to engage the gears ( hope that makes sense ). But once you get used to that type of paddle shift, it is fantastic!! You do need at least 1000 miles to adjust your driving skills and I believe the pdk gearbox is probably fantastic. I would worry about the costs to put right if an issue arose as mentioned but thats the chance you take.
As for a manual gearbox, yes more driver involvement but it would be interesting if what Porsche say is correct that the pdk is actually faster than the manual.

 

[pboldmonts]

I took the car to Porsche Solihull at the end of September. The software showed there had been a recorded fault but that it had "cleared". The engineer who drove the car agreed with me that there was a hesitation when pulling away from a standstill, if momentary. He agreed to download the software report and refer to Porsche in Germany.

After a few weeks waiting for Porsche to diagnose my PDK software the car was collected by Porsche Solihull today for a software update as issued, I'm told, by Porsche on 22 October They require the car for 2 days to upload the new software and carry out tests and recalibration. There is no need to remove the gearbox as it is thought to be a software issue. We shall see.

Will post again when I get it back later this week with details of activity undertaken and confirmation of resolution.

Interesting that the chap who collected the car said "there is a very slight delay/hesitation with the PDK gearboxes". I assured him that was not the case with the cars I drove at Silverstone.

 

[pboldmonts]

I said I would update following the software upload. I left it a few weeks as I wanted to try to be objective. There is an improvement - the PDK is, overall, noticeably smoother in operation. Has it completely removed the hesitation - not entirely but it is much better than it was. I have found that I have adjusted my driving to allow for it. In other words accept it is there and cope with it. Does it distract from the driving pleasure of the car - no. The PDK in my opinion is a superbly flexible bit of kit. It's a delight to use on the move and having completed over 8k miles would I buy another - absolutely. Mine is a March 09 vehicle so if any of you have one from that build era then you should check with your OPC whether there is value in getting the upgarded software installed but if yours is fine then enjoy it.

 

[spyderman]

Was there a charge to have the software changed?

 

[pboldmonts]

No - the car is still covered by the warranty

 

[Senna]

Peter,
I'm the thread starter of the original thread here,
http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=461216

Can you expand on the improvements re the new software? My main gripe was the occasional glitch in first gear. Other than that there are no other problems with PDK as far as I've ascertained in 7,500 miles of driving mine. As mentioned I would love a program in between normal D and and the more frenzied Sport/Sport+ modes but I'm pretty sure this is just programming and not a PDK hardware problem.

However, the more this first gear glitch that quite a few are now experiencing goes on without being addressed in terms of a definite fix, the more I start to think this could be a combination of hardware and software.

Thanks
Eric

 

[Gary C]

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

By the way, why do F1 cars not have manual gearboxes?

Because F1 is always seeking that extra 10th, they don't care at all about driver involment. If they were allowed, they would put in computer aided throttle and steering too.

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

Why does the Ferrari California or 458 Italia have PDK type gearboxes?

Because some people see it in F1 and are easily swayed by the latest gadget.

ORIGINAL: dereksharpuk

But if you want to live in the dark ages, buy a 3.2 Carrera. Nice car, but no ABS, no power steering, no air bags. Go on, do it, you know it makes sense []

I know it does [][][][][][][][]

 

[keithm]

ORIGINAL: garyw

IThere were issues with the VW PDK as in the Golf etc... that were widely publicised, however much of that may have been jurnos and public perception of what it should be doing.[]

garyw

I think you will find that the 'PDK' box is made by ZF and the VW DSG box's are made by Borg Warner, so there are technical differences to be taken into account anyway, no comparison [&:]

 

[pboldmonts]

Eric - it's difficult to quantify the improvements as they are very subtle. I do feel that the first gear slight hesitation has improved. I no longer feel that the delay in pulling away from lights or at a roundabout is so noticeable but it is still there imo. The gear changes, other than from 1st to second when cold, up and down are almost imperceptible. I would like to drive a few more to see if mine has an issue. If it does then I tend to agree with you that there may be as much of a hardware issue as much as software. I have previously been able to induce a "clunk" in mine but not since the upgrade. That said have only done limited mileage. I wonder if anyone has any technical information from Porsche on the changes the software is supposed to address. I wonder if there is a chance for a few of us to meet up and do some comparisons. Unless we do we will not be able to know whether there is an issue or not. The fact that most have said they get a smooth getaway does make me think there is more to this than we individually see. Thoughts!