Quote:
Originally Posted by W///
To me, the tall gearing IS a big deal, enough so that I personally think the M2C/CS is more fun on the streets than the GT4. Is it as good of a car? Absolutely not, the 981 GT4 I drove was easily one of the most confidence inspiring cars I've ever driven. Everything from the brakes, the noise, the looks was sublime.
I cannot think of any enthusiastic driving that I do that would warrant going down to first gear unless I'm taking off or launching the car. All my M's, all manual, some straight 6, one V8, 3 of them NA, 1 turbo have all really good gearing (my only complaint is that 6th gear can be taller on the M2C).
When you are hooning the Porsche in the mountains, it's really not a problem as you can pretty much stay in 2nd and 3rd gear the entire time. But if you drive on the street 90% of the time, the excitement is just not there as much as it should be IMHO. Still a wonderful car though!
P.S. If heaven forbid I was no longer able to drive manuals (I'd be screwed at the moment because that's literally all I have), the 718 Spyder PDK would be way up my list personally.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris719
I was gonna say, I've never driven a manual that required a downshift to 1st anywhere other than a complete stop, or maybe if you need to have some punch at ~5 mph. You can't easily get into first when moving on most MTs I have driven.
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Regarding my 1st gear comment, if you watch some reviews of 981 GTS, you will see how you might have to use the 1st gear in certain situations. I believe Evo's review of Cayman/Boxster GTS on the mountains demonstrated this well enough. For example, if you are about to hit a steep uphill hairpin, good luck staying in the 2nd gear. You will be completely out of the torque band in such a slow corner. Even in PDK, I have to downshift into 1st to get the optimum acceleration coming out of such a hairpin.
Example: Hwy 9, Santa Cruz Mountains in Bay Area (the screenshot doesn't show the elevation changes but going in the direction of the arrows, you are basically climbing up coming out of the hairpin)
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When you are hooning the Porsche in the mountains, it's really not a problem as you can pretty much stay in 2nd and 3rd gear the entire time."
I completely disagree. My CGTS is a PDK and I chose the PDK over manual after test driving them back to back. As a manual fan, the tall gearing was a big deal-breaker for me even in the mountains. The speed limit is around 45-50mph on the mountain roads near where I live and the 2nd gear takes you all the way to 83mph in a manual Boxster/Cayman. If I'm going to stay in 2nd gear the whole time and not row my own gears as often as I would like to, what's the point of a manual? In order to get the most excitement and joy out of these NA cars, you really have to go beyond 5k rpm, which is definitely not the case in a car like M2C. The PDK redlines around 70 mph in 2nd gear and it's still relatively tall but definitely better than the gearing of the manual IMO. I don't see myself fully enjoying a manual Boxster/Cayman unless I'm on a track.
Edit: That being said, manuals are a dying breed and Porsche manuals are some of the best in the game. So one part of me still wants to grab one before it's too late despite the horrible gearing.