End of manual Porsches?

It is possibly the news that any Porsche enthusiast has feared most over the past couple of years. According to Automobile – a USA motoring publication – the current 911’s project manager, Michael Schätzle, predicts that the last manual transmission 911s could be phased out by 2020. This means that either this new 991 generation of Porsche 911s, or at the latest the next generation, will be last manual version of the iconic sportscar. This news Schätzle shared during a media event at the launch of the new 911 Cabriolet.

This might not come as to big a surprise. After all, Ferrari has already stopped manufacturing manual transmissions, while Lamborghini is also highly likely of phasing it out in the near future. Having said that, Porsche is known for its road racers such as its GT2 and GT3 sports cars, not to mention the hardcore RS range, and removing the experience of shifting gears manually will certainly take away a huge part of the driver involvement. Even though some engineers at Porsche might still favour the three-pedal setup, most of Porsche’s customers and management prefer its PDK transmission. This automatic gearbox is both quicker in terms of launching the car from standstill, acceleration and fuel efficiency compared to the manual transmission.

Globally, around 78 per cent of the previous-generation Porsche 911 (code name 997) were equipped with PDK gearboxes. This statistic shows to an extent on where Schätzle bases his personal opinion. Fortunately, he confirmed that no decision has been made.