Porsche 911 To Lose Manual Gearbox After Next-Generation Model
FRANKFURT, Germany – Porsche has indicated that it is unlikely to develop another manual gearbox for the 911.
Speaking at a technical presentation for the face-lifted version of the 991 series 911, Thomas Brandl, the engineer responsible for the new engine range, admitted it would be difficult to build a business case for a new manual transmission.
“As long as the gearbox exists, we will use it,” Brandl told Edmunds, “but it would be very difficult to justify the investment needed to develop a new gearbox when little more than 10 percent of buyers choose it.”
He conceded that these customers “continue to want the experience of driving a manual 911,” but that the added sophistication of the alternative PDK gearbox provides “considerable advantages in terms of efficiency.”
Given that the manual gearbox has been engineered to work with the new 3.0-liter twin-turbo engine, it’s not quite in its death throes just yet. These engines will be carried forward into the next-generation 911, due around 2018, which should be on sale until at least 2025.
Edmunds says: If Porsche can’t build a business case for a manual transmission in the 911, there isn’t much hope for the future of the shift-it-yourself gearbox.
