First Look: New Porsche's Riding The Double Dutch Clutch (PDK)

Although we have yet to drive the 2009 Porsche 911 with the company's new twin-clutch automated manual gearbox, we are already fans of the name the company selected: Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK). All it means is "double clutch" in German, but to our American ears, it sounds cooler than that. The Porsche 962 racing car of the 1980s introduced this technology at the end of its life, but Porsche abandoned the concept because of weight and complication.

And while it's hard to imagine a day when we wouldn't want to work the clutch ourselves in a 911, the PDK might make Porsche life rewarding even for the third-pedal-averse. It works like the VW/Audi Direct Shift Gearbox (not to mention the dual-clutch gearbox in the GT-R), wherein you can be accelerating in one gear and have the next gear preselected, so gearchanges take place with minimal interruption in power delivery.
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JVince - 6/6/2008 11:29:38 PM

+8 Boost

It's a Porsche 911. With its short, direct route to the shift linkage it would provide unparalleled, crisp, shifting action. Order a manual. Have some self respect.

t_bone - 6/7/2008 12:49:43 PM

+2 Boost

I've always driven stick and my previous and also my current Porsche is stick, of course! But let me tell you, I'm really looking forward to the reviews and trying it myself. It's a superior power delivery system, at least on paper. Now how well that translates to a great driving experience, I'm not sure. But all indications look very positive so far. They've taken at least several years longer to develop this than competitors, so I'm betting they got it right!

S4cabriofoxone - 6/6/2008 11:30:21 PM

+1 Boost

What is the point of this posting?

S4cabriofoxone - 6/7/2008 11:20:59 PM

-1 Boost

So am I, but there are already two articles about it here. This just seems like a waste of space.

miracle113 - 6/7/2008 4:02:14 AM

+4 Boost

they got the +/- all wrong.

Milton - 6/7/2008 4:10:17 AM

+2 Boost

I'm sure this double clutch transmission will double the driving pleasure.

Htay7500 - 6/7/2008 5:12:56 PM

+2 Boost

give me a gt3 rs with a stick. no dsg/pdk fancy stuff, just a plain old manual. nice tech but doesn't beat the old manual though.

StickShiftCamry - 6/7/2008 11:50:01 PM

+1 Boost

+/- is backwards - Mazda & BMW have it correct.