Porsche has announced its much anticipated seven-speed manual transmission option is now available to order in the UK and other European markets. The manual joins the 911’s standard eight-speed PDK on Carrera S and Carrera 4S models as a no-cost option, but will not be available on the standard Carrera or Turbo models, however a future Carrera T fitted with the manual transmission might be on the cards.
The seven-speed transmission itself has been engineered specifically to improve its tactility compared to the first seven-speed introduced in the previous 991-generation 911, while the switchable auto-blipping function and shorter throw promise faster change times than were possible before.
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Alongside the manual transmission is the requisite selection of Porsche’s Sport Chrono Package, which itself includes dynamic engine mounts, a dash-mounted stopwatch and a steering wheel-mounted mode switch that itself includes a specific Sport Plus driver mode, an intermediate Sport setting for the Porsche Stability Management and a launch control function. New for 2020 is also the addition of a tyre temperature monitoring system, a system that was introduced on the new 911 Turbo.
Porsche Torque Vectoring must also be optioned, a system that varies power across the rear axle via both individual brake activation and a limited slip differential with the ability to asymmetrically lock one rear axle or the other for optimal traction.
Acceleration times are naturally slightly behind models fitted with the PDK, with Carrera S models taking 4.2sec to reach 62mph, 0.7 of a second slower. Top speed of the two are identical at 191mph, a figure reached in sixth gear in the manual, rather than the much longer seventh. There is a useful weight advantage between the two transmissions though, the manual Carrera S weighing 1480kg, 45kg less than an identically specified model fitted with the PDK.
Alongside the new transmission, Porsche has also released a few new options for the 992 including a ‘smart’ nose lift that automatically activates based on location, and the extended autonomous driving aids derived from systems found in the Cayenne and Panamera.
The manual transmission has been available in North American markets since last November, but European buyers have had to wait patiently for Porsche to finalise the more exhaustive emissions regulation and testing before being available here. The transmission itself is a no-cost option, but due to the chassis options required to be specified alongside it, the manual is not representative of the basic 911 it once was.
