Order your Carrera with the PDK transmission (for Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, or dual-clutch gearbox) and you get a 911 with an almost entirely new driveline.
Not only is this seven-speed transmission new but the flat six is too, an extensive redesign introducing direct injection. The ’09 911’s brakes are improved too, but the rest of its mechanicals are unchanged.
Direct injection brings performance, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions improvements, power rising to 341bhp from the previous 321bhp, while torque increases by 20lb ft. CO2 output falls by 15 per cent to 225g/km, while fuel consumption drops by more than six per cent for the manual and 12.5 per cent for the PDK version.
The paddle-shift ’box scores a bigger improvement with its seventh speed and because of its greater mechanical efficiency.
That 25 years have passed since Porsche first used a double-clutch gearbox in the 956 and 962 racers is down to the non-availability of software advanced enough for a road car, says Weissach, and the challenge of engineering a compact, light ’box that’s up to the torque.
This can be enhanced with the Sport Chrono package (good value at £729 on PDK versions), which not only includes launch control but also Sport and Sport Plus settings that provide more urgent gearshifts as well as firming up the Porsche Active Suspension Management (a £1030 option on the Carrera), although this can be overridden.
The transmission is adaptive, harvesting vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle movement and longitudinal and lateral acceleration data, as well as deducing the road’s profile to influence its self-shifting strategy.
In Sport the gearshift times are shortened, downshifts occur more readily under braking and it kicks down more eagerly. In Sport Plus, suggested only for track use, its responses are further sharpened and seventh gear closed off.
