Lots of pictures in here too. http://www.insideline.com/porsche/911/2012/first-ride-2012-porsche-911.html
Interesting: "... one of the cars charging east from South Africa's Atlantic coast toward the Indian Ocean has a manual version of this transmission. And if you thought a stick-shift PDK was a contradiction in terms, you are not alone. But there it was, complete with three pedals and seven speeds. Porsche hasn't actually said it's going to use this gearbox in production cars, nor did it talk about any alternative, so read into that what you will."
This would be the ultimate transmission for a consumer sportscar. No-lift sequential upshifts & heel-toe sequential downshifts. You get the speed of the PDK and the involvement of a manual gearbox. I've been telling myself that with the Boxster Spyder I've bought my last new sportscar because of flappy paddles & all the whiz-bang electronic gizmos which are now par for the course. If there's any substance to that quote I may have to reconsider in a few years. FYI, what's not mentioned in that article is that the 991 will be wearing Goodyear rubber. You heard it here first. Edit: After looking through the pics I see that the test mule already has Goodyear tires. At any rate, look for other models to also wear Goodyear as they have been working Porsche since the 991 project was put into motion.
I'm intrigued by the 991...longer wheelbase, but looks like they'll keep the weight down. I still have a feeling it will look and drive like a two-door Panamera, but we shall see! And I don't get a PDK with a clutch...why bother putting driver inputs BACK into a system designed to remove them (and their errors)? but then, I get my "driver involvement" through the steering wheel and gas pedal so what do I know
