Manual lovers - how do you like the Ferrari DCTs?

Its like having an automatic that is expensive to maintain.

 

I still prefer a manual but I dont hate the DCT, and Ive owned both.

Manual gives an analog pleasure, like building something with your hands.

DCT gives a digital pleasure like playing a video game.

 

30 years ago a manual was the only way to go - now I'm 30 years older a heavy clutch and a bit less to think about when driving are quite welcome

 

Having grown up with old school manuals and automatics, the DCT suits modern cars. The gated shift in my 308/328 was a unique experience, but definitely vintage. I’m into classic cars, where you accept that performance isn’t a primary concern and a three-pedal manual is the norm. Different experiences.

 

There are places for manual and DCT. For modern urban stop-and-go traffic I prefer the DCT in auto mode (which I call "Buick" mode), and during hot summer days in slow traffic also with the top up and air conditioning. In easy flowing traffic the sensuality of the manual remains my preference, but if in a DCT car then I put it "manual" mode once car is warmed up.

The most fun for me to use when focusing on shifting experience in street driving when traffic is not an issue, is a non-synchromesh car like a 1930 Ford Model A. The most fun shifting experience for me in racing is manual transmission.

 

For me, it depends on the power level of the car.

If the car is putting less than 350 or 400 hp to the ground I prefer a manual.

In excess of 400 hp to the ground I’d rather focus on traction and steering and less about making good shifts.


I’ve driven a friend’s M8 that puts over 500 hp to the ground and it would be less enjoyable to me to push the car hard with a manual transmission.

 

I own a 328 and a CaliT. They're not beter than each other, just different. The 328 is fun around town or out on back roads. The DCT is very good for stop and go traffic and long drives. In auto mode the CaliT is soft and lazy, and will upshift as far as it reasonably can. In manual mode you're running higher RPMs (usually) and it's all about instant shifts.

 

DCT is great for the track.

 

The DCT is brilliant - far more than the robotized manual gearbox (the initial F1 systems), which, although already more efficient than pure manual gear changing, may be seen as a way to supplement incompetent drivers.
Actually the main advantage of the DCT (to me) is that it's based on a sequential gearbox (actually a dual sequential gearbox, one for odd gears and one for even gears).
Sequential gearboxes (as on motorbikes and race cars) are far faster than traditional H-pattern gearboxes; they however have some drawbacks (like the impossibility to go to neutral from any gear) that make them difficult to operate for road cars. The DCT allows to make them available for high performance road cars, and that's a good point for me.
I understand that there could be some nostalgia for pure manual gearboxes (although I suspect it's highly overrated due to the vanishing of manual gearboxes, except on exotic cars, for more than half a century in the US - whereas in Europe, the manual gearboxes are only beginning to disappear due to hybrid and electric cars); but for nostalgia, it's better to go for older cars rather than wanting an outdated technology on a modern car.

 

DCT is amazing compared to f1, but stick is stick.

 

I have the same opinion. 400HP and below 6MT. 500HP and above DCT. I had only ever driven manual so was worried about the DCT in my 458 Spider (562HP) when I bought it eight years ago, but it is fantastic. The DCT in my wife's' Portofino M (612HP) is even better. I drive both Ferrari's in race/ manual mode, my wife drives comfort / auto in her PFM. The 6MT in my 2003 (228HP) and 2025 (382HP) BMW Z4s is exactly what I want.

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This is one of the reasons I will not be buying a newer Ferrari.

 

Living without a Ferrari DCT I don't hear that sucking sound when I open my wallet.

 

Like I said before. Like an automatic. Just a lot more expensive.

 

I like the DCT in our Macan. It's a great transmission. I can sip a coffee while blasting across town. The $1000 service at 80k miles is a bit expensive though.

Nothing beats the magic of my 360 with the gated shifter or the stick in my 991 though... nothing.

 

I think the stick is one of the most important parts of making sports cars fun. When I test drove a Porsche 981 pdk when it first came out, it wasn’t too memorable. When I drove a 6mt version I loved it, bought it on the spot. Same thing with Ferrari, when I drive the 458, thought it was cool but didn’t desire to own it. I bought a gated 430 instead which was much more fun (and looks better too imho). 458 did sound much nicer though!

 

If given the option, I would always choose a manual for a street car. I wish Ferrari still made them.

That said, the DCTs in modern Ferraris are phenomenal, and fun in their own right. I've had three now (one McLaren, two Ferraris) and even as a dyed in the wool three pedal guy, I can still appreciate and enjoy them.

 

When you open your wallet, all you hear is that eagle saying, "Thank gawd, I can breathe again!"

 

Right on, bro.

 

I don't drive competitively, I drive for enjoyment, so manual all the way. I'll drive my beater SUV if I want to drive an auto.

 

I used to be concerned but not anymore. My daily is a 911S which is a manual so I get that aesthetic everyday. I bought an F430 and it was a single clutch and a little learchy but find under a load. I drove a Gallardo for a while and that was leachy as well and shifts felt a little slow. When I got the 458 DCT it was great because shifts where fast but also not as smooth, the car spanks you a bit when you shift so its dramatic. I got an F12 and its DCT is much smoother (and of course longer gears). I have an EVO and that is lightning fast shifts and very smooth. I've tracked all the cars and the DCT is great on the track because you can put the tach exactly where you want it. The stick is also fun on tract because you have to earn it more. I tend to agree with previous posters that a modern car with a stick makes no sense because its antiquated technology in a new car. So get an older car with a stick to get that aspect and get a newer car with a DCT and go have a blast.

 

Its a 2007. Not an air cooled porsche but a great car nonetheless and the stick is very mechanical and not assisted in any way. great car.