The other day, my husband quickly ordered a 911 GT3 Touring (991.2), but even after that, he keeps gathering information at home by reading online reviews and magazines about the GT3 Touring.
I think, “Since you already ordered it, isn’t it a bit late to keep researching?” but then I remembered that before the delivery of our 971 Panamera, he was also ordering and thoroughly reading magazines about the Panamera and studying its specifications inside and out,
“Now, no matter when the Panamera arrives, we’re totally ready!”
he said.
So, I guess with the GT3 Touring, he especially wants to “fully understand and grasp every detail, and be perfectly prepared for delivery day.”
As for me, I have a bit of anxiety like “The GT3 Touring is a manual… Even though I’m getting a bit used to the Boxster, can I really drive it…?” (Such a luxurious worry, really). When I mentioned this recently, my husband said:
I think it’s probably easier to drive than the 981 Boxster manual, so you should be fine. Also, in the May 2017 issue of GENROQ magazine, there was an article about the GT3 quoting a Porsche GT division representative saying, “During sporty driving gear changes, you can keep your foot on the accelerator. The engine momentarily adjusts ignition timing.“
…Huh? What does that mean exactly… (-_-)?
Well, with the current Boxster manual, when you shift up, you briefly ease off the accelerator and match the revs yourself, right? But with this, you can keep your foot on the accelerator and the car automatically matches the engine speed for you. So even though it’s a manual, you can drive it smoothly almost like a PDK.
my husband explained.
Wow, that sounds great. I asked, “But doesn’t that kind of take away the feeling of actually operating the gears yourself, which is why you buy a manual in the first place? Doesn’t it make it less fun?“—even though I’m hardly skilled at driving manuals myself.
Hmm, I’m not sure. If you ease off the accelerator yourself, the revs naturally drop anyway, so that’s fine. The auto-blip feature is about automatically raising the revs on downshifts, but if you try to blip yourself on top of that, it can feel jerky. So it’s a bit different. But honestly, you have to try it to really know.
Still, even if it’s not quite like PDK, it should allow smoother acceleration with fewer interruptions, which sounds fun. I wonder if this only works in Sport mode or if it’s active normally too. I’m curious, so I’ll look into it.
He said this and started searching online. However, since there was no information in Japanese, he searched in English and finally found a video explaining “shifting up in the GT3 Touring.”
He messaged the person who posted the video and asked directly,
Shifting up without lifting the foot from the gas can be done all the time, no need for sport mode.
He got this reply, meaning “It works all the time, not just in Sport mode.”
Also, checking the 2018 GT3 manual (English version), it says:
When changing gear, the accelerator pedal can remain pressed while the clutch is disengaged and engaged for optimum engine-speed compensation.
In this case, the engine speed is controlled automatically.
It states, “When changing gears, you can keep the accelerator pedal pressed while the clutch is disengaged and engaged, and the engine speed will be optimally adjusted automatically.”
My husband said,
Maybe the 981 Boxster can do this too. I’m used to easing off the accelerator when shifting up, so maybe it can do it and I just don’t know!
But apparently, the 981 Boxster doesn’t have this feature.
This feature might be unnecessary for those who want to feel every gear change themselves, but at least for someone like me who lacks confidence in driving manuals, it’s great news. Or rather, for someone like me to even drive a GT3 Touring at all is “a million years too soon! Go back and practice!” as I’m sure many would say… (-_-).
Anyway, this new GT3 Touring seems easier to drive than the Boxster, and a reader of this blog once commented,
The Touring Pack is really great! The clutch is light, and it’s the best 911!
So I’m really looking forward to its delivery in May!