Manual vs. Auto

... "I thought it would be only a matter of time before the Five speed vs. Auto came up" ...

Eddy Sain

I would not own or consider owning a 928 manual the gearboxes are museum pieces (or should be) they are old designs, poor shifting, heavy and well dated.

Buyers had a choice of manuals or auto's and no price difference and voted overwhelmingly with their feet a second hand 928 (and they all are now) with a manual gearbox is far harder to sell than an auto.

The manual cars have had quite a few clutch revisions and modifications over the years due to problems with the systems.

Manuals might be fine if you want to play boy racer but who needs it? I can play boy racer with the auto just as well. In straight line performance in the quarter mile give me a auto any time. I can stall it up using the converter and launch hard then use the torque multiplication qualities of the auto to get me off the line quicker I can shift hard and not punish the clutch adjust how violent a shift I want using the modulator valve and play with the torque converter qualities and "brain " programming all I like if I'm that way inclined at not super costs.

I also have manual cars and have had lots in the past I even have a 6 speed behind the 460 cub V8 in my Cobra but if there was a good 5 speed auto available to handle the hugh torque of this motor that's what I would probably run.

So there you have it the auto side more go for your bucks from the start, reliability and no damm clutch to fry, slip, shudder, shatter or bleed.

This should spark some messages.

Regards,
Eddy - Auto and loving it

Charles Falzon

There isn't really any "vs". They are designed for different purposes. The auto is designed to be primarily EASY. The manual is designed to be primarily FAST. No-one wins circuit races or rallies in auto's.

ES: Manuals might be fine if you want to play boy racer but who needs it I can play boy racer with the auto just as well 

My manual works fine. Not a single problem in two and a half busy years.

ES: In straight line performance in the quarter mile give me a auto any time.

Sure, Eddy, I'll give you the auto. I'll take the manual and beat you. The manuals have a higher top speed too. There is more to life with a sports car than straight lines, by the way.

Or you could just use a manual properly. And if you tune the auto for drag racing, what about the twisty bits and "normal" driving? Different programme I guess... gee whiz...golly... aren't computers just wonderful? They can make everything so EASY!

ES: I also have manual cars and have had lots in the past I even have a 6 speed behind the 460 cub V8 in my Cobra but if there was a good 5 speed auto available to handle the hugh torque of this motor that's what I would probably run.

I guess there just isn't a good 5 speed auto available, Eddy. <grin> (sidebar - I bet THAT thing is fun downhill in the rain!)

ES: So there you have it the auto side more go for your bucks from the start, reliability and no damm clutch to fry, slip, shudder, shatter or bleed.

MORE GO FROM AN AUTO??? Where? When? EVERY test and EVERY factory figure published on 928's quotes the manuals as quicker and faster. As for reliability etc. etc. I guess manuals are easier to break if improperly used. Maybe you have converted me, Eddy. When I get lazy or forget how to drive I'll by an auto and take it easy. ;-)

ES: This should spark some messages.

I can almost visualise Glenn's choking fit of rage. Steady, Glenn! <grin>

Charles Falzon

Aranka Young

Girl Racer Here!

Some of us girls like playing with ....the stick, keeps us out of trouble and concentrating on the important things in life.... :) (: mmmm going FAST.

Regards,
Aranka (forever) Young, 928 GT MANUAL.... in go fast RED!

Graham Bates

This is the opening paragraph in the June 1986 SPORTSCAR WORLD article on the just released '86 928s.

"Anyone who wants a manual 928 is a dill" says Porsche Cars Australia boss Alan Hamilton with typical candour.

The 928 has always been a car admirably suited to its four speed automatic transmission and its truer than ever for the '86 model 928s with its new to Australia engine and a host of other changes that make it easily the most altered model in the line-up. One thing not changed is the manual gearbox: with it, the 928s is the fastest Porsche sold here, but manhandlling the strongly sprung lever and high mounted, long travel clutch pedal does little for such a svelte machine: buyers agree, for only five percent of 928s sold here are manual.

The rest of the article just raves on about the 928 in general. When I bought my 928s a bit over 3 years ago there were manual cars available. Two red ones with black interiors for the same money I paid for mine. The Porsche red is very red and hard to miss, I had a Alfa GTV in red and got tickets regularly. The manual cars always seem to be a bit tatty too. Cheers Glenn.

Graham Bates, '82 928s Anniversary Model

Glenn Evans

GB: "Anyone who wants a manual 928 is a dill" says Porsche Cars Australia boss Alan Hamilton with typical candour. The 928 has always been a car admirably suited to its four speed automatic transmission

I don't dispute that the 928's healthy torque make it a good candidate for mating to an automatic transmission. It is quite stupid to infer that this makes the 928 somehow unsuitable to be a manual!

GB: manhandlling the strongly sprung lever and high mounted, long travel clutch pedal does little for such a svelte machine: buyers agree, for only five percent of 928s sold here are manual.

(Did SCW survive until 1986??) I have always tried to be candid about the 928's (sometimes) heavy gearchange, but THIS particular criticism is crap! The gearlever is not strongly sprung, except perhaps going into the first/reverse plane, and this is only relative; it's not as though any real effort is required. That's hardly going to ruin your day!

Long travel clutch pedal?? Did this guy really drive a manual 928? What's he comparing it to? Long throw on the gearchange with the standard length gearstick - yes; but then again, no longer than many others. The clutch is not heavy, either, although it obviously requires actual force to be applied, unlike many light Japanes clutches.

GB: The manual cars always seem to be a bit tatty too.

I am unable to refute this last point. A handful of the many, many manual 928s I looked at when I was in the market were tatty, and I can't remember any automatics being tatty. Then again, the only automatics I saw were the odd ones in the dealerships where I went to look at a manual.

My advice is to drive both if you are not determined to have a manual.

Though remember this: the more you drive the manual, the better you like it (unless you desire a Japanese-style easy shift). It isn't the most user friendly box to drive for the first time but, like Charles said, it is a GREAT feeling to master it.

Glenn, '80 928 Petrolblaumetallic 'S' look 5 speed

Darren Fritzsch

1. Auto's are easier most of the time. If you like things more difficult than they need to be, I think that is perverse. However, even as a dedicated lover of auto's I would sometimes kill for a manual.

2. Manuals are misdriven more often than not; present company no doubt excluded, I have no doubt that manual 928's come in for their fair share of mistreatment. Auto's are mistreated too, but don't tend to transmit that mistreatment to the rest of the vehicle, tends to stay with the box.

3. I think the factory manuals are out on a lot of things, and I don't see any reason to accept the manual vs auto descriptions as any different. Further, the factory says the auto is faster than the manual at some speeds.

4. Hands up all those that have ever attained the top speed of their shark? Manual top speed might be a little hypothetical on our roads, don't you think?

5. With the aid of that little button on the T-bar thankfully supplied by the forward thinking Ferry Porsche, I too can select the appropriate gear to set up for corners, etc.

Darren Fritzsch, '81 SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSlushboxxxxxxxxxxx

Glenn Evans

Devek opines, on its web site, that the 928's double plate clutch is the best production clutch ever. They retrofitted one to their open road racer, the "White Car"; now 6.4 litres and capable of 208 mph. They claim that Porsche changed to a larger diameter (more rotational inertia!) clutch because the double plate clutch suffered at the hands of many mechanics.

I am happy for manuals to be cheaper.

Perhaps, one day, I will be able to afford one of the five 928GTSs which were imported into Oz

... (sigh). Each unto their own ... you'll never convince me!

Wheels magazine last year nominated the 928 manual's gearchange as one of the ten worst of all time. A couple of issues later, it criticised the 5.7 litre 250 kW HSV's Getrag for having a heavy shift! 

Is there a manual transmission capable of handling big torque which shifts like a Honda? Devek's car has 375 bhp at the rear wheels; Mark Anderson claims his race car has over 500 bhp. Devek believes that the drivetrain can handle 750 bhp.

The Honda S2000 has a thumping 208 Nm at 7500 rpm. I don't think that the teeny weeny synchro rings required to in a transmission designed for this sort of torque should give anything but a silky smooth shift!

Glenn, '80 928 Petrolblaumetallic 'S' look 5 speed and loving it