7 speed manual gearbox

[Wondermike]

The forthcoming 911 is rumoured to be getting a 7 speed manual gearbox. My SLK was a 7 speed as is the E89 DCT Z4, and the 28i will have 8 speeds, but they are all auto gearboxes.

I just can't see how this will translate as a manual, just seems one plane too many to deal with manually.

http://jalopnik.com/5818480/is-this-porsches-7+speed-manual-tranny-layout

 

[powerontap]

Yes I mentioned this on a previous post, when announcing that Lambo had discontinued it's manual option altogether. Agree that a 7th gear might seem odd at first, but I'd take that any day over the paddle shifting options (killing the purist approach to making sport cars...)

For me, it's all about the feeling of being totally involved in the driving experience, not the .5 seconds difference to 60mph...

 

[pvr]

I would not mind that at all!

 

[peddy]

I don't see an issue... it's there if you need it!

 

[a11y]

You wonder if a 7-speed manual would be better laid out with a dog-leg 1st, leaving it easier for changes between 2-3-4-5-6-7 on the move? But then if they intend the 7th gear as an "overdrive" then I suppose it makes sense if that's the layout and is actually the Porsche...

Seems a lot of gears though!

 

[Z4 Beemer]

I remember when 6 speed gearboxes started appearing on cars and that felt weird at first. I agree though, it does seem a lot of gears to shift manually!

 

[ChawenHalo]

some cars are just such a handfull they need paddleshifts. I do love a manual, but just look at the GTO. Theres no way you could drive that thing without some king of sequential box.

I'm happy to have a 7th gear if it means keeping a NA engine.

 

[Wondermike]

Yeah more what I was meaning was how do you accommodate four planes in the gearbox, currently there is left, middle, right (forgetting about reverse).

The pic below is meant to be how it will be, but currently in a manual when you push the shifter to the right you know you are in the 5th/6th gear plane, but this will make it harder. Going from 6th how will you know if you are shifting to 7th and not 5th. I suppose there could be some kind of lockout like reverse.

 

[pvr]

Well, I don't make mistakes in going from 2 to 3 or from any gear to any other, so the 7th won't matter either.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Well, I don't make mistakes in going from 2 to 3 or from any gear to any other, so the 7th won't matter either.

I agree with Wondermike. Presently, you have straight forwards and backwards for the third/fourth, and push the shifter to the left for the first/second plane, and to the right for the fifth/sixth plane.
With a seven speed box, it would be very difficult to be sure how far to push the shifter to the right when changing from the third/fourth plane, to the fifth/sixth plane, without running the risk of enter the plane for seventh gear.

Going from 6th how will you know if you are shifting to 7th and not 5th.

I would be more concerned that I might inadvertently engage seventh when endeavouring to change from fourth to fifth.

 

[powerontap]

^^^^^^ I just love this sh*t, working the gears, feeling involved, just show me some open road I can chew on. It's all good

 

[RichardG]

Is the principle really any different from when we had to get used to using 5 gears instead of 4.
though i'd be curious to see if 7th is going to be overdrive \ motorway gear as 5th used to be or are they just cramming more gears into the same range.

 

[EdButler]

The principle is very different imho... Instead of the stick having a neutral, left and right position, there must now be an extra right position (or indeed an overdrive button, old skool style, which would be cool). So when going 4th to 5th for example, you'd have to shift up&right, but not so far right or you'll catch 7th! 7th to 6th will also encounter this problem (down&left, but not too far left otherwise... whoops thats 4th and my valves have just hit the pistons!)

As said above, this could be done with some kind of gate, but that may make things more fiddly...

 

[RichardG]

The principle is very different imho... Instead of the stick having a neutral, left and right position, there must now be an extra right position (or indeed an overdrive button, old skool style, which would be cool). So when going 4th to 5th for example, you'd have to shift up&right, but not so far right or you'll catch 7th! 7th to 6th will also encounter this problem (down&left, but not too far left otherwise... whoops thats 4th and my valves have just hit the pistons!)

As said above, this could be done with some kind of gate, but that may make things more fiddly...

But that's exactly what happened when we switched to 5 speed boxes and extra dog leg for 5th, people worried about going into 3rd intsead of 5th and if you look at the gearknob example pic that's what we have if we get a new dogleg for 7th. or maybe I'm missing something.