Thursday 2nd June 2011

Will Next 911 Get 7-Speed Manual?

New 911 rumour mill kicks into 'overdrive' (groan)

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Another day, another bizarre Porsche 911 rumour. And this time the guys at US mag Car and Driver have got a cracking one for us - they reckon the next 911 will be offered with a seven-speed manual.

But is this another 'new 911 will definitely get KERS as standard' or will it actually prove to be true? We honestly don't know, but Car and Driver is a fairly well-respected publication, and it does seem an intriguing prospect - even though the received wisdom in the majority of the motoring press seems to be that the next car will get only six ratuios. And with eight-speed an even nine-speed autos around, the humble manual could surely be forgiven for hankering after another ratio...

Joking aside, however, the important bit is apparently that the seventh ratio would offer a tall gear for cruising, reducing engine noise and improving efficiency. As C&D tells it, the new 'box is pretty similar to the current six-speed transmission - only with an extra ratio, obviously.

So...the seven-speed manual 911 - fact or fiction? We'll find out in a few months time, when '991' eventually officially gets revealed, but we must say we're taking this latest rumour with a whole shovel-full of salt

[Dr Imran T]

Perhaps I am alone on this one, but would a seven speed manual be slightly overkill?

[George H]

7 speed manual is a bit OTT imo, but at least it would be a manual option.

As for all these new 911 rumours, can PH not come up with one and spread it around?

[Sukh13]

I think all cars should have a really tall gear for motorway cruising.

[kambites]

Dr Imran T said:

Perhaps I am alone on this one, but would a seven speed manual be slightly overkill?

I think I'd argue that a seven speed auto is overkill too, but that doesn't stop manufacturers from making them.

[minimatt1967]

Maybe 'overdrive' is making a comeback?

[wackojacko]

7 speed auto/flappy paddle is understandable but why the need for a 7 speed manual !

[paranoid airbag]

I call BS. Unless they're thinking of a sequential set-up, it would be arn ergonomic nightmare.

[McSam]

I bet people were just as sceptical when five-speeds were first talked about..

Who knows. It seems like a hell of a lot of ratios, and I don't think a car of that character exactly needs another gear for cruising, but it doesn't seem impossible to me.

[kambites]

I think the ergonomic issue with 7, is that it requires 4 rows of forward gears - five and six speed boxes had left up and down, centre up and down, and right up and down. A seven speed box would have to have two left or two right positions, which would make it hard to find the right one.

The only way I can think of to make it work would be to have a very low first way out on a dog-leg, then have 2-7 in the normal positions for a six speed box. Or an overdrive on sixth for motorway cruising, of course. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I never understood why overdrives went out of fashion, I thought it was rather a good idea.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 1st June 18:20

[va1o]

I agree with kambites, there isn't really space for a 7th gear

[McSam]

What I'm thinking of is a normal six-speed layout with reverse off forward and left, and seventh lives forward and far right. Similarly to reverse gears without lift selectors or push-down to allow you to select it, you'd need to "slam" the gear lever quite far over to the right to get this seventh, so there's little chance of accidental engagement.

I don't think it would need to affect the placement of the other gears very much, so long as it's possible to get that degree of movement into the gearstick.

[The Wookie]

I doubt it, there's not really any need for performance unless they're taking a backward step in terms of power band 'width' and it'll be of limited benefit in terms of quoted fuel consumption, as theres only a short period of the European drive cycle where the gear would allowed to be used

[minimatt1967]

Kambites said:

Or an overdrive on sixth for motorway cruising, of course. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I never understood why overdrives went out of fashion, I thought it was rather a good idea.

I would think that overdrive would have more place now than ever, nice close ratio 6 speed box for the fun roads and a flick of a switch it's a proper motorway cruiser, with increased fuel efficiency. What more could you want?

Edited by minimatt1967 on Wednesday 1st June 19:42

[RobM77]

I'm with the others that this is BS, and this is the reason:

kambites said:

I think the ergonomic issue with 7, is that it requires 4 rows of forward gears - five and six speed boxes had left up and down, centre up and down, and right up and down. A seven speed box would have to have two left or two right positions, which would make it hard to find the right one.

The only way I can think of to make it work would be to have a very low first way out on a dog-leg, then have 2-7 in the normal positions for a six speed box. Or an overdrive on sixth for motorway cruising, of course. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I never understood why overdrives went out of fashion, I thought it was rather a good idea.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 1st June 18:20

A modern 5 or 6 speed box has a spring left, a spring right, and straight up and down in the middle. How would a driver ever find another plane?

[anonymous-user]

Article said:

the important bit is apparently that the seventh ratio would offer a tall gear for cruising, reducing engine noise and improving efficiency

Isn't that what the 6th gear was supposed to do? And the 5th before that? Too many to fit into the gate IMO, would get confusing especially if you're trying to change gear quickly. Why not just make 6th taller? It's not like you would use it for anything other than cruising anyway.

[Wills2]

minimatt1967 said:

Kambites said:

Or an overdrive on sixth for motorway cruising, of course. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I never understood why overdrives went out of fashion, I thought it was rather a good idea.

I would think that overdrive would have more place now than ever, nice close ratio 6 speed box for the fun roads and a flick of a switch it's a proper motorway cruiser, with increased fuel efficiency. What more could you want?

Edited by minimatt1967 on Wednesday 1st June 19:42

I would have liked this feature when using the 911 to cruise up and down the motorway, at 85 the engines running over 3k so it would have been nice to press a switch and drop it to 2k.

[[AJ]]

Some kind of overdrive button would be fine, but I'm not convinced fitting it into the manual box gate would work very well. A 7th gear would be quite nice for motorway cruising at low revs.

[kambites]

[AJ] said:

Some kind of overdrive button would be fine, but I'm not convinced fitting it into the manual box gate would work very well. A 7th gear would be quite nice for motorway cruising at low revs.

Why? My MGB has a four-speed box with overdrive on the top two gears and it's great - a close ratio box for hooning which you can turn into a long-box for motorways at the flick of a switch - many manual sports cars had overdrives in the 60s. I'd love an overdrive on my Elise.

You wouldn't even need to bill it as an overdrive and confuse people too young to remember them. You could just have an "eco mode" as many cars do, which lengthens the final drive ratio as well as the usual mapping changes, etc.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 1st June 22:27

[davepoth]

Overdrives were heavy and complicated - essentially you had the normal 4 speed box, with a two speed automatic bolted to the back of it. Typically it would trim a couple of MPH off the top speed of the car due to the extra transmission drag. They were only used because it was a cheaper solution than redesigning the gearboxes.

[OlberJ]

The only way this would work is normal 1-6 H gate and then 7th "economy/over-drive" away off to the right, above reverse.

Can't see it happening though, too fussy.