New Porsche 911 to park itself

There was plenty of chatter surrounding the new Porsche 911 on the stands of today’s Los Angeles motor show – nearly all of it positive.

However, onlookers and online commenters have been simultaneously scratching their heads over one particular component in the eighth-generation, 992-series sports car: its gear shifter.

Oddly shaped and frankly foreign to operate, the shifter links to a new eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission that will be fitted standard to Australian-specification vehicles, alongside a largely carryover seven-speed manual.

Porsche is at pains to point out a clear reasoning behind the shifter other than aesthetics: a new technology feature that will allow users to operate the vehicle remotely from their mobile phone.

“It’s the same as the Panamera; you will be able to control it electrically,” says Porsche’s 911 vehicle line director, August Achleitner.

“One of the reasons why we use the new PDK, or PDK2 as we’re calling it, is that it uses electronic hydraulics instead of a manual operation.

“It means we are able change between reverse gear and frontal gears electronically; you will see soon that we will offer a parking system for your phone, for when the garage is quite narrow for example.”

In addition to its self-shifting functionality, Porsche’s new eight-speed PDK introduces shorter ratios in every gear, while also shortening the gap between sixth and seventh gear.

“When you use a seven-speed PDK such as today, the seventh gear is an overdrive and there is a big gap in revs when you’re switching from sixth to seven,” Achleitner explained.

“In the 992 there is a completely different step off of revs coming from five to six to seven to eight. Roughly the eighth gear of today corresponds to the seventh gear of the last PDK.”

The eighth-generation 911 (along with its new shifter) will arrive in Australia in the second quarter of 2019.