Porsche Wants To Build More Manual 911 Sports Cars

Currently offered in the base-engine 911 Carrera T and the hardcore 911 GT3, the stick-shift could potentially appear in more trims in the future (though probably not the recently refreshed Turbo).

Working Around The Hybrid Engine
The pre-facelift 992-generation 911 offered a six-speed manual in the Carrera S and Carrera GTS trims, but extremely limited consumer demand led to the demise of the former's DIY gearbox. But while around 50 percent of 992.1 GTS customers in the U.S. opted for a stick shift, Porsche still discontinued it, likely a result of the 992.2 GTS' impressive T-Hybrid powertrain that includes a compact electric motor in the dual-clutch automated gearbox. But according to Evo, those customers still want to row their own gears, and Rösler wants to find a solution.

"We watch [the market] closely, and it’s why we did the Carrera T manual – it was one of my early decisions to do the Carrera T," Rösler said. "We wanted to make it sharper, we looked at the cable setup from the GT3, to lower it a bit. I think the precision with the three gates makes a difference. We are thinking about all the possibilities to get the customers a manual."

However, since the electric-infused dual-clutch PDK transmission of the GTS and Turbo likely precludes a manual transmission in those variants, the company will possibly have to get a little creative. The solution could be offering more limited-edition products that make use of the Carrera T and Carrera S' non-hybrid, turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six engines, like the 911 Club Coupe. Another option would be the rumored 911 GT3 cabriolet, which Road & Track theorizes could actually become a new-generation Speedster limited edition.

Thank California For The 911 Carrera T Cabrio
Speaking of droptops, one of Porsche's largest global markets deserves lots of credit for the automaker offering its manual-only Carrera T in a soft-top variation for 2025. Rösler acknowledged that California's demand for manual-gearbox convertibles at least somewhat led to that model's creation as part of the 992's mid-cycle facelift. He also said that the same customers are asking for more stick-shift 'verts, which lends credence to the 911 GT3 cabrio and/or Speedster rumors. The 911 guru wasn't willing to confirm the company's plans, but he did say that Porsche had flexibility to experiment.

We have the free space in the company to try things out – test other engine types and see how far we can get. Not everything is decided, maybe some things you’ll see on the road later.

–Michael Rösler, Porsche Director Productline 911

We'd love to see the company offer a back-to-basics 911 with a lower starting price than the current car's $130,000-plus asking – a 30 percent increase from 2020, by the way. But unfortunately, given Porsche's previous experience with limited-edition stick shifts like the Turbo-engined 911 Sport Classic, we think it'll go the other direction, offering manual gearboxes in vehicles that naturally have a bit less mass appeal than its base-model Carrera.