Porsche Still Hasn't Ruled Out a Manual for the Carrera S
Right now, the Carrera T and the GT3 are the only manual 911s you can buy. That could change, depending on buyer demand.
Manual transmissions aren't as widely available as they used to be at Porsche. The only 911 trims offered with three pedals right now are the Carrera T and the hotted up GT3. For all other variants of the iconic sports car, you'll have to settle for a dual-clutch automatic. That could change based on consumer demand, though.
Porsche dropped the manual for the Carrera S, the Carrera 4S, and the Carrera GTS for 2025. The latter made sense, given engineers had to make the drivetrain compatible with a new "T-Hybrid" system. But removing the stick from the S and the 4S was a surprise.
"We decided to make one model as a manual, and keep it like that, because we didn't expect that high demand in the market," Michael Roesler, director of the Porsche 911 product line, told reporters during a roundtable interview at the launch of the Carrera S.
"So if the question is, will we get the manual in the Carrera S, I cannot answer it today, because it's not decided. But, of course, we read the articles and read the demands, and we're thinking about that."
Essentially, Porsche looked at the data and decided it wasn't worth the cost to offer a manual on the Carrera S or Carrera 4S for 2025. But if more customers begin to demand stick shifts, the company would reconsider its position.
"The markets worldwide are very, very different [with regard] to demands for a manual," Roesler said. "Normally, you would expect higher demand in Europe, but in fact, there isn't. Where we have very high demand for manuals is the US, which I like very, very much. Unfortunately, we didn't see a trend in the US for manuals in the last three to four years."
The Carrera T and the GT3 are lower-production trims that you'll need to have a great relationship with your local dealer to obtain. That means it's now harder to buy a new 911 with a stick shift compared to previously, when you could just get a manual for the Carrera S and the Carrera GTS.
Things might look grim for purists, but Porsche has flip-flopped on this issue before. The company went auto-only for the GT3 back in 2014 before bringing back the manual option four years later, following customer outcry. Let's hope something similar happens this time around.
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