vantagesc:
It's kind of an apples vs. oranges comparison because the GT500 would still be less stable than the R8 even if the GT500 had DCT.
Probably true but still...manual makes no sense in a car like the GT500 with so much torque. Yes...it is fun...if you have the balls.
Still I see what you are saying and comes down to whether the effort you spend shifting manually is "worth" the trouble. Because modern cars are increasingly less communicative and emotional, so much of the entertainment value comes from the speed they deliver and whether that speed can be delivered in a way that is thrilling but not scary. So I can definitely see it being the case that some cars, having DCT allows the extraction of performance with less effort that on balance is more thrilling than it would have been with manual. Safer, easier, and faster.
I shift my DCT (R8) only manually because it is so much fun. Not having a clutch to operate allows me to concentrate on the driving itself, which opens completely new horizons of possibilities.
Now you flip it around to a slower but older car. Yes there has to be some performance, but the thrills come from feeling every inch of the road, feeling the weight move forward and back, feedback coming from the steering wheel, feeling vibration of the engine through the seat. In that context, DCT is removing the interaction that is a key basis of entertainment. In the case of a GT3, I think that car is "fast enough" for the road as well, and is a pretty composed car to boot, so it's a tossup between manual and PDK.
I can see the pleasure of driving an Austin Healey with manual or maybe even a 964 RS. A modern car? Not so much, sorry.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet (2015), Porsche Cayenne S Diesel (2017), Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mini JCW (2015)