Porsche could be the next brand to ‘fake’ manual transmissions
First implemented by Ferrari, Porsche has filed a patent for a simulated manual transmission in future vehicles, safeguarding the stick shift.
Porsche seems interested in keeping manual shifting alive into the age of electrification, with a patent submission showing its dual-clutch automatic being tweaked for drivers to row their own.
Submitted to the European Patent Office by Porsche, the patent shows the rudimentary design of a simulated manual transmission, utilising the existing layout of a dual-clutch automatic.
According to the diagrams, drivers would be able to select gears either via the gear stick between the front seats, or by using the paddle shifters on the steering wheel, though it’s likely the usage of either would depend on whatever mode the vehicle is in.
It appears it won’t be a ‘traditional’ manual transmission where the gear selector and clutch pedal are connected directly to the transmission, and will instead be similar to the ‘Manuale By-Wire’ which was recently introduced in the 12Cilindri Manuale.
Ferrari’s system sees a six-speed gated shifter which allows the driver to manually choose the first six of the forward-moving gears in the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The gears can be selected by pressing the clutch pedal which has no physical connection to the clutch packs. Instead, pressing the pedal activates an angle position sensor which tells the system how much pressure to apply, with the car’s electronic brain simulating the effect of a true clutch system.
This type of setup theoretically allows vehicles not capable of being fitted with a ‘true’ manual transmission to replicate the driving engagement of one, while still offering the ease of an automatic when needed.
Porsche has previously said there’s no official plans to mate the manual transmission with its T-Hybrid system yet, with Porsche North America CEO Timo Resch saying last month the two technologies are currently incompatible.
“So, the [hybrid] technology setup that we have in place right now, and a manual transmission, like you see in the Carrera S as the MT package, they are not compatible,” Resch said.
“But at the same time, it's great to have an engineering team in Weissach that never stops thinking, and has a lot of great ideas. So I wouldn't be surprised if at some point they come up with a solution, but it probably will not be a combination that you see here of a manual transmission.”
Manual transmissions continue to be popular in the Porsche 911 variants where they’re available. In the US, more than half of all 911 GT3s sold are manuals, while 80 per cent of GT3 Tourings are the three-pedal, leading Porsche to introduce the Carrera S with MT Package.
Jordan Mulach
