There Will Be No Manual Porsche 911 in 2025

Next year could mark a milestone for the Porsche 911, albeit not one many fans are likely to celebrate. For the first time in the model's 60-year history, the German automaker won't offer any 2025 model-year 911 with a manual transmission, as the midcycle update begins reaching dealers and customers. There's reason to believe the three-pedal option will eventually return, perhaps in another year. But as far as we know at the moment, buyers won't be able to get a 2025 911 with anything other than a PDK.

To understand why, we must regretfully immerse ourselves in the wonderful, wide world of the 911's trim hierarchy, a topic so torturously convoluted I'd personally rather talk politics at Thanksgiving. See, next year's 911 refresh will begin with the standard Carrera in its Coupe, Cabriolet, and Targa forms, as well as the newly hybridized GTS, while the existing Turbo and GT3 RS models will carry over for now. While the base 911 hasn't had the choice of a manual for some time, the existing Carrera S, T, 4S, and GTS have. The new GTS is going hybrid, so it'll be PDK-only from here on out. Until those other three trims return, it seems we're looking at a seven-speed-free 911 lineup for 2025.

When asked specifically about the availability of those three variants—S, T, and 4S—not announced today, Frank Wiesmann, Porsche North America's Product Communications Manager, issued The Drive the following comment in an email:

All that said, Porsche very much appears to be leaving the door open to new manual 911s in the future, and there's good reason to believe this goodbye won't be forever. "Of course, one of the many strengths of the 911 has always been the variety of models within the range," Wiesmann added, "and we’ll communicate on potential further variants in due course."

This comes at a time when even performance cars of the 911's echelon are spurning the stick. You can still get one in the BMW M3 and M4 as well as the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, even though those obviously aren't quite appealing to the same clientele. In fact, the Lotus Emira, which starts just below the six-figure mark, is probably the closest shift-it-yourself counterpart the 911 had going. There's also the Aston Martin Valour though, if that sounds enticing to you, you should probably know that all 110 of those V12-powered throwbacks have already found buyers. Don't worry—I'm sure you can find something else to spend that cool million burning a hole in your pocket.

At least for 911 Carrera GTS buyers, the manual is going away to make room for a 54-horsepower electric motor inside the PDK housing that also generates 110 lb-ft of torque, for a total system output of 532 hp and 449 lb-ft. Even considering the hybrid component, curb weight will rise only 103 pounds compared to the previous GTS.

Porsche's had its share of hybrids before, but until now, it's never come up with a solution it's deemed appropriate for the 911. That will finally change next year, but let's hope those other, pure internal combustion models won't lose one of the options that made them special in the process. After all, the majority of GT3 buyers here in the States sure love their manuals.

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