Controversy isn’t rare when it comes to the automotive industry.  There’s not a manufacturer on earth that hasn’t made something that, to put it nicely, didn’t quite stick.  However, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve not seen such a controversial topic as Porsche’s new 991 GT3 for quite some time.

Now if you’ve for some reason had your head fully submerged in a pit of mud, let me explain why this new GT3 is so controversial.  Recently, Porsche has been equipping it’s freshest sports cars with the company’s own PDK gearbox.  Along with the new electric power steering, Porsche’s latest creations have received quite an earful of complaints from nostalgic Porsche fanboys concerning the paddle-shifters located behind the shining steering wheels.  And when Porsche came out and said that the new GT3 would also be equipped with the PDK twin-clutch gearbox, the automotive world’s close followers erupted into an immense amount of complaints about the car.

Even after evo magazine released an almost twenty minute long interview with Porsche GT3 head Andreas Preuninger, and other online magazines also did their best to convince the growing population of groaning car enthusiasts that the car could still be great, many still remained unconvinced (keeping in mind that no one’s actually driven the car yet).

However, the new GT3 is not alone.  It seems that the conversion of manual ‘box cars to semi-automatic, paddle-shifting machines is a growing trend in the realm of sports cars.  Car after car, more and more companies are pressing on and equipping drivers with the flappy paddles as standard, and sometimes, it is the only option.  So, taking this into careful consideration, what can be said about the future of the sports car?  Where will manual ‘box cars be within the next two decades?  Where will paddle-shifting cars be within the next twenty years?  It’s a growing concern among many, and they’re all dying to find the answer.

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