The Dakar Gets an Upgrade — And Maybe a Second Chance

The next-generation Porsche Dakar is coming, and this time it's arriving with the full 992.2 treatment plus hybrid technology baked in. Expected ordering windows open late this year with a starting price somewhere around $250k before you even look at the options list. The big question the guys tackle here isn't whether the new Dakar is desirable — it obviously is — it's whether Porsche finally lets people actually buy one. The first-gen Dakar's limited production run was classic Porsche scarcity playbook, and it worked, but it also meant a lot of genuine enthusiasts who wanted one to drive got shut out. No "limited" label has surfaced yet for this new version, and the guys are cautiously optimistic that if you want one, you might actually be able to order one. That's how it should be.

Transmission by Wire: The Future of the Manual or the End of It?

Porsche is reportedly developing a transmission-by-wire system, and the concept is worth unpacking. Picture a traditional H-pattern shifter with the weight and feel of a real mechanical gearbox — but underneath, it's all sensors and software. Shift when you want to, feel like you're rowing gears, and when you don't want to deal with it, let the computer take over. The guys dig into whether this is genuinely cool engineering or just another layer of abstraction between the driver and the car. There's a real argument that this keeps the manual alive in an era where packaging and electrification are slowly killing it — but there's also the uncomfortable truth that a simulated shift feel is still simulated. Is this the future of the enthusiast car, or just a very expensive compromise?

Outro

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The Kimchi Crew: Steve, Leslie, Chris, Ken, Aaron, Sean, and Nik.

A shop burned down. There's beef inside Porsche's factory team. And a transporter got arrested for joyriding someone's brand new 911.

This week on P-car Talk, Mike and Aaron open with some real news from the South Florida car community — Arnage Motorsports, owned by their close friends Cory and George, lost their entire shop in a fire. GoFundMe link is in the description. These are good people and the community needs to show up for them.

Then they break down Porsche's Sebring sweep — first, second in GTP, Manthey wins its class. Great weekend on paper. But there's post-race drama between the number 6 and number 7 cars that makes the press conference worth watching. Team orders, a lead change that wasn't authorized, and two teammates who are very publicly not on the same page.

And then the one you'll be talking about: a Florida transporter decided a new customer's 911 was his personal weekend car. He got caught. He got arrested. But it opens up the entire conversation about how broken the car shipping industry really is — and whether driving the car home yourself is always the right call.

GoFundMe for Arnage Motorsports: https://gofund.me/d87d9f93a

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Kimchi Crew: Steve, Leslie, Chris, Ken, Aaron, Sean, and Nik

Which Porsche Do You Actually Buy? — Part Two

Right where we left off. You've got the spec sheet in front of you, the price ranges are real, and the question the crew has been circling the whole episode finally lands on the table: if you had to write the check today — daily driver, PDK only, traffic more often than mountain roads — which one do you actually buy?

Thank You to the Kimchi Crew and Our Listeners

Before we get into it, a quick thank you to everyone who's been riding with us. The messages, the DMs, the comments — you guys keep this thing going and we genuinely appreciate it. This community is something else, and we don't take that for granted. Now. Back to the cars.

So What Would You Actually Daily?

The ground rules are simple: PDK only, because this thing is going to sit in traffic far more often than it sees a sweeper at elevation. Fun matters, mountain roads matter, but they're the exception. The question is what works best when the exception isn't happening. The crew goes around the table — 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 at 394 horsepower and 309 torque, ranging $75k to $90k. 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, same numbers, slightly more money at $80k to $95k. The turbocharged 718 variants — S at 350 horsepower and 309 torque, GTS at 365 and 317 — with Boxster money starting in the $40k range and Cayman topping out around $75k. Then the 991 world: the 991.1 Carrera with the 3.4L naturally aspirated flat six, 350 horsepower, 287 torque, $50k to $70k. The 991.1 Carrera S stepping up to the 3.8L, 400 horsepower, 325 torque, $60k to $85k. And then the 991.2 — 3.0L twin-turbo making 370 in the base and 420 in the S, with pricing from $75k all the way to $110k depending on how deep you want to go.

Which One Wins and Why

The goal isn't a one-day car. It's a ten-year car — longer if possible. Daily, fun, occasionally on a real road, and something you don't want to get rid of. That framing changes the calculus immediately. This isn't poverty spec shopping, but it also isn't money-is-no-object territory. You want to save where saving makes sense without ending up in the wrong car. For the crew, the 991.1 Carrera S keeps rising to the top. The 3.8L naturally aspirated flat six is the engine you'll still be talking about in year eight. Four hundred horsepower, 325 torque, the sound is unreplicated, and the maintenance story on a well-sourced example is manageable in a way the 991.2's turbo system eventually isn't. The 718 GTS 4.0 is an emotional argument that holds up — but it's a smaller, louder, lower car that earns its keep on roads, not commutes. The 991 wraps the same soul in something you can actually live in. And the 991.2, for all its numbers, takes you out of naturally aspirated territory in a way that matters over ten years of ownership.

Get on the Road — Fahren 2026

If all this has you thinking about what it actually feels like to drive one of these cars on a real road with real corners, Fahren 2026 is the answer. October 13 through 16, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina — 27 spots, and the kind of driving you'll be talking about for years. Head to pcartalk.com for details and get your name in before it fills up.

Outro

That's the show. Thanks for listening. If you want more, join the Pcar Club at Patreon.com/pcartalk. Follow us on Instagram @pcartalk. Until next time, drive it, race it and never save it.

Kimchi Crew: Steve, Leslie, Chris, Ken, Aaron, Matthew, Sean, and Nik