UberXY

My 915 shifts smoothly, no baulking into any gear. But then again, it only has 43k miles on it, and I drive it not like I stole it, but like I paid a good price for it.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference on the 915, but I learned to drive on cars with non-synchro'd first gears, and as a result I don't shift into first while in motion, even in fully synchro'd boxes.

Also, when I endurance raced E30's, I adopted Mark Donahue's advice on down shifting, which is basically: don't do it. He said that if you are approaching a 2nd gear corner in 5th, brake in fifth until your speed matches 2nd, and skip the intermediate downshifts into 4th and 3rd. In a four hundred lap race, saving 6 shifts a lap adds up, and saves wear on the car and driver.

Caferacer

I similarly grew up driving Triumphs with non-syncro'd 1st gears so on those occasions where I am downshifting to first (like when approaching a stop sign) I automatically double clutch on my G50 out of habit. Do others double clutch on 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gear downshifts?

GTgears

I pretty much only double clutch downshift 2nd gear on my 915. Even on the track I don't generally need to on any other gears.

I also always rev to 4000-4500rpm on the 1-2 upshift. I don't know why I would need to stay under 3500rpm. That makes no sense. You just can't make the 1-2 shift at redline unless you let the rpms drop a little bit before you push it into 2nd.

Caferacer

With a couple of thousand city miles over the last few months of ownership I do lots of 1-2 shifts and the advice of this board - confirmed through recent experience - has me also shifting between 4,000 and 4,500 with an ever so slight pause before slotting into 2nd. I have found that a gentle touch and the recognition that this is not a drag racer yields the most satisying results. God I love my car.

Can't wait for tomorrow's 230 mile roundtrip for a business meeting in PA followed by a Rennlist Off Topic Fun Run on Saturday morning through Harriman State Park.

Peter Zimmermann

And when the time comes to correctly repair one of those lovely 915s...

http://porsche.wikidot.com/

Scroll down the left side of page, click on "915" under "Page tags," and you will be transported to my 915 Tutorial. Enjoy!

w00tPORSCHE

Thank U Pete Z. I always knew where to get my 915 rebuilt when it is time. You better not move to the east coast. On a side note, I thought you guys would get a kick out of this piece of (mis)information on that same article that I quoted. It is surprising that this passed the proof read on such a high quality magazine.

ivangene

^^^^ funny !!

theiceman

Well i would say that makes it not a high quality Magazine right ?

just like the well respected Porsche techs that everone mentioned worked on their cars then come here for help fixing.. i have always wondered about that .. i wouldnt even put that in a post if i was trying to get help fixing a problem afterwards ..

anyway

Carry on

tincob

I'll get to test drive my first 915 (911SC) today followed by a second 915 on the weekend.

I'll see what this 915 "experience" is all about.

theiceman

its no big deal , just take your time and pause beween first and second in the neutral plane.

ivangene

Ice is right but I also find in each gear there is a tiny tiny tiny wait period where it says..OK I am ready for you....but for sure the 1-2 shift requires the most pronounced "pause"

I was wondering the other day, if I drove a newer car without a pause how long it would take to get use to it, and how much I would miss it...how boring, like sex without foreplay

Marlon Targa 86

That's exactly how I shift during DE's. I brake and stay in whatever gear I'm in and when I'm at the right speed just before turning in, I shift into whatever gear that corner needs. I'd rather wear down my brakes then my gearbox/engine.

Marlon

UberXY

right on, brakes are cheap and easy to replace.

Tango635

Old thread, but came across this searching...

Yeah this has been beaten to death, but I think it is a consideration, as previously mentioned, that the 915 needs more attention, from the driver and more knowledgeable or experienced mechanic, I.e. don't take it to the dealership to get worked.

On the other hand, every one us seems to make a stake or anchor where we like, in terns of "the truth" or what feels right vs what feels synthetic. Amar is happy having gone from a 997 to a 915 gearboxed Carrera. However, there probably are some long hood guys that call any Carrera a pig. And there are 356 guys that, well you see the pattern. It's all in what makes you happy, all in what YOU like. No one is better than the other, no such absolute.

In that vein (what I like), this is what has my heart pounding recently. Don't know when I will be able to get my hands on the 500 big ones.

gerry100

If one gets into owning one of these old 911s with 80K plus miles, the first thing to do is rebuild the bushings in the shifter ( few bucks and few hours well spent) and adjust the shift linkage under the plate directly behind/between the front seats.
Clutch adjustment can also affect shift timing and feel.
It's a precise mechanism that's sweet to drive if you keep it tuned up.