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Would love to hear your track techniques using the tip. And how it is holding up...more frequent trans fluids changes? Any special preps to the car...IMS, etc.?
The Tip is holding up just fine on the track. I've put 9 or 10 DE weekends and a few track days on it with no issues. I do change the fluid more frequently, but any track car needs an accelerated maintenance schedule. The rest of the car is a compromise between street & track. Suspension and brake mods, deep sump, Fister exhaust, roll bar, race seats, six point harnesses, etc. I had the engine rebuild over the winter but I had replaced the IMS when I first got the car as a precaution.
As far as driving a Tip on the track, technique-wise, there's not really much difference than driving a manual trans. I raced in SCCA for nearly 20 years all in manual cars of course, but since I can no longer drive a manual the Tip is a good option (not a good as a PDK though). You just have to keep it in manual mode to keep it in the appropriate gear. Obviously it gives up a little in performance vs. a manual, but otherwise not much different. I generally keep up with or pass manual 996's and other (supposedly faster) 911's, but that's probably my racing experience and not the car. I also have to drive it with one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand on the hand controls at all times. So having an up/down shift feature on the same button helps.
It will shift itself if you let it go to ~7000rpm, but I typically try to shift it myself at about 6500. When downshifting from high speed and getting on the brakes, you can hit the down button and it won't downshift until the revs are within range, i.e. hard to over-rev a Tip. On most tracks I'm typically using 2nd through 4th, and then maybe getting into 5th on a long straight. I'd like the shifts to be a little quicker, but I can live with it and I'm not going to spend $900 to have the TCU re-flashed.
If I ever sell it, I'll probably market it to a Porsche guy who wants to get his "non-manual-driving" spouse or kid out on the track.
Last year I set a CC04 PCA track record in a tip Boxster. I do 10 to 12 AXs per year, and about 5 big track events per year, Car has 167,000 miles, original IMSB, RMS, etc.
I thought I'd add some more notes and experiences. Hoping we can use this thread to collect info and experiences with the Tip.
First, comparison to the 968 Tip. That one is a 4-speed with only 5 shift maps. It was nice to hear Mike write that the Mk2 Tip has over a hundred shift maps here: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...l#post14040986
“The MK1 tip is somewhat sluggish, only 5 shift modes. The MK2 tips have 250 or 500 shift modes”
This is really good to know and highly appropriate, which in my mind makes the Mk2 Tip much better.
Uphill and downhill in D (auto) mode don’t work well. I am always shifting down one gear. Uphill the Tip makes the car lug, and downhill I am coasting. Not a problem on freeways or lazy mode around town. But for example when there is a downhill curve coming up, say going at 45-50 mph, the Tip will stay in 5th gear which basically means no tight control over the car and simply coasting downhill in the curve which eliminates a feeling of good handling. Still learning the timing of when to shift.
I am starting to understand why some have modified the steering wheel to paddle shifters. The wheel shift buttons are not so good, because I am not yet used to “finding” those darn buttons on the wheel. I sometimes have to glance from the road to the wheel to find them. Seems like the paddle shifters would always be readily at hand, easy to locate. I never use the left shift button anyway, only the right one. I’ve found that my favorite position in the car is naturally to have my hands at 10:00 and 2:00 – this is great, exactly where I want to hold the wheel and speaks well for the ergonomics that Porsche put in the 996. But the buttons are way out of reach!
The 968 has a lateral acceleration sensor that blocks auto gear changes when in a curve. That is good, we want that. I haven’t heard yet or learned if this exists on the 996 Tip.
Downshifting to 2nd: This appears to be a common event for me as I am approaching a curve. It needs more testing but this shift seems to be a bit sluggish as I am trying to apply more power entering the curve. I have been trying to learn the timing so that the downshift happens at the right time before entering a curve. Too early or too late messes up the performance of the car (less fun!).
Sometimes the Tip doesn’t select a higher shift map as quickly as I would like. For example, probably the most annoying is entering a freeway and flooring it with low RPMs in 3rd gear. It just kinda seems to accelerate in that gear without kicking down fast enough (more testing needed). Obviously the tip computer will select higher performance shift maps as we drive aggressively, but it seems to take its time learning what the driver wants. I always wished that Porsche had included a method to manually and instantly select a shift map. I simple **** on the console perhaps, but I’ve never seen this.
And then it would be really great to get more technical info about the different shift maps, for example for each shift map at what RPM does it up/down shift. We tried to get that info in 968 land (www.968forums.com) but could not. Maybe that is available somewhere for the 996. It probably wouldn’t enhance the driving experience, but learning the cars and technology is half the fun. And what are the algorithms for deciding when to change shift maps, and how it selects them.
I’ve concluded that the function of the tip stick could be specified simply as one thing: when it M, don’t shift automatically (unless RPM limits are reached). Stated another way, it doesn't matter very much at all if the car is in D or M, except for the 10 seconds or so that causes the Tip to go back into auto mode after shifting in D. (Can't recall exactly how long it waits).
To reiterate, being able to shift while in “D” is wonderful, so glad this is allowed without first reaching for the stick to slap into manual shifting.
No regrets at all about buying a Tip. This is the best choice given my DD style of Porsche usage. This week running errands with 6 stops around town, late meeting driving home at 8:30. All wonderful, much better driving with the Tip. I spent many years commuting in my ’82 911, sometimes 20 minutes in stop and go traffic or on ramps, man did that stink with a stick.
I love this steering wheel and want to get the same with shifting paddles. Please advise where to get it. Thanks for your help
Not sure where you can buy a steering wheel with the paddle shifters, but here is a thread with a DYI to install paddles on the 3 spoke wheel. Also search some more, there are other threads on the forum about paddle shifters on 996.
Not sure where you can buy a steering wheel with the paddle shifters, but here is a thread with a DYI to install paddles on the 3 spoke wheel. Also search some more, there are other threads on the forum about paddle shifters on 996.
03-04-2017, 11:42 AM
I also have to drive it with one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand on the hand controls at all times. So having an up/down shift feature on the same button helps. 
