J.Lo

Hi everyone,
Last week I decided to become a Porsche owner and got myself a mint condition Speed Yellow 2006 Cayman S. While my other car has manual gear box, this Cayman S has a Tiptronic S. I have the following questions I hope someone as experienced Tiptronic drivers can help to give me some understanding:
1. I found the gear change responsive when using +/-, but when it was in "D", and when I was gently driving off, it changed to 5th gear so quickly it was only doing 50kph plus (which was only about 30mph). When I was accelerating hard, it was much better and managed to keep itself at the right gears long enough to push acceleration. Is this the intended characteristic of a Tipronic S?
2. In "D", approaching a roundabout in relatively high speed, brake brake brake, gear down shifted to "2", before turning stepped on it, nothing happened as if it was on 5th, but indicator on dash board showed "2". Just when it headed straight, throttle response came back and the car shot like an arrow down the road. I did not lift the accelerator, but the revs just came back as soon as the turn was over. Was the PSM in action? If I understand correctly PSM works as Traction Control, and it influences throttle response, braking and revs. Kindly advise if I was wrong.
3. Steering all the way to either left or right, drive off gently in "D", and gear changed to 1st. As it headed straight, gear changed to 2nd, 3rd so on. If I did not lift the accelerator, I would have to change momentarily using "+". What was happening? I could not simulate this when I tried purposely. But it just happened a few times by itself.

Other than these, the car is just brillient. I would be most grateful if anyone here could help me on these.

Thank you very much.

KS-CS

1. Yes - the Tip computer tries to interpret what you are doing - if you are just leisurely accelerating, then it will quickly upshift at lower RPMs to improve fuel mileage. The more aggressive you are on the throttle, the longer it will hold it in each gear before shifting, when in D.

2. Were you left foot braking? If you have your foot on the brake and the throttle at the same time, you will get throttle cut-off. What you describe doesn't really sound like it was from the PSM, though it may cut in to the throttle very briefly if you have a lot of wheelspin, but that's usually in a very tight corner.

3. Normally, when you start out in D, the Tip starts in 2nd gear. If the computer senses a certain increased load (not sure how it senses it), like starting up a slight incline, or perhaps with the front wheels turned to lock, it will automatically downshift to 1st. If you put the gear selector directly from Park to Manual, it will go into first also. (And of course, you can hit the downshift button on the steering wheel to put it into 1st anytime also).

A couple of other points you may or may not be aware of:

When in D mode, you can always force an upshift or downshift using the steering wheel buttons - it will go into M mode for about 8 sec, and then revert back to D. (Useful e.g. in preparing to pass a car on a 2 lane road)

When in D mode, you can blip the accelerator with your foot, and also cause it to downshift 2 gears (again, it holds it for about 8 sec).

In M mode, if you turn off your PSM, the car won't automatically upshift at the redline (i.e. you can hit the rev limiter).

Hope that helps . . .

J.Lo

Thanks a lot KS...
1. I used to have a BMW Z4, and that steptronic didn't go up as quickly, leaving more revs for each gear to accelerate. Maybe I need to get used to the character of my Cayman S, or simply use more "M".
2. Well, this one puzzles me too.....there wasn't any wheel spinning yet, as you know when in "D", you really have to wait till it goes really slowly to klet it drop to 2nd by itself. I step on it again at the beginning of the turn it just would not give me any throttle at all until it turned straight again. I tried a few times and it happened again, although not each time...funny ! To avoid that I actually use more "M" now.....and oh Yes, I know I can shift anytime using the buttons, just that it sometimes change back to auto just when I don't want it to, so I use "M" more now.
3. I think what you said was right, as the wheels are turned to lock, and especially when going upslope, it changes to 1st automatically. Not a necessary change I reckon in my opinion, but it doesn't feel right. I never had the same concern with my Z4.

My feeling is that when in "D", the Tip S is a bit...well, slow in everything, or I should say "not obedient". When it is in "M", it's got to be the best +/- gearbox I have ever driven (except the PDK which I tried in a Porsche Centre test Car, it's GREAT !). I got a lot of winding roads here (i am not in the UK) so shifting up and down is fun !Shouldn't look back, but I should have bought that manual Cayman S instead !
Thanks for your answers anyway ! Happy driving !

KS-CS

I always keep mine in M on the track, because I noticed it has a tendency to shift at times you don't want it to otherwise (like downshifting at turn-in, unsettling the car, or upshifting when you are feathering the throttle in a turn) - I prefer to control when it shifts, myself.

Regarding your 2nd issue above, another possibility is that you may have been going too fast to allow it to go all the way down to 2nd gear - the computer will wait until the speed is low enough that you don't exceed the redline on downshifts.

I too have owned a couple of other cars with manual mode automatics, and I was very impressed with how fast the Porsche downshifts in M mode compared to the others I have driven. The upshifts are still a little slow for my taste - Sport Chrono in Sport mode is supposed to speed those up also, but unfortunately, I don't have it. I haven't tried a PDK yet, but that's probably what I would get on my next car.