Hey all-In the next 6 months or so I am thinking of moving from my 928 to a 968, I have owned a 944 in the past so I am familiar with the breed. How does the car perform with the tiptronic? This will be a daily driver. the automatic tranny in the 928 is so-so, anyone with a tip please chime in. Anyone who has driven both would like your impressions. TIA

 

I got my 93 968 tip last sping and love it The only complaint is that under normal take off it starts in second unless you step into it a bit harder or use the manual side of the gate.
I've been keeping an eye on the forums for other complaints (bad bearings, broken gears....) nothing; just the start in second thing.
Performance wise you will lose some HP and speed (not much) but its still a blast to drive, pulls until almost redline then shifts firm and fast. Maunal is fun to use (I'm in that mode 90%) , it also pulls to redline but will then shift itself if you forget to

Pros? no clutch disk/hose to fail, no pinion bearing issue, easy to drive in traffic, maunal mode is fun and easy
Cons? Slower than a stick (not much), no tranny mod chips for perfomance, sometimes miss the shifting

 

Before I got my 944, my dad and I test drove a tiptronic 968. It seemed like a nice option to have, especially in areas with heavy traffic where you wouldnt want to deal with a stick. The 968 tip will probably be my 2nd car. Overall, I think you should go for a tip.

 

Tiptronics are amazing tranny's; from what I've heard the 944 series ones are damn near bulletproof.
Go for it.

As for your shark...I'll give you $100 for it

 

My Boxster and 996 both were Tips. It is a great option to have. One of the draw backs that I see with the 968 Tip is that it is a 4 speed not a 5 as with the 986/996. That being said, since it is a dialy drive I say go for it, I think you will like it much better than the auto in the 928. As mentioned previously the trany will hold to redline. When autocrossing I never needed to worry about over reving.

 

Before I bought my 968 coupe(with 6 speed manual) I had driven a 968 cab(with Tiptronic)(actually loved that car but couldn't fit our golf clubs in it- another story).I couldn't determine if I liked the Tip or not(it was just different)(it did feel as if it was always shifting,test drive was in stop and go traffic and didn't really wind it out).I do like the 6speed though(especially in comparison to my previous 944 units)(a lot more usable rpms).There are times though when it would be nice to not have to work the clutch and still have that perfomance(as with the Tip).

 

I'm absolutely in love with the tip in my 968. Its head and shoulders above the 928 auto tranny (my wife has a 928, so I have lots of experience driving both), in my opinion. For one thing, the tip has predictive shifting, which means it will "learn" your driving style and adjust its shift points to match. Its not truly intelligent, as it only has five preprogrammed maps (and isn't unlimited, like the truly intelligent ones have), but it works very well. Secondly, the manual shifting with the tip is a LOT more precise and works well. Thirdly, you can adapt a 993 tip paddleshift steering wheel to it if you want to have some fun.

Lastly, its built by Mercedes and is a built proof design. My next project with a 944 series car will happen if I find a horizon blue 968 coupe with a tip, and I will turbo it. The shift points on the tip would perfectly complement a turbo, and should be strong enough to handle 450rwhp. I am positive that a turbo tip with a paddle shift steering wheel and big brakes would be just about untouchable on the track by anything costing less than $100k.

Get the tip and be prepared to deal with morons that will tell you that "real sports cars don't have automatic trannies". I will guarranty that if those folks had ever driven one, they wouldn't be saying it.

Regards,

 

Thanks for all the replies, when I start looking I will definetely keep the tips's in the mix. Will have to see if I can drive one for myself.