Schocki

That's why I don't mind the automatic in my 928.
My 944 S2 is a dream to shift.
Shifting my 35 years old 911 is not difficult either but requires some attention to detail

Ron_H

I agree with Bill and Mac. My autobox is fantastic. The best automatic I have ever known. I have only owned only three cars with automatic. One was a typewriter drive Plymouth Fury in undergraduate school. I loved to grab a little 2nd gear rubber by simply pushing the buttons. Then I matured a slight bit and got a 356 Super coupe. The next was my VW Rabbit which I still have. And now my 928. I love my automatic. It JUMPS from first to second after twitching the rear end and chirping the tires a bit. I doubt you could outshift it. I couldn't do it in my old Chebbie that's for sure. I didn't like the stick shift 928s I drove because the location of the shift lever relative to my body was uncomfortable; it seemed too far back in the console. I can shift an early 911 or my 914 without thinking and fast, even the 901 gearbox. But not the 928. I love my 928 automatic and don't ever want to sell it. And there is another bonus: on long trips, you can rest your left foot by extending it into the footwell where the clutch pedal should have been. That's after you tire of tapping your foot to the music. And if you need to get a few hours rest in a truck stop on a long haul, you can put your feet into that hole and put the seat back and have a snooze. Can't do that in a 911 with three pedals, or my 914/6.
Did I mention I love my 928 automatic?

Alan

I think it does become second nature - it takes a while though - and its much easier if its your daily driver of course.

Is it ever the smooth as butter shifts of some other cars - in my experience no - maybe if its perfectly set up its good enough - mostly its a bit baulky/notchly when cold but much easier when warm... wear takes its toll on the linkages as others noted but also on the synchronizers which have a lot of shaft to drive compared to an engine mated gearbox..

I think my gearchange is quite OK - but not great - based on the configuration it is inevitably something of a compromise.

Alan

Lizard928

either something is wrong with your clutch and parts, or something else is off.

I find the manuals 87+ dont rev as quick as the 85/86 engines, however I have no issues with rev matching my car up or down, I can do it smooth with no issues.

I find that other cars tend to not let there revs fall as quick as the 928 and it is just different, however I find the 928s gear pattern to be much more intuative than other cars as well.

And to those that have the factory shifters, that may be part of your issue,

neverlateinmyninetwoeight, you should come up to vancouver sometime, it takes me about 5 min to modify the factory shifter to get as short of a throw as possible which makes the shifting alot nicer imo. and it is cheaper than all those billet units too.

whall

I have shortened the shifter and replaced all wear items in the linkage. Still the car does not shift smooth or quick. I drive the car as a daily driver and go through the gears as well as I likely ever will. I have never quarter miled the car but am considering as soon as I finish my S/C install - and I think the shifting will definitely have a impact in the quater time.
Warren

Brett Jenkins

I only have problems downshifting into 3rd, grabs a handful sometimes. It helps if I go toward 2nd and then down to third instead, never grinds then.

Daniel Dudley

don't forget that there is a long steel shaft running up to the clutch.

JWise

+1

Particularly the shift from 2nd to 3rd. When you do it right, it produces a very smooth shift and an almost seamless continuation of forward thrust. Very satisfying.

hacker-pschorr

I dunno, both of my 928's are very natural to shift. Matching revs in either one is a piece of cake.

It will come to you, I've been driving 928's since about 1993.

AO

It's not second nature... it's first. Every time I get into a non-928 manual, I always try to throw it into 2nd gear to start.

I think with any car, but in particular the 928, you've got to match revs to down shift. For some reason, my 2nd gear is a bit sticky to get in, but all the ther gears are quite smooth.

H2

Really, on the track all you need to seriously shift is 3rd and 4th....once you get moving.

Harvey

Marine Blue

First 6 months were brutal. Tough clutch, heavier shifter and of course the dogleg. But if you don't drive any other type of 5 or 6 spd you get used to it and other cars feel like toys after a while. I remember a couple of weeks ago I went to move my brothers civic and I nearly pushed my foot through the floor. Seriously it took a while to get used to the clutch and shifter, it felt like rubber. No problem shifting or rev matching.

AO

It is rubber! If the shifter seems wobbly, it might not be on all the way. If you can lift it off easily, then it's not on all the way. Best way I found to get it to seat is to cover the shifter witha towel and then a couple light taps with a dead blow hammer.

GUMBALL

Similar to the early 911's, there two things - not too fast, and don't try to force it.

JKelly

It does. Maybe even 3,000 pound.

Definitely check the front shift cup bushing and the rear coupler bushings. Those seem to really affect the upshift into 2nd and 3rd gear. If you have the pre 87 double-disk clutch, check the intermediate plate adjustment.

The way I see it, there are two "zones" for shifting. The "passive" zone is the area under 2,500-3,000rpm where the idiot light comes on for each shift. This is more for the relaxed driver where the car gets up to speed slowly. I guess this is the RPM range where the car is supposed to be shifted. Mine shifts smoothly in this range, but nobody wants their 928 to feel "Fat and Lazy".

The second shifting "zone" is more of an "active" zone anywhere from 4,000 - 6,000+ RPM. This gets the revs up and keeps the car in the "Hold On" power range. When shifting into the next gear, the RPM's are already high. This shift range gets above the "Fat and Lazy" lag, but it is more "active" like racing. It takes a little practice and technique to do it smoothly (especially in town), so it feels like you are working instead of relaxing, but you go fast quicker .