Elmiko

I learned to drive a stick when I was a kid and never had a problem adapting to any car I drove. I even liked my 1970 Maverick with 3 on the tree. When I drive my BMW 325i, I barely have to think about shifting, even in heavy traffic. But, after 6 months of 928 5-speed ownership, I still have to pay close attention to shift smoothly, not just from 1st to 2nd,but even from 2nd to 3rd. One thing is that the revs drop immediately after letting up on the gas. There's no grace period. The clutch also seems to engage at a very specific point, so matching revs is very tough to do. Compared to the BMW, the 928 feels like it has a 2000 pound flywheel. Since I've never driven any other 5-speed 928, I don't have any idea whether it's just the nature of the beast of if my clutch needs adjustment/replacement/service. I wonder if I just need to work at it more or if I should get the clutch checked out.

kjurkic

Ditto here!!!

My previous car to my '80 928 is an '82 Toyota Supra (still have) It shifts WAAAYYY easier/smoother/faster than my shark. When I jump into my Supra, its like I only have to think "shift" and it happens; I can totally clutchless (rpm match, not SLAM) the Toyota box up & down through all gears with minimal effort, and thats with over 400k km on it; Porsche should have sent an engineer or 2 over to Japan to learn how manuals should be done. The 928 is still my main/daily transport tho'...

Ken

Benton

If you think a 928 is tough to shift smoothly, try a pre-996 911!

Bret928

I used to think my MGB was kind of a rough shifter. But the my Shark makes the MG seem down right smooth.

Biggest problem I have is going from a standard H pattern to the 928's Dog leg pattern. But it cuts both ways as I've actually tried to shift into reverse in my B while sitting at a stop light. Likewise with the Shark I tend "NOT" to shift in to first sometimes. Granted it's not such a big deal when the car's all warmed up as I use Second alot when driving in town (25mph speed zones).

But you might want to inspect your linkage - I fixed a couple of issues recently and my shifting is much smoother now.

Bill Ball

Transmission in the rear is probably the biggest factor. The shift couplings involved are remarkably flimsy. There are too many loose joints in the system and they wear out over time to make shifting the stick more uncertain. After taking it apart while doing a TT, I was surprised you can shift at all.

Maybe Carl can put his mind to solving that. It appears that everyone has more or less accepted the status quo, but I couldn't help but notice how slow his shifts were during the Pike's Peak Hill Climb and it's my impression that all the 928 racers lose a lot of mometum during shifts. My '76 VW camper shifted far faster!

IcemanG17

Hmm....since solid metal steering rack bushings make such a huge improvement in steering......a more solid shifter bushings should be even better.......

Carl or Porken to the rescue

mark kibort

after 20 years, im finallly getting the hang of it!

wait until you drive another car, like a bmw, do you realize how cumbersom the 928 shifting is. however, the borg warner gear boxes did make it much easier.

mkl

Sharkbody

It's true you have to finesse it a bit more than some. You have to resist the temptation to lift all the way off the gas. G

bigmac

My Auto can shift faster than you can. Mac

Bill Ball

Yeah, I'm surprised the autoboxes don't actually beat out the sticks in acceleration, and maybe they do with anyone other than a factory test driver with a brand new 5-speed. The autobox shift involves some timing retardation and can be sloppy/slow too when not adjusted right, but the fact that you can keep your foot fully in the gas and the revs up, should give it an advantage. If the 5-speed linkage could be tightened up, you should be able to do more precise and quick shifts with less time off the gas. I've driven many other sticks where the shifting is so good that the clutch is just a brief stab and the gas pedal is barely released at all. Even my old 66 Vette could be power-shifted in a fraction of a second.

JHowell37

I've never driven a 5-speed but have seen pics of the linkage which would certainly cause shifting difficulty especially if you factor age into the equation. Flywheel weight can also make a huge difference but in the case of the 928 I don't think reducing flywheel weight would work out too well since the car is so heavy.

Mike Frye

Elmiko,

I'm with Bill Ball, It took me a little while to get used to the pattern, but the problems I had until very recently were due to cumulative 'slop' in the system. You have wear items at every connection and without replacing them all, you've still got some play in it.

Redline gear oil: $30?
Forward shift ball cup: $90
Rear shift rod coupling: $70
Release arm ball cup: $15?
Clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing: $850?
Clutch slave cylinder: $45? (not really a wear item but if the boot is torn, it needs to be replaced)
'Shortened' shifter: 1 hr, 8 dremel cut-off wheels
Ability to find the right gear where it should be without thinking: Priceless

Where in NJ are you? If you want to get together and compare notes, we could each probably learn something. I've never driven another 928 either.

BTW- I do have to match revs when shifting, but I learned to drive a stick in a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and then a Fiat 850, so that's how I always shift.

JHowell, Carl from 928 Motorsports does have a lightweight flywheel. If it had been available when I did the clutch, I might have sprung for it. It was just made available a short time ago.

SwayBar

"Does 928 Shifting Ever Get to be Second Nature?"

No.

Upshifting is not a problem for me, it's downshifting. Skip-shifting from 5th to 3rd coming into Turn 5 or Canada Corner at RA, or just going from 4th to 3rd at Turn 14. The 928 is easily the worst shifting car I've ever driven, and I've driven a bunch.

Bill Ball

Well, it looks like a consensus is building that short of 2/6 rod bearing failure, this is one of the biggest mechanical problems for 928 racers. I'm surprised no one has focused much attention on the shift linkage (other than the short shifter stuff). Maybe it's not the problem or isn't fixable.

F451

I was amazed at how poor the shifter is in my '88.

Granted, I'm sure every wear part in my setup needs to be freshened up, but holy cow, the throw is like I'm rowing a boat.

I'll be r/r every wear item in the whole setup, and adding a short shifter, but I'm not overly confident that the end result will be all that good. Better no doubt, but nothing to get excited about.