993Maineiac

Just a brief addition. My one and only reason for buying the Tip instead of the manual was so that my wife of two decades could see what I have enjoyed-with her blessing- in sport cars through the years. Although still missing an active left foot, the smile on her face when she drives the Porsche is worth it all- now as to the speed demon I've created.......

Al

ian c - u.k

anybody seen the rover automatic system ??

peak power at 5500 rpm or whatever , and you press the accelerator and it jumps to them revs , then stays there til the roadspeed catches up !!!

sound like a peugeot speedfighter setting off !!!

pretty sure this would be a good sound in a 911

Jacks911

Arjan - "Others may have different opinions, but that is their good right."

I agree and in fact, isn't that the great thing about this forum? Sometimes I think folk take this to seriously and some hold that only they have the "right" answer. I for one enjoy the debate which allows me to learn more about Porsche.

Take Al's last comment, "was so that my wife of two decades could see what I have enjoyed-with her blessing". Tells me Al enjoys sharing his "Ride and joy". My wife also enjoys driving (she can drive stick) our 964. And because ours is a Tip, my 84 year old Mother-in-Law has also taken pleasure in Top down Porsche driving. There is something about these cars that bring smiles to faces from age 8 to 80. Everyone knows that traditional shape & tradition of Excellence. The Tip lets more folks in on the fun.

Heres to all who enjoy Porsche, shiftless or not :-)
Shiftless in Seattle, Jack

Arjan B.

Well said jack, everybody should be happy with their Porsche. With or without tip. I just wanted to tell you my experience that I had with the system.

Stephen Grellet

I have had a Tiptronic for approx 10 months. It took me 6 months to get the kickdown right to the floor and to get familiar with the Tiptronic. Previously I thought the kickdown sluggish. A manual would be nice, but a Tiptronic has some similarities, and some advantages. I dont think a tiptronic car will generally have been driven as hard or possibly abused as much as a manual car as the shift points are controlled to prevent over revving, and those who buy the manual shift car are more likely to see how fast it will go through the gears. Once the Tip torque converter clutch locks, the drive is then completely mechanical, just as it is with a manual clutch, so it is only below 1700 rpm (lockup rpm??) that there is any real difference, other than the gearing types. It is also good to know that there are no expensive DMF/ clutch replacements on the horizon.

PC2

Arjan, Your right, the Tip is not for the track. While my car was plenty fast on straights, turns are just awful. The tip transmission reacts too slowly to aggressive shifting and it gets worse when the transmission gets hot. But I do have to say that the Tip did help me concentrate more on driving. But may be a little bit too much becaue I spung out twice in a day (Engine cut off both times).

Overall it was great fun but I would not be too eager taking this car to the next DE. Below is a picture of me coming out of Turn 9 at Willow Springs.

Arjan B.

Peter,

Yes, that's what I ment. It's reacts too slow and hassitates selecting gears.
It's a 'road use only' system. On a normal road, in normal traffic it's a great and comfortable system. I think the guys in busy cities and area's with a lot of hills hav maximum fun with tip tronic.

Again Peter, I just mentioned the dark side of the system, not that the system is bad on it self.

Beautiful photograph! Nice shot, I hope you kept the car in one piece.......

ian c - u.k

nice picture !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mind if i steal a copy of it ?

PC2

At first, I was skeptical about your comment since I thought the Tip performed pretty well on the streets. But once on the track the delays in shifting were really pronounced. What seems to be sufficient for the streets was just too slow for the track especially when entering and exiting turns.

On the first day of the DE, the tip box downshifted 3 seconds too late and I was already into a turn (very scary!). Although later on I did learned to compensate for the delays but it was just unpredictable and inconsistent. I suspect the Tip's RPM range and gear mapping was too conservative for the track.

Overall, I love the Tip as my daily driver but would not be my top choice for the track! A M3 with SMGII would be my weapon of choice.

PS. My car is still in one piece, no damage. I got a bit too confident with the car and braked too late (Big Reds would have saved me).

PC2

In case you haven't done so, go ahead.

ian c - u.k

if you use the throttle to down-shift does it not make the box work faster ??

i thought that was what this feature was for ??

ian c - u.k

thought you might say yes , so i stole it earlier

PC2

Hmmm....I thought about it but I didn't want to try it going 140 mph down the last part of the straight away and find out it does not kick the gear down.

But seriously, the kick-down mode works only in Auto mode. I was in manual shift mode the whole time. I did, however, discover blipping the throttle while shifting helps the Tip box shift smoother.

ian c - u.k

i thought it worked in manual !!!!

thought if you heeled-and-toed it dropped ??

PC2

Only in Auto, or at least on mine. I tried heel and toe in Auto but couldn't get a consistent result so I didn't bother trying it on the track.