PlanoGT3

In the past, I have had several GT3's, the last being a 991.1. The transmission worked flawlessly in sport mode on the track, virtually never in the wrong gear. I recently picked up a .2 3RS and have noticed that the transmission does not seem to hold the gears the same, frequently upshifting when I lift going into a corner, then a hard downshift when I accelerate out of the corner. I've tried it a couple of times but have always abandoned sport mode and gone back to using the paddles to manually shift because of the uncertainty. Anyone else having this issue?

daveo4porsche

I don't have your specific issue- but my 991.2 GT3 had a "transmission" fault @ COTA in march - I was using PDK Sport mode and driving it hard - when the fault occurred shifting became slower and rougher as the transmission was in a partial "limp mode" - my weekend would've been over if we hadn't contacted Porsche Motorsports - they told us to clear the fault and switch to manual shifting (they at first thought it was "driver induced" with aggressive downshifts from manual mode, when told we were in PDK Sport-Auto they suggested it just might be a temporary issue) their advice was

1. clear the code
2. do only manual shifting on track
3. if it occurred again it might be a problem with a hydrolic pump in the transmission that would need to be fixed

we cleared the code, and drove in manual mode and had a great weekend and no further problems!

What I've learned is PDK is far from flawless but is pretty good, but your still better off in manual mode if you want the most predictable behavior.

daveo4porsche

here is a picture of the fault code

I also learned a few things from this

1. having a Porsche computer saved the weekend
2. a dealer is concerned about fixing your problem, but unconcerned about doing it to "save a track weekend"
3. having a friend with access to Porsche Motorsports was a life saver as far as saving the weekend

If we didn't call Porsche Motorsports and/or have the computer I'm 100% my track weekend and it's associated costs would've been lost - I also believe the dealer would be unable to diagnose and would simply clear the code and tell me if it happens again to bring the car back, which really for a track toy isn't a really good response.

daveo4porsche

here is the "consumer" view of that fault!

FourT6and2

Probably depends on how hard you brake. If you're lifting into a corner and not really stomping the brakes, the car isn't going to know what you're doing. If you lift before the corner and then brake. Hard. I'm sure the car knows you want to downshift. I've only driven a .2 RS once on a test drive, but it would downshift through the gears rapidly just coming to slow rolling stop at a traffic light. So I'm sure it's got a handle on things on a track. I've not heard anybody else complain about this though. My RS arrives soon, so hopefully it's as competent as everybody claims.

PlanoGT3

Ha! I'm sure the car is more competent than I am. I had the problem at COTA and then again at Road America last weekend. Hard breaking at the end of a straight and then the car would downshift to 3rd. Under maintenance throttle into apex it would upshift into 4th and then downshift to 3rd on exit. Maybe I should just not lift :-)

tgibrit

my 19 RS is currently at the dealer with a PDK issue in Sport mode which only occurs on track. Under full throttle, usually in 3rd, the revs will suddenly leap from around 7k to over 8-8.5K before immediately dropping back to around 7K. Happened maybe 4 times over three days at WGI. No error codes for me, but the Porsche track app was useful for once as I had video evidence. Dealer spoke to engineering in Germany and as a non-reproducible problem they just recommended recalibrating.

A/S

It is not an issue, it is a feature.

I drive it in manual mode, and so did with the 991.1 GT3RS.

A few of the things I have noticed is that in auto mode it sometimes downshifts unnecessarily out of a turn when carrying the higher gear would have been faster, and what bothers me the most which is the early RPM upshift on partial throttle or full-throttle but with a certain steering angle removing the extra acceleration that the car can easily handle.

A lot of PDK drivers use Auto for track use, my best guess is that using 2 fingers is too complicated, let alone a shift **** and a third pedal. Tesla AutoPilot(r) will get them easier and more consistent lap times in their future Tesla Roadsters, so they won't need to use paddles, or the steering wheels or any pedals.

My code reader comes empty, the new PDK auto-program is more aggressive in Sport, I just don't like it or needed. I prefer full control of the brakes, engine, steering and transmission.

kblask

I've noticed the mid-corner downshift behavior happening rarely and sporadically when tracking my 991.1. I've found that it really only happens if my braking points are a little off, and I end up "coasting" or carrying too little speed through a corner. If I'm dialed in to the point that I'm trail braking right up to the apex, then immediately back on the gas, the PDK Sport shifting is flawless.

PlanoGT3

Thanks all - I haven't changed my driving style and tracked my .1 GT3 for 4 years without this issue so was a little confused. I never drive it in sport mode without manually shifting - I want to be damn sure what gear I'm going to be in, especially on the track. I'll be back at RA in a couple of weeks and might try it again and see what happens. I only tried it to compare lap times and see how much difference there was.

usctrojanGT3

I've noticed that the car doesn't downshift to the right gear in slow turns so I would override and down an additional downshift. No real problems will needing to upshift.

Hams955

I have noticed similar behavior in my car. My home track has a long sweeper and I prefer to upshift and roll through the corner on power. The car in PDK-S wants to downshift and keep revs higher instead. Particular example of this would be the carousel at COTA. I've also noticed in many occasions similar behavior on exit where the car will try to downshift instead of just rolling power out of the corner. I guess the car must think I am not carrying enough exit speed. I don't know. In any event, I just default to manual shift as the PDK-S messes with my rhythm too much.

PlanoGT3

My 3 was doing the same thing as Hams955 at COTA - on the carousel, it would stay in 3rd at very high rpm's even when I was feathering the throttle so I would also manually upshift to 4th to be able to use more consistent throttle through the turn. With my RS, it is actually upshifting at less than full throttle after completing the downshifting during breaking into a corner instead of holding the gear which results in a hard downshift upon corner exit. It's not just that it needs the additional downshift, it is that it is upshifting into the corner at less than max rpms - very weird. It is almost as if it is defaulting to street mode rather than track.