FinHenke

Hi, i am experiencing the same problem and it's terrible. For instance, in fast corners where you would like to short shift and get the stability of a higher gear and push out of the corner smootly with gradually putting the throttle to max, it now downshifts on the exit. If anyone has any information on a way to re-programme the PDK, please share. The closest I've come to a solution is by mechanically stop the throttle from pressing the kickdown button. This was done on my friends car and helped quite a lot but didn't cure the problem all together. I'm hoping that there would be a way of re-programming the gearbox in a way that would make it work like the PDK on the 991 GT3.

Irritating nuance on an otherwise great car

i don't track the Carrera S so it's not a dealbreaker. (after the first weeks I thought it would unbearable) and have learned to live with it but the correction of this "minor" flaw would change the character of an otherwise very nice car.

Marc

Hi Noah,

Thank you, that´s a clean idea and does not interfere with the electronics.

Pushing the subject a bit further, I wonder if it is possible to swap the accelerator pedal with the new 991 GT3, that I believe does not have this cumbersome switch. Maybe to early to tell but any thoughts...

paradocs98

Agree with Marc. I just found out about this on the track last week. It's surprising, intrusive, and feels like it can upset the balance of the car. It really has nothing to do with driver smoothness or a lack thereof. It happened to me in a situation where I was in 3rd gear in a relatively slow corner, at about 4500 rpm. It felt more appropriate to be in 3rd, at this engine speed in the corner, as opposed to 2nd at 6500-7000 rpm. Accelerating out of the turn at 4500-5000 rpm puts you right at the sweet spot to smoothly and powerfully accelerate out onto the following straight. If you were in 2nd at 6500-7000 rpm, you would have to immediately shift up as you tracked out, which probably isn't ideal for the car's balance. So there I was, in 3rd at 4500 rpm squeezing the throttle down to track out, and the car suddenly downshifted itself to 2nd, zinging the revs up to 6500 rpm and scaring the crap out of me. Not happy.

You can feel the point of pedal travel beyond which a kickdown will occur, but it's annoying and distracting to have to tiptoe around that last few millimeters. Plus, I will always wonder whether keeping the accelerator pedal just above the kickdown truly gives 100% throttle, as opposed to 90-95%, with 100% reserved for true kickdown.

chuck911

I agree. Its much better to learn to pay attention than to eliminate all possibility of potentially life-saving acceleration.

Most of the earlier 911's had throttle pedal adjustment. US speed limits are so slow (not to mention Canada, where the speed limits seem okay, until you adjust for kilometers and it turns out they're 62% of okay which in reality is really, really far from 'okay') that you can actually develop leg and ankle pain from holding your foot at the barely cracked open throttle setting required by a meddlesome state. So you could adjust the angle to where you can creep legally along without your tibialis anterior getting all cramped up on you. So what, can you do that on a 991?

paradocs98

You're a riot!

How about kickdown mode being enabled when you're in auto mode (regular "drive"), and kickdown mode being disabled when you're in full manual mode with the gear lever slotted over to the left. Porsche could even bring up a message on the center screen when you select manual mode, saying "I understand that by entering full manual control mode, the emergency lifesaving kickdown acceleration function is disabled" and require you to click "Accept."

Marc

I think I am going to try the route of adding something to keep the pedal from touching the switch.

Has anyone tried to remove the pedal assembly? Any suggestions on how to remove this assy will be greatly appreciated.

FinHenke

Marc:

If you get info about the possibility to use a 991 GT3 accelerator pedal on a Carrera, please share

matias

Noah Fect

See my earlier post on modifying my throttle return spring. All of this info will apply equally to the 991 as long as the relevant assembly part numbers are the same.

Again, it should go without saying that this is an unusually dangerous part of the car to mess around with. You need to understand that if you alter or modify the pedal assembly, anything that ever goes wrong with the throttle will be considered your fault, whether it is in fact your fault or not. Fair warning!

Mike in CA

Thought you guys might be interested so, FYI, here is what the 991 GT3 pedal looks like. There is no kick down button that protrudes as with the regular PDK pedal in the pic above. There is small round molding in about the same place as the switch but there is nothing mounted there; it's just a hole. Other elements of the pedal seem to be different as well.

That said, while PDK-S will not kick down in manual mode, it does do it in auto mode so the gearbox must use some means other than a button to sense when it's appropriate; maybe throttle position and/or other parameters.

chuck911

I can understand how surprising, frustrating even, something like this would be .... the first time it happens. Or if it was a sort of random thing. But that's not the case at all. So its a mystery to me why it would bother anyone to the point they'd be trying to modify parts to "fix" what ain't broke.

Reading all the comments, and admitting up front to not having tracked a 991, but you don't have to drive one to know that rolling on the throttle, however smoothly and carefully, lets face it, if the kickdown is activated you're beyond "rolling" its floored! The car simply is not going any faster in that gear. But since by flooring it you are telling the car you do in fact want to go faster, and the only way it can do that is in a lower gear, well there you go. Car doing what you are telling it to do- even though it may not be what you want or expect it to do.

The idea of wanting to be in a lower gear to track out smoothly or whatever, well there are two situations in which this applies: with a manual gearbox where shifting might mean increased risk of a spin as weight transfers off the rear during shifting, and on snow and ice where low traction means you always want to be in a higher gear. Safe to say PDK is not manual, and nobody is tracking on snow and ice. So if in fact you are flooring it (again, the only time this matters) then it means you need more power and need to be in a lower gear, which the car ably provides you with.

The last question, am I getting full power before kickdown? Of course. Why on earth would it be any other way? All that's happening is you're going from full throttle in one gear to full throttle in a lower gear. The surge in power is nothing more than what always happens when moving down a gear and up the power band like that.

chuckbdc

Now now chuck. I am of the moderate your excitement to go faster persuasion. But despite the fact that it doesn't upset the car severely crossing apex because the PDK shifts down and up so fast, finding yourself at 7000 in a lower gear rather than where you had expected to be one gear up, with the attendant scream of the 991 (PSE or not) and the guy you were closing on suddenly closer than planned, it sure does upset the driver.

Expectation is everything.

Here is what the owners manual says:
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons....."

chuck911

Yes but how much you want to bet that's just for the US market? Meanwhile, in the rest of the world...

Hammer911

Inquisitions aside, Don't know if this is pertinent to the discussion...I assume the kick down button is necessary on the non-GT3 cars because 7th gear is a true overdrive gear, meaning top speed is achieved in 6th gear...so you would want the kick down ability to accelerate (i.e. for passing) when motoring along in 7th.

GT3 has a different 7th gear ratio, not overdrive, and achieves top speed in 7th.

chuckbdc

Not really. The C2S has ample power in 7th at highway speeds to pass, and a dab at the accelerator drops a gear (repeated dabs drop dow a gear lower). The kick down would be for an emergency situation. Thats why its particularly annoying to get it when its not wanted.

Nicoli35

Not trying to go "there", but the kickdown button on the pdk 997 c4s cab I purchased (and sold 3 months later) really annoyed the hell out of me, right away. The manual (of course) doesn't have one. I liked that the first test drive. Again - not trying to derail anything here, just sharing that memory over morning coffee. Have a good one folks, I have math in 30 mins and got the homework done so it's Above and Beyond podcast time.

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