politeperson

A bit of a query I have on the way "Sports" mode works.

I have no S/C or "toggle" switch near the steering wheel to change driving modes on my stripper 992. I have driven cars that have though the switch though.

I do have a "sports" button on the dash. In never have to use it though because, in my experience, if you floor it, the whole car changes into sports mode anyway. It is full on.

The rev points change, it holds gears longer, the whole deal when you floor the throttle. It stays like that for a few seconds until after you have calmed down.

In fact, I can change down a gear without even having to press the gear flaps my gently pressing the throttle, prior to booting it. Its like the car is waiting for me to shout "jump".

So my observations are that giving the car the beans seems to put it into sports mode anyway!

When I was a Silverstone circuit, driving a fully speced Carrera and Carrera S pdk, none of us could keep up with an instructor driving a stripper spec. Guards red Carrera.

Am I missing something? Probably.

craig66

So based on your description you do not have SC
All cars have a regular mode and a sports mode.
Speaking now for my boxster but I am sure for all Porsches, the regular mode is mostly there for European regulators as that will maximize your fuel consumption. In my Boxster Regular mode is really tame and frankly at times disappointing, yes on a kick down or as you describe a double tap it will kick down and will kick down hard, but the rest of the time for the most part the throttle reponse is often tame and a little underwhelming.
Turn on sports mode, which I do 98% of the time, every touch of the throttle, every kick down is so much quicker and magnified. Throttle response is much more impressive in the S mode
I think if you love regular mode you will absolutely love sport mode and so I do think you should give it a try and I do think you might be missing something.

I almost never use regular mode and even on highway trips the 7th gear (or I guess 8th gear in the 992) is really a total overdrive gear that behaves the same in regular and sport.

If I can suggest try it in sports for a while, I think the love you have for the car will be so much magnified.

What you say about the base is so true. At PEC in the base boxster the instructor took over for the last 5 mins of the session and took me on a ride such that I could almost see my life flashing before my eyes. It was at that point that I decided that until I could drive at that level (which will never happen) the base in almost any Porsche would be more than adequate

aggie57

All you're really missing is track time, years of practice. So many people spend mega $ on their cars when they'd be far better off spending a fraction of that on a some track days with a decent instructor.

inastrangeland

Agree on the track time. Anyone will be a better driver if they get a decent instructor and time behind the wheel of their car on the track. Learning to drive your car will pay huge dividends in your street driving. How much you pay to mod your car is up to you but doing it without getting behind the wheel on the track is a waste. As an instructor, I have seen people that could barely manage their cars around the track gain confidence and learn critical driving lessons in just one day. Also pays to listen to the classes between track sessions so you understand the dynamics of the car as you drive it.

politeperson

Ill have a go Craig.

I never press the Sport button.

I am pretty sure in Sport Mode, on medium throttle opening it does feel more responsive.

However I suppose my question really is - does it automatically go into a Sports mode on full throttle acceleration? Whatever the mode setting?

It seems to.

It also seems to know what mood I am in, when I am climbing a hill, or just about to to climb a hill by the way the gearbox behaves in spirited driving.

I have also found that the G-meter is linked to the gearbox too.

I was pulling 1.5G on a light throttle opening in a tight bend in France the other day and the gearbox responded by shifting down for the next corners- without me pressing anything. It seemed to automatically change mode.

It seems the gearbox is linked to an inclinometer , the g-meter, the TPS as well as the driver dash setting. It may even be connected to the GPS too!, because the PDK seems to know what is coming next- I swear.,

Any Porsche engineers out there?

Whatever, I haven't a clue, it all just flows perfectly.

They really know what they are doing at Porsche.

rumnyc

I think kickdown/flooring drops you a few gears but i don't think it will go to sport mode suspension, but i don't know...

craig66

I do agree that if driving in regular mode and you kick down you will drop several gears and the car will take off. That said I still think that driving in sports will often decrease the need for you to kick down since with the sports software and the changes that occur you will invariably be running at higher revs and will be closer to peak torque at most times and so the fact that you always have the ability to kick down and have the car take off does not mean that sport is an irrelevant mode.

Occasionally I will forget ot put it in sport and with in a mile I sense that something just does not feel tight. Look down and not in sport, correct that and Nirvana returns.

To those posters that have said they never use sport I do suggest trying it and seeing what you feel the difference is