Steve 96C4S

I have been lusting after 993's for quite a while now, and I have just found out last weekend that I will be having an influx of money in the next 6-12 months due to an inheritance. While I'm sad about the loss of my family member, the idea of upgrading my 88 911 Coupe to a newer 993 is interesting to me. I am considering a 97-98 Targa Tiptronic, but the 17 motors in the Targa Top sort of scare me, thinking about owning it years down the road and having to fix those eventually broken motors out of warranty when and if they break.

Then my mind went to a 96-97 C4S or C2S. Did the C4S even come in a Tiptronic? I know I've seen C2S's in Tip for sale. I'd prefer a Tip C4S (over the C2S) if they made one, in that I wouldn't have to repair the Targa Top motors, the car wouldn't have leaking or noise issues associated with that marvel of a top, and the body flex would be greatly reduced with a coupe.

Also, for me, having an all wheel drive would be great in the rain and icy conditions if I chose to drive it in the winter here in the DC area. I drive my 88 year round, but wouldn't even consider driving it in the rain or snow if I can avoid it as I have a 95 740i for that type of driving.

The thing I'm most miffed about is that people seem to look down on, or are shocked that Porsche drivers would buy an automatic/tiptronic. For me, I'm sick of shifting all the time in our traffic clogged, bumper to bumper city driving here in the DC suburbs of Maryland. I'd love to NOT have to shift so much, yet still have all the power and handling that a 933 offers.

Why does this seem so lame to most Porsche afficionados? Just how much of a "woos" would I be if I bought a Tip? I'd hate to buy it and then regret it later. I guess I need to drive one, the only problem is that when the dealer lets you test drive a car, they usually only let you do it for a very short period of time. I just don't know that in the course of a 15 minute test drive, if I would know whether an automatic would be the way to go or not. Maybe it's just that my 88 is sort of hard to drive in city traffic, but a 993 would be a lot easier???

I know resale is nowhere near as good for a Tip car, so that actually works in my favor as I don't plan to sell for a long time. I've had my 88 coupe for 5 years now, and I'd plan to keep the 993 for much longer - in theory.

Any thoughts from Tip owners or owners in general who have driven a Tip?

Thanks,
Steve
<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

TR

I have owned my 95 C2 with a Tip for about 2 weeks now. Before this, owned a 944turbo.

The tip is the only thing that makes it possible for me to use this car as a daily driver in the Chicago area. Traffic generally sucks during commute times!

Whether the die hard Porsche heads look down on a Tiptronic 993 really doesn't matter to me....It's still a 993, one of the finest cars made!!

Kai 96 993

993 c4/c4s only comes in 6-speed. It is not until the new 996 that they offer a tip for the 4wds.
Most of the 993 (and more so for the 996) are tips over here in Hong Kong because of the road condition. while i was looking for my car 2 yrs ago, i actually spent 9 months and only located 1 6-speed. So I eventually took a tip which was (and still is) in a very good condition and my favorite color (s yellow).
Do I regard about the performance? Not really, my car is great as a daily driver and is faster than my friends ferraris on twisty roads. but m i getting another tip if i m upgrading? not really. despite that i dont think i can drive a stick faster than a tip, it is a lot more fun to be in a stick, especially if you dont use it as a daily driver in a city.

dcpmark

I had a '91 C2 Targa w/Tip, and I loved that car! Of course, at the time it was my only car and daily driver, and it was really nice in LA's traffic.

My advice would depend on which was going to be your daily driver, the Porsche or the Bimmer. If the BMW will be your daily driver, get a stick. If the Porsche will be your daily driver, go for the Tip. They are still loads of fun to drive. I recall reading somewhere in one of the car mags a few years ago that the fastest time recorded (at that time) from 30-90mph (or was it 60 -90?) was for a 993 Tip.........yeah, I was surprised, too.......

GratefulJED

Steve:
Personally, I've had so many sticks that I really did not want another one. I'm not a racer, I have size 12 feet that usually have boots on them and it seems like a lot of threads deal with clutches. I would offer you the chance to drive on our curvy roads for more than 15 minutes next time you are in New Mexico and at least give you something to compare to. I really like it in both modes; however, I think that off the line the tip just doesn't have it, but like I said, I'm not a racer. Good Luck.

Berkley

I bought my first Porsche in 1974....I am now on my 8th or 9th member of the 911 family and two out of the last three Porsches have been Tiptronics.....I am just down the road from you, west of Richmond...even here a Tiptronic is great...until Xmas I had a 964 C2 Tip and a '01 Boxster S (6sp.). The former was my first choice to drive....

I now have a '00 996 C4 Millennium Tiptronic S...it is a great Porsche for all conditions; weather, city or country and it performs well...it is for sale on the PCA Mart due to a family medical crisis....it has only been driven once in the last month....come down and drive it...the most affordable Millennium on the market

I will buy an older Porsche: a 964 or 993 just to tinker with and drive once and awhile....and a Tip. would be fine again....as I've gotten older I need to really concentrate on driving a Porsche and the Tiptronic makes me feel safer.

Look at my photos:

<a href="http://www.986host.com/gallery/BerkleyII" target="_blank">www.986host.com/gallery/BerkleyII</a>

Email me if you have an interest

Bins

Nothing wrong with a tip, if you want the car as an auto. I find the 4 speed tip method of driving boring. If youre gonna be driving mainly in traffic, then its ideal.

1 sec difference 0-60 between the manual and tip is oviously a lot only if you intend to use the car like that. Street driving, it makes little difference.

And you wont have the flywheel and clutch issues...

mani-1

Hi Steve,

If you are planning on getting a 96 model or newer, the tiptronic transmission is ok. however, on the 95 models, I find the tiptronic to be rather inefficient in comparison to the new models. Personally, if I would have gotten a chance to do it over, I would choose the 6 speed...there is definately a huge gap in performance. I think they did make C2S and C4S with tiptronic transmission, but I am not so 100% sure. Also, in regards to the resale value of the car, I find it to be equal to the manual transmission.

mani

Bins

Mani, the likely reason for that is not necessarily the transmission but that the MY96+ had the vario. That can make a huge diffference when comparing a 96tip and a 95tip, unlike comparing a 96manual to a 95manual.

cecil

Mark that test you're thinking of where the tip was faster is the passing test. Car mags run the car from 60 to 90 in high gear to see who it passes. I have never figured out why they don't downshift. It seems like a stupid test to me but they do it. Now with the auto it downshifts itself when you floor it so the autos are always faster in this test. That said when I get stuck in stop and go in my stick my left foot hurts.

Ray Calvo

Unless it's the only way you can drive a car, it's for wimps!!!

One thing I enjoy is charging up to a corner, then getting hard on the brakes and doing a smooth heel-and-toe downshift. Haven't seen a wimp stick yet that can do a smooth downshift.

Car is largely a weekend driver (why I have 60K+ miles on it???); I don't get into that many stop-&-go situations. So, my 993 has 3 pedals on the floor. I've driven wimp sticks and don't like them. For info, my daily driver Audi A4 Avant also has 3 pedals on the floor, and I don't regret that choice. To each their own.

When Porsche (and others) come out with a automatically shifting manual (a la Ferrari - and is it Toyota or Mazda??), I might be interested. So long as they stick in a torque converter version of an automatic tranny, they can stuff it.

To each their own.

(P.S. - go out to a race track driver's education. How many wimp sticks do you see?)

buzz993

I'v had my 96 CPE TIP 96 for 6 Months been there done that with sticks I love my TIP

buzz993

A little hard arn't we Ray Have you ever driven one?

Speedraser

Stop-and-go traffic is boring enough when I have gears to shift -- it would be even worse if the transmission shifted for me At least having a clutch gives me something to do while going almost nowhere.

Stever,
The transmission choice makes all the difference in the world to me. I would never own a sports car without a manual transmission -- to me, an automatic defeats the purpose. But that's just me. If you don't want a stick, get a tip (but you can't have 4WD with a tip in a 993) and don't worry about us stick-shift snobs. Any 993 is an awesome car. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Bins

With me, on the country roads Im athinking wouldnt it be brilliant to be in a manual right now.

Get back to the highways and the traffic and I get a reality check pretty sharpish, and am glad to have my tip.