A friend recently sold his and swears by it. However I'm hesitant to consider one but they are cheap and I have heard alot of really great things about them.

Resale is a rock?

 

I wouldn't own one as a gift. I had a tip Audi that suffered from tip lag SO bad it was deadly

 

It all depends on how and where you drive and how macho you want to be. It's great in high traffic areas, but you do lose the feel of "traditional" sports car driving. I have one (wife also drives) and if you use the manual mode you get a pretty good run-up fefore you shift. You also don't have to lift when shifting.

THat said, if you're buying a Tip just to save money, you probably won't be happy with it.

 

I have an '03 Tip. I always use the manual mode, auto mode sucks. In auto mode it shifts to 5th too fast.

I like the tip, I drive in stop and go traffic often. It definatly doesn't suck, just a different way to drive and once used to it can be just as enjoyable.

I do miss a stick and if I get another P-car I think it'll be a stick.

 

I second Don & Kirby's comments. When you drive in "D" mode it shifts up too fast. But when you want to hit the twisties there is nothing better than popping up and down the gears without taking your hands off the steering wheel or your foot off the gas. On occassion I get pissed at the auto shift pattern, until I realize that the solution is a simpe flick from "D" to "M" and then I get the fun of shifting through the gears. Purists will also complain that the tip is still a torque converter instead of a true sequential shift, but I say, hey I'm not tracking the car, just driving aggressively for a little bit so I don't really care.

It is definitely worth a test drive, but I wouldn't guaranty that you're going to love it.

 

The big thing I've found with Tps is that you lose the feeling of acceleration...no being pushed into the back of the seat...it feels like a much slower car.... the gears change before reaching higher revs... if it wasn't for the fact that the speedo is rapidly moving clockwise you would have no idea you were accelerating as quickly. Remember it's how quick you think you are accelerating not how quick you actually are accelerating that provides the thrill....hence the lotus elise. Mercedes autos feel much better. However if most of your driving will be in traffic stick with the Tip.

Donny J

 

I take my car to the track and the biggest difference I notice is the "missing" gear! When I track out behind another 996 ( same tires, suspension, etc) He can barely but always pull away from me slightly. The Tip is a 5 not 6 speed and the gear ratio at any given point on the track is different. I suspect the transmission area was not large enough to put six gears into the case.

On the positive side... I've never ever even come close to missing a downshift. And... as soon as you start to unwind the wheel at the apex on track out, you will get a great, smooth shift that will not unload the suspension so you can accelerate in the best part of your torque range. That is really impressive technology!!!

If you could get the same number of gears (6), I'd have no real complaints!

 

My motivation is to let my wife drive it to meet our friends. Several of the husbands have Porsches which the wives drive when they meet sometimes thus it would be mine and I'd use it for the track.

She's tried my 993 but the pedal hinge hasn't worked out. Just curious.

Thanks to you all.

 

I got the Tip because of stop and go traffic. I do mis the feel of a 6 speed occaisionally.

 

The tip programing in the 996 learns how you drive, so if you drive like you're taking grandma to tea it will assume that's how you want to drive. Push it harder and it will hold gears longer and change up at higher rpm. The changes themselves also seem to happen faster when you do this.

What works best though is when you drive the car around town leave it in "D" and when you go out to play use the buttons to shift manually. There's more anticipation needed driving in manual than with a stick shift. You can rev match but it's more difficult to do. On the other hand you can pre-load the next gear for the corner which is something you can't do with stick. It's my only car and I live in a city so Tip made most sense to me.

What I would REALLY like is the DSG gearbox in the latest Audi TT 3.2 which a "best of both worlds" solution that gives you all the control of stick, with downshift blips and fast changes (a la M3 with SMG), as well as a smooth automatic for city driving. Should be appearing in a 997 near you sometime in the next 2 years.

 

Do any of you track your tips?

 

not me

 

LOL, nota_troll, I can't quite figure it out, but after reading your posts I find myself craving milk.

 

Dear AeroSmith. You rock! THe 993 board has been making wisecracks at my Avatar for months.

 

I had a big debate between stick and tip and i finally went for tip. I live in a very congested city with lots of ups and downs so that was my justification.

However one thing really irritates me about Tip is the power between idle and 1500 rpm. The car literally creeks forward when you push the accelerated between that range. You don't get that initial bite. You have to keep the rpm above 2000 to get the kick.

Also according to track-challenge.com a manual Carrea is faster between 80km/h -> 120km/h than an 500HP SL55 because of the extra gear you have. It makes a huge difference in Highway acceleration.

Somtimes I wish that I got manual because I feel like my car has an identity crisis. Is it a GT Cruiser like a SL or is it a true sports car. It's loud, it has very stiff suspension but has a auto box. I figure if your gonna get a Porsche and deal with rock hard suspension you might as well go all the way and get manual. If I order another Porsche it will be manual regardless of the traffic conditions.

Another thing whenever somebody gets into my car the first things they say is...oh it's an automatic....