vman4639

2008 997 C2 Manual

I've had the car about a month - have driven manuals in all my previous cars.

Is there a 'best way' to launch the car from a stand still? Something that is predictable, fast, and safe for the car? Obviously this would be for 'special cases' only.

Currently, I am matching clutch and accelerator the same way I would a normally - just faster. Just curious it there is a better way.

gray911

Here is an article from motor trend how to launch a manual C2 and pdk.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...nd_pdk-feature

Good luck!

larrytrk

He asked about an 08, not an 09!!

No HTwo O

You will be needing this very soon:

http://www.e-partssales.com/miva/mer..._Code=997maint

gray911

Is there a different way to launch a manual 08 C2? I presume it is the same for both cars.

larrytrk

I thought things may be a little different because of:

"Drive-Off Assistant
All new 911 models both with manual transmission and with the new Porsche
Doppelkupplung transmission (PDK) feature a Drive-Off Assistant as standard. It
prevents the vehicle from rolling forward or back on a hill for a limited time by
holding the vehicle automatically and in a controlled way using the operating brake.
The Drive-Off Assistant allows the driver to take off comfortably and smoothly on
a hill without applying the handbrake.
Essentially, the entire Drive-Off Assistant function depends on the position of the
vehicle on the hill and the desired direction of travel as well as the selected gear.
The Drive-Off Assistant is active if the vehicle is facing uphill with a forward gear
engaged. The function is deactivated when you put the vehicle into reverse gear
in order to park the vehicle for example. The Drive-Off Assistant is only active in
reverse gear if the vehicle is facing downhill.
As soon as the vehicle comes to a stop on a hill by specifically using the brakes,
the hydraulic brake pressure selected by the driver prevents it from rolling forward
or back. The vehicle holds for as long as the driver keeps the brake pedal pressed.
When the brake pedal is released, the PSM hydraulic unit slowly reduces the brake
pressure after a maximum time of approx. 2 seconds, thus disabling the automatic
hold function. The brake pressure is also reduced when taking off on a hill if the driver
accelerates (on vehicles with PDK) or accelerates and releases the clutch
(on vehicles with manual transmission) immediately after releasing the brake pedal,
thereby building up sufficient drive torque."

Edgy01

For your 08 there is no "launch." It's simply a matter of putting it in gear and slowly getting the revs up a little (like about 1000 rpm) and letting the clutch out and THEN going for it.

Frankly, I am amazed that this question would even come up on a sports car forum. Don't you guys know how to drive a stick? To have purchased such a beautiful car and then have to ask how to get it moving is beyond me.

The big thing is not to ride the clutch, or let it slip. I predict those who ask this question to wind up with very short clutch lining lives. These cars should easily go 100,000 miles and beyond if you just take care of them. Keep in mind that the rear tires will never slip on these cars,--they're too wide. The clutch will have to take that punishment,--but don't do it. What I suggest you do is go out with someone who knows how to drive one of these and watch. Then try.

Seal

The rear tires will never slip on these cars? Dan, If I floor it in first, especially in a turn, the rears will lose grip around 5.000 rpm or so. I can let the ear slip with PSM on and slide the car with PSM off. 295 with PS2s.

I agree that slipping the clutch is a very bad idea.

John Velasco

I think you might need new tires?

ADias

... and a LSD and some DE sessions.

JW911

Dan, he's talking about a launch, not just getting moving from a stop. For every car there is a magic speed that you rev the engine to and then drop the clutch in order to get the fastest acceleration. And it is not 1,000 rpms. Spinning the rear tires briefly will almost always result in a faster launch and acceleration. And yes, the rear tires will spin! Edgy, you're babying your car!!!

Edgy01

Perhaps I baby my car, but then I do get 100,000 miles plus on a clutch. I guess I don't understand the objective of a "launch." The secret to all this is to take it easy until the clutch is fully engaged before punching it. Otherwise you will burn up the clutch,--there's plenty of HP to do that. That will go way before the tires go. You will experience wheel hop due to the design of the suspension and the inability to spin the tires.

When I said you can't spin the tires I mean it. When SEAL indicated that he got it them to spin, he indicated that he was in a turn. Well, duh. Sure,--but not in a straight line, without invoking some suspension hop.

If you wanted a quarter mile car you should have gone for something with tons of displacement,--and not a 911. Remind me not to buy your car second hand...

If you take it easy in first gear getting underway, you can more than make up for the acceleration in 2nd and 3rd all the way to redline in 6th gear. (But then I "baby" my car,--never been over 180 in it).

Para82

Get yourself a Shelby GT500 for the hooligan driving, keep the 911 for the twisties, they compliment each other well

vman4639

Um .. yeah - - I know how to drive. I've been driving a manual for 20 years or so - but a Porsche for a little more than a month. I was not looking for "how do I use a clutch" - this was more of an experience based question - for the ones who've been driving Porsche for years, what have they learned? I know for instance that having the weight over the rear wheels makes a big difference. I also wanted to make sure that I would not damage the car by dropping the clutch. And no - this is not for "every time I drive the car" - it's in that rare case when you want it.

Must have been a bad football weekend for some people - ask a simple question and get smacked (you'll need a new clutch, you don't know how to drive a car, buy a muscle car if that's what you want, etc.) Come on guys, you've never accelerated hard from a stand still?

I, on the other hand, had a great football weekend .

RonCT

I understand the question, feels like others don't. Think about all of those car magazine articles and tests where the driver's "Launch" the manual car in order to get the maximum acceleration numbers. We all call it abuse and say things like "I wouldn't want to be the guy that ends up buying that test car". Basically, they are dumping the clutch at high RPM.

As you can see from the replies so far, basically don't "launch" your Porsche. No reason to. Engage the gear normally and mash the gas if you want to take off quickly. I think about when I'm at DE and there are 100+ Porsches and every one of us 4 times a day have to "launch" to get onto the track. And not one person in the many years of doing this has ever dumped the clutch to 'burn out' or in any other way "launch". Just no reason to abuse your car that way.

As for grip - I've yet to be able to get my rear end loose with any of my Porsches, even under 100% throttle acceleration. We're talking 964 track car, 997 GT3, and 997 C2S. Street tires, track tires, no difference. The car just squats and goes, even in sharp turns. Maybe it's the 265s you have on the rear that are allowing you to kick out the back end - maybe switch to 295s like the C2S comes with.