Bullseye7

Before buying my '06 C2S, the seller took me out and let me drive it. When we got out of traffic and properly warmed up I brought the car up to about 4,000 rpm before shifting into 3rd gear and then a bit later up to almost 5,000. The seller's eyes opened up like saucers and he told me that "this car has never been driven this hard before. Please slow it down until you own it yourself!"

I told him that's how these cars were meant to be driven (I've had 2 other 911's before) but he was convinced I wasn't serious about buying his car and I was just out for a joyride.

It got me wondering where you all shift your manual transmissions and whereabouts you try to keep the tach at. Personally I usually shift between 4-4.5k and try to drive 2.8-3.2k.

deijmaster

Same here, the numbers you give are totally cool, I really don't understand the owner of the car you were checking out.... He shouldn't own a Porsche if he drives it like a camry ; )

I guess as long as the car is hot and ready, push it and you'll be rewarded with performance and sound. These engines are "protected" with builtin limiters so no big worries there... Anyone else?

fast1

Shifting at 4K-5K RPM certainly does not constitute abuse, but it is a tad high for "normal" driving. On the other hand I would expect someone to push the car at least a little on a test drive. I typically shift between 3K - 4k RPM unless I'm on a spirited drive in which case I push it to around 7K.

rotesAuto

that is odd a Pcar owner would not be familar with that 'unspoken rule'.
I feel the same way: it was explained to me during my first test drive of the Targa I used to have.....although I usually shift between 3-4, and also like to drive at your mentioned numbers...

think you'll buy the car? wonder what kind of research the owner is doing?

Edgy01

It depends.

If you're truly driving the car for performance, then you obviously will shift when going higher in RPMs gains you nothing. The key to shifting (which I shouldn't even have to write here on a PORSCHE forum) is to shift so that when the next gear is selected (as you are going up through the gears) it winds up in the peak of its HP production--otherwise you wind up lugging the engine. Shifting prematurely causes the engine speed to be beneath the optimal RPM point in the next higher gear, resulting in a lugging of the engine until you get the RPMs up again.

For example, these engines come on 'the cam' at around 4000 rpms so make sure that when you shift the needle winds up at 4000 as you select the next gear--and then accelerate to wherever you need to be to hit 4000 at the next shift. Fortunately, these are much higher displacement engines than ever before and you need not worry so much about lugging these engines as you used to--they can generate quite a bit of HP even at rpms much lower than ever before.

DJ23

This is a great question that has always offered great debate. From what I've read and have found out from asking questions the best time to shift, when the car is properly warmed up is an rpm that allows the engine to stay in its peak torque range. Look at the cars torque vs rpm graph. Where the two lines intersect on the graph, that's the sweet spot. Try keeping the car within the range of the two peaks. That is where torque and HP intersect giving you the best overall performance. Shift at a point where the HP curve is at its max, this way when you shift gears and the rpm drops, you will now be accelerating again within the maximum torque range giving you the best acceleration. If you try shifting at redline you will see that in this range, torque and HP are declining, not giving you the performance you think that you should have. I hope this helps. And if I'm wrong, I know that I'm not too far from the truth.
PS. For normal street driving I shift around 3200 rpms.

Jay

Arctic Wolf

Normal driving around 3k, spirited 6.8-7k

Sweeper

WFO

Hella-Buggin'

I don't understand someone who buys a Porsche and doesn't get curious as to why the red bars on the tach don't start until 7k. Sounds like the guy drove it like a diesel.

alexb76

Was he the typical Vancouver Porsche owner? If so, that explains it!

During normal driving, in traffic, I shift 3-4K, more spirited, 4-5K, on track, 6-7K!

Bullseye7

Ya, lol, pretty much the typical Vancouver Porsche driver. He knew very little about the car besides what colour it is and what kind of fuel to put in it. Maybe my shift points might be a bit high but it's probably better for the car than lugging it all day and way more fun too!

Quadcammer

no.

you aren't lugging a 997 motor at 2000rpm. Unless you are opening up the throttle in a high gear, you aren't lugging it at 1500rpm. You'd have to do something pretty stupid to lug a modern porsche engine. This aint a roller bearing 356 or 2.4 that has maybe 130lb ft of torque at its peak.


I don't have a 997, but under normal driving, I shift my 993tt at about 3000rpm. Under hard driving, whenever I feel like it.

fskof

It depends on the driving situation. Driving around town in traffic I shift around 3k but when I want to have some fun then 5-7k rpm

I usually shift when I feel the car needs to be shifted. Its more of a feel thing then watching the tach. Hard to explain but I'm sure some of you guys know what I'm saying...lol

Spokane5150

I suspect that a lot of the people on this forum never exceed 5k rpm. These are the guys and girls that complain that their tires wear out prematurely on the inside tread. LOL

You seem to be buying a 911 Porsche for all the right reasons. Personally, I try to double the Highway off ramp speeds, blip the motor through the gears to 7k RPM's every chance I get and I thrash the car through the twisties weekly. I wouldn't respect you....unless you hit the rev limiter every once in a while during a spirited drive.

The production 911 is the closest thing to a track worthy car you can buy so treat it as such for God's sake.

Lvt19672

A-men Spokane, these are bonefied sports cars, treat them as such, these cars are not Toyota Priuses.