W211

Porsche with the 997TT won a lot of AMG owners over. I never considered a 996TT tip as it was significantly slower than the manual version as well as many AMG offering.

I don't think there really is an argument, just personal preference. My view is that if you like speeding and passing, the tip, if you like driving and feeling like a pro, the manual.

whyb2nd

Performance is mute, 3 10th of a second dif. What it comes down to is "to each his own", some like strawberry ice cream while others like vanilla.

I don't think the 997TT tip has the power launch control that the new GT2 will have, so I wouldn't be bragging on #'s that can ultimatly hurt your drive train. I'm not flaming the tip guys just watch out and take care of your ride.

Whoopsy

Hard launching is more likely to destroy the drivetrain of a 6-speed car than a tip car, the AMG 5-speed unit is practically undestroy-able while the clutch in a 6-speed car can easily burn up. The slip in the torque converter is more adapt to absorb the shock of launching awd cars. Heck even in a rwd Ferrari the clutch can't stand much more than a handful of launches.

Terry Adams

By Christmas I will have both. Until then, I don't feel qualified to give an opinion on the relative merits. Other than voting with my wallet. Nor can I argue with Porsche's decision to offer both. Moving along the age/income/wealth/health bell curve, I am sure they know exactly where they should be with their products. I am just a data point, and so is my opinion.

Freak997tt

Whay about kickdown function on the 997tt tip cars?

Whoopsy

What about it? As long as one doesn't go all the way down to the bottom in one go, there isn't an issue.
A moderated step is good enough to pass almost anything.

No one floors an automatic in one go anyway, in any other car that will cause the transmission to do 2 or possibly 3 downshifts and takes forever to even accelerate.

With shift buttons on the steering wheel, a couple taps for downshifts and then floor it and you are GONE.

1AS

Whoops,
There i disgree with you. The tip tends to read the aggressiveness of your throttle input, and one hard stab gets you the biggest available downshift. The tip rewards very decisive inputs. AS

Whoopsy

As I said, buttons on the wheel is my friend, I would say 90% of the time I used the buttons to down shift to the right gear before I step on the gas, the other 10% I would be in 5th and the moderate throttle input drops down to 4th and that's already enough for what I need.

I guess my style of driving manage to get around the so called 'kickdown' problem of the tip.

One interesting observation, even thought the tip is the same transmission as the one in my CLS55, the software in the Merc is way better at reading inputs and makes better decisions, in 2 years of ownership it has misread me maybe a handful of times. For example, in city driving, while making a 90 degree right hand turn at normal speed, the Merc would drops down to 2nd while I was slowing down and let me take the corner in 2nd, in the Porsche, the tip would INSISTS on using 3rd gear, and it does not matter if I am in sports mode or not. This is just about the only thing that bugs me about the tip.

W211

I just test drove the R8 press car with the e-gear. When it upshifts it throws my head forward reminding me of the 360. I actually prefer the tip over the e-gear in this respect, although I quite like the paddles on the steering wheel.

R8 is quite nice and civilized, surprised the traction control kicked in a few times, as the car is slower than the turbo (as expected). Ride is quiet nice. Roomy inside, lots of curb appeal I didn't expect so many people know about the car.

There seems to be an electronic lag when I first step on the throttle. Slower response than the turbo tip when in manual mode.

Whoopsy

And you didn't bring me for the test drive?

W211

I was just having drinks with the dealer principal and he took the show car out for the night. We are going back tomorrow (Saturday OpenRoad Audi) afternoon to check it out again in the day time. Let me know if you're interested in meeting there, around 4pm?