moskasa

I'm considering getting a 986S with tiptronic as a city car that I'd like to take to ~4 DE's per year. I've tracked a 986S 6-speed with no issues, but was curious to anyone's experiences with tracking a tiptronic. Do it/don't do it, potential problems, recommended maintenance/preventative maintenance, stuff to look for when purchasing a car, etc. Any advice from people who have been there would be great. I live in Houston, so also curious to how these cars can deal with heat, on the track, with the Tip. Thanks!

Macster

No direct experience, but a couple of general recommendations...

Start with a car with a known (as best as you can tell) good Tip. Give the car a good test ride/drive. I won't detail this much more other than to say at least a 15 mile ride then follow the same route as a driver and be sure you insist the seller choose a route that gives him a chance to demo the car under some spirited driving, to see how as best you can the Tip behaves during this type of driving. You want to get the Tip hot, nice and hot (along with the rest of the car, engine/drivetrain) so pick a warm day and leave the A/C off. (You check the A/C after the test ride/drive.)

Depending upon the miles on the car I'd like to see at least one Tip fluid/filter service and ideally one backed by paperwork to show it was done at a dealer or a well-regarding indy shop and the right fluid used.

(Porsche only approves 2 (maybe just one) ATF fluid and does not support the mixing of an approved fluid with an unapproved fluid.)

Now a bit of paranoia: If the car had a Tip fluid change prior (and not too long before) you bought the car the seller could be unloading a car with a sick Tip.

Often a high miles Tip will get a fluid change and then act up.

Or the Tip will be ok but the seller thinks a fluid change is an enhancement and will help the car move quicker/for more money. But....my sources tell me that if the Tip fluid is ignored long enough and even if the Tip is not yet exhibiting any symptoms the lesser of the two evils is to just leave the thing alone. It will get sick and need attention but a fluid change often seems to accelerate this decline.

Anyhow, if the Tip fluid change prior to you seeing the car offered for sale isn't suspiciously too soon before the car was offered for sale, the Tip might be ok.

If you end up with the car have a Tip fluid/filter service done and spend some time with the car to ensure the Tip behaves, is behaving.

Once you have satisfied the Tip is ok then you can DE the car.

Well sure, you can DE it at anytime of course, but maybe it matters to know that the Tip was healthy before the DE's and it was the DE's that made it unhealthy or vice versa. It might provide you with ideas of what you might need to do to allow the Tip to survive the DE's if you decide to repair/replace the Tip and keep the car.

Before you set out on your 1st DE though you need to know if there's anything extra that you can do besides ensuring the Tip's fluid is fresh, the right kind and that the Tip is for all appearances healthy but all I could add to this would be a search to find if anyone makes a Tip fluid cooler or offers a higher capacity one.

You'll want to think about keeping the Tip fluid temps down so they do not spike or rise to extremely elevated levels during DE's. This might be helped to know what they are now and this would call for a Tip fluid temp gage so you can get a handle on the before numbers and stop driving DE's if the fluid temp climbs too high, whatever too high is. Since I have never owned a Tip equipped car I have no real data to offer.

Anyhow, if no one comes through with any definitive input based on direct experience with Tip cars and DE's or tracking Tip cars, before you buy a Tip car maybe you want to visit a DE, spectate a DE -- even if you can't participate in the DE -- to see how Tip cars fare, and speak to their owners to get some first hand experiences.

You might hear "Oh Tips suck and I'd never buy one for DE's again" or you might hear just the opposite. But better to know before you buy than after.

Even if you hear they suck if you find a good car and there are things you can to do to mitigate the demands DE's put on Tips you can do these before and benefit from experiences of other unfortunate Tip owners.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Jim Sorensen

My 986S has been on the track multiple times with absolutely no problems. I can beat a stick every time. The Tip is smart and learns and I usually just let it shift when it wants.
Talked with PCNA factory drivers and they have said that they have not experienced any problems when tracking.
My mechanic says to leave the fluid alone, don't touch it or change it unless the transmission was opened up.

My 2 cents

Macster

The techs I speak with advise at least staying with the factory Tip fluid change interval of IIRC 90K (or is it 60k?) miles.

All say an early change is ok, that is if one wants to cut the interval by say 1/3 or even 1/2 (from say 90K miles to 60K or even 45K miles) that's ok.

What I hear is if the Tip has big miles with *no* fluid change that often a fluid change seems to make matters worse.

Not sure who's right or what I'd do if I owned a Tip. Check that... I think I'd stay with my pattern I have followed for like ever and opt for a more frequent fluid change just like I do for my manual transmissions. But the OP is free to do as he wants.

Regardless it is nice to read that a Tip car tracks very well. It speaks volumes about the quality of the Tip.

(Years ago I came across an owner of an mid-90's USA car (Mustang) equipped with an automatic. The owner lived in Germany. He took the car out on the autobahn and of course ran it at high speed. Nothing horrific but he did cruise the car at speeds one could never legally obtain (nor long sustain without being pulled over) here in the USA. The reason he posted was the automatic was acting up and the word he got when he tried to get this taken care of is the transmission wasn't intended to be run at high speed.)

Sincerely,

Macster.

racer

I've autocrossed a friends Tip Boxster S and thought it was fantastic (modded, yes, but still a tip!). Another friend put on some 90 track days on his 2.5 with tip (lease car) and never had issues either.