Petevb

Not worth the time or effort IMHO. Matt will correct me, but I believe it's got exactly the same synchros in 1st as the other gears, and these are very good. I kinda doubt they are steel like on some of the Cup/ GT cars, but they should last orders of magnitude longer than the 915 gearbox syncros you're used to, regardless of how you treat them.

I know that grabbing 1st in the Spyder (same gearbox) was quicker and easier than grabbing 2nd in most most cars- in plane shift, and with the auto-blip on zero upset to the car. Didn't feel unkind or hesitant in the least, likely in part because it's so tall (not far from 2nd in many cars). The only shame is that you need really tight hairpins to make it worthwhile.

neanicu

I absolutely agree it is a parts bin car. That doesn't make it any less desirable and I think it will be a huge success. I personally don't understand why anyone would get offended by that statement. It's still a Porsche GT and I want one.
They have certainly managed to keep the cost down by using the parts bin and that's great!
This car,with the full potential power of 430 HP/shorter gear ratios and the weight that it has,would've been way too close to the most precious jewel Porsche has-the GT3.

supercup

Gearing - one shift to 62 mph / 100 kph +/-, next shift gets you to 100 mph +/-, next shift around 127 mph/ 205 kph (1/4 mile times), next shift around 151(0-150 times), top speed round 168

GrantG

You're going to want 3rd to be lower than 100mph if 2nd is only 62mph.

supercup

Agreed I figure you need 2nd around 65 - 67 - just past 62 - then at around 102 or so, just past 100 - then just past 200 kph and shorter on up to top speed.

BGB Motorsports

Matt can correct me if I'm wrong but I think they're carbon lined. When we went from the 996 Getrag box that required steel syncros and pitching the brass ones, we got 6 races as opposed to 2; the 997 Aisin box was a big improvement that needed no updates to last a season as long as a differential / gear cooler was run. However, I remember Matt going on and on about how we were in for a treat because the 9A1 cars had a beefy Getrag box from Europe from a diesel Audi and it had carbon lined syncros that would have the best longevity of all. I remember this conversation coming up again with 3 hours to go in the 24 hour when we lost our clutch. Everyone looked at me when I made the decision to keep going and I basically bit my fingernails for 3 hours reminding myself that we had the single best H-pattern transmission from Porsche in our history of street-stock racing. We ran that trans and that motor another 6 races and another 3 days of testing.

The syncros are stout. You might find some shavings here and there but they're beefy. P.S. We refuse to install short shift kits given their propensity to lead to synchro damage. Unless it's a Cup motor with a tiny clutch, we don't recommend SS kits given how quickly the motor decels. Having said that, the 987.2 is the only car whose trans never needed replacement. Sorry if I wandered off topic some.

vantage

I know some race cars use a very tall first gear...to say 60mph. First is a usable gear, so there's no reason to worry about 0-30mph acceleration unless you are doing standing starts. First goes up to 60mph and then the rest of the forward gears can be very closely spaced.


What did you think of the Spyder overall?

GTgears

So based on Pete's comments, it seems that there is no need to change 2nd. Just downshift to first. that's what I would do on a dog box or sequential.

We ran one of those active first gears Vantage mentions one year at Daytona. Had it set up so that when we dropped it into 1st going into turn 1 we were right around 7000rpm ready to go. This was on a Cup. Sounds to me like those smart German engineers gave the GT4 an active 1st from the factory.

/thread.

Chris from Cali

My concern is not so much ¼ mile acceleration, but the fact that I won't be able to run each gear out to redline after 2nd without worrying about my license (and freedom). I wouldn't mind seeing 1st go to about 35, 2nd to about 60, 3rd to about 90, 4th to 130, etc. This is not a car that needs an overdriven 6th gear. As far as fuel economy goes, Porsche just needs to sell more hybrids and Diesel Cayennes. GT cars should not be making that sacrifice... Just my $0.02.

IMOA

I'm just really dubious of how much a 60mph 2nd would be used. I'm dubious because my current car has a 62mph 2nd and it's almost never used because there's very few corners where I can accelerate through to the exit point without running out of the gear so instead you have to use 3rd. And thats in a 200hp car, not something with 385 hp! If 2nd was taller I'd actually use it more.

I look at some of our old cars, for a rwd turbo 4 with 400hp (250hp standard) the standard gearing had 2nd running to 64mph and we would change the box to put in a longer 1st and 2nd and then shorter 3rd, 4th and 5th. Again, the standard 2nd gear was somewhat unusable so by putting in a taller gear it meant we could use it on the track and for the tight (but not ultra tight) hairpins on the street.

While I think 2nd is a little long in the GT4 I also think that by shortening it down to 60mph it would make it less usable as there just aren't that many corners where you could use it and the ones where you would (say a very tight hairpin with elevation change on the street) you can just use 1st anyway.

sunnyr

Hmm, so about shifting into first, one of things I was told when I got my GT3 was don't shift into 1st unless the car is completely at rest (to save the synchro). Was I told wrong or is it just not a concern on the GT4?

BGB Motorsports

I think it's not so much the synchro abuse as much as it is that these modern day high performance sports cars don't like going into 1st at anything above 5mph! It's doable but you have to actually double clutch and blip perfectly if you don't want the rear end barking back at you.

GrantG

I was thinking that trying manual and auto rev matching with double clutching might be worth a try...

Petevb

With the auto-blip on it was dead easy, easier and faster than downshifting to 2nd in most cars. Just takes a little getting used to, but it nails it every time. Rotates very nicely in first off the hairpins...

GTgears

Remember how I told all these guys to drive the cars before they became so sure this car needs a different 2nd. You are one of the only ones here who has driven it and you are killing the idea with genuine experience. This is part of why I never release a product the first year of a new car.