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If you buy your car pre owned, or if it went into limp mode, or you just think you have some quirks in it, one way to diagnose or pd if you have issues, is to try reset the PDK itself.
The car learns driver habits over time. After a few years, a new owner may have different driving style, and this reset will help the new owner get car into factory condition, so it can learn new owner habits and hopefully be a better experience for the new driver.
Below pic is from Porsche, and gives 4 steps on how to reset PDK to factory mode.
Good luck. Hope it helps someone here.
I did this last week. My car is a 2011 987 roadster with 23,000 miles on it, and while I'm not new to driving Porsche vehicles this has been my first experience with the PDK gearbox.
I stumbled on this while reading an unrelated thread - but always though the PDK a bit "quirky", especially when cold.
What a difference!
After the re-set it immediately drove more smoothly, almost like it was reading my mind. And after a week, it *is* reading my mind. Whoever the previous owner was must have driven it ultra-conservatively in auto mode; I'm not a "hot rodder", but know the car prefers higher RPMs - I use the paddles, and depending on gear/speed/situation I generally shift at 5-6k and cruise at 4-5,000RPM. It shifts up and down as smooth as butter - and a side benefit is my gas milage has increased by roughly 17%. With gas at $6.50+/gal...and being on a fixed income... it's a pretty significant plus!
I've read about this PDK reset procedure with skepticism for a long time. I finally did it yesterday and I am here to attest that it works. I noticed smoother starts and shifting right off. I have had a Sprint Booster for awhile and I have it at a moderate setting, which helps the throttle response and smooth starts. I don't know if it's the combination or the reset, but the PDK doesn't get confused as often and it seems to be shifting much more smoothly.
I have a recently purchased '15 Macan and quickly became unhappy with the PDK shift mapping. In Normal mode it lugs and upshifts too quickly, I'm sure all in the interest of fuel economy and emission control. I found this thread by searching for some aftermarket way to improve the shift mapping, didn't find one. I read this entire thread with interest and excitedly performed the reset procedure described above. The bottom line: if there is any difference at all it may well have been placebo effect. I'd have to conclude that it didn't effect the shift mapping at all. Based on the experiences posted here I'm sure it did for those who posted so I can't explain why I got no improvement. My car has never exhibited the roughness or jerkiness some in this thread have described, it just keeps the rpm too low in general and is then lethargic when trying to gently accelerate. Of course when I mash the throttle it goes through the downshift routine, it's just the non-freeway light throttle mapping that I REALLY don't like.
Yes, I can put it in Sport mode every time I start the car, and I quite often do, but that sure seems like a bit of a hassle. Anyone know of a way to have the car KEEP sport mode active like it will with disabling the stop/start "feature"?
So, in normal driving I really have two choices:
NORMAL mode: as described above I find this just not acceptable, so to manage it I'm continually using the left paddle to pull it down a gear to keep the revs up a bit so that it doesn't lug and vibrate and feel lethargic. As you drivers know when you do that it only holds that gear for whatever the "timeout" period is, seems like 6-8 seconds, I've never timed it. In a normal drive around town this ends up being quite a few downshifts. This mode has no problem with upshifts so I essentially never need to upshift.
SPORT mode: I supposed I could accept having to proactively press the Sport mode button every start, but it shouldn't be that way, we should have the ability to set the default. Anyway, once I'm in Sport I never need to use the left paddle, but occasionally when accelerating gently to say 35 mph it will then hold the revs above 2,000 rpm for an extended period. The bottom line for driving in this mode is that I occasionally have to hit the right paddle and upshift it to get the revs just below 2,000 when I know I won't be accelerating much more on the visible road ahead. All told I'm doing this upshift routine way less than the downshift routine while driving in Normal mode.
The discouraging part is that I've had the chance to drive a 911 PDK before and the Normal mode shift map on that car I found quite acceptable as others of you have commented, so I was expecting the Macan to be the same, it's unfortunately not.
Just tried the simple reset on my 2010 ptt. Haven't been able to try it out yet as i'm at work. I didn't get the different sound beep, by my comfort access handle on the drivers door started working again. So there's that. I'll edit this if i notice a difference in shifter when i drive later. Car might not have been up to operating temp (140f) when i started the process. So we'll see.
I reset over the weekend on my 2017 971 and the difference was immediate and the car began to shift to differently and over the past few days has been adjusting and smoothing out. The vehicle is obviously learning my driving habits and style.
Hi all. Am I the first person to try this on a 2020 C4S? I'll try both ways and see what happens. My car shifts hard from 1-2 at slow speeds sometimes.
Thanks for the info, I did this today on my 2012 Panny 4. I had my PDK fluid & filter changed by an experienced indpendent Porsche tech. We had some issues and the trans was a bit more clunky afterward and I thought it was done for. I took the less than 10 mins to do this procedure and in the 15 mins I drove afterward, it's shifting like a new trans again.
Smoother takeoffs, faster manual shifts, I'm impressed and happy. I did the procedure in the first post, I did not press the accelerator at the 1.5 min mark.
06-06-2022, 08:20 PM
IT WORKS!
