996 C2 how does PSM work

[vandereydt]

I just got my 996 C2 Cab 2001.
Very very low mileage, realy nice car.
Now I am still trying to find out what all the switches are for.
The car has PSM, I found a switch saying PSM.
I understand its the Porsche Stability Management. The way I see it is the faster I go the harder the suspension gets.
But I assumed I could switch it soft / hard, is this possible? I like a hard suspension set up.

Furthermore, its a tip and the car drives like a grandfather it moves to fifth gear very very fast long before you'v reached 60 km/h, is that normal or can it be set up different? I do like the manual mode.

Thanks
Ronny

[jonny996]

press harder on the big pedal & it wont go to 5th so quick.

[vandereydt]

sure Johnny but there's no in between, either you really go for it or it switches to granddad mode
ronny

PS I love the car

[BliarOut]

PSM doesn't operate on the suspension it operates on the brakes. It measures acceleration, yaw, steering wheel angle etc and figures out if the car is likely to leave the road. If it thinks that's about to happen it cuts drive and applies the brakes on a per wheel basis to bring the car inline. Bloody clever.

I've got the Porsche workshop manual for the braking system in PDF format which describes it's function in detail. PM me if you want to read it, but it's about a 40MB file so your e-mail provider better be pretty liberal.

The tip learns your driving style and adapts. There are five basic maps and adaptive mapping that the car applies depending on how it's being driven. Having said that it never seems to judge my mood very well though. Personally I leave mine in manual and have fun playing with the buttons

[jonny996]

I know the tip has 5 modes and changes as per your style. How long does it wait to figure out you are in a playful mode, does it instantly change into playfull mode or does it wait for a minute to see if it was a one off and stay in cruising mode.

I am sure it tells me in my hand book, not got that to hand just now.

also do the 5 modes have names

[vandereydt]

Well I have learned something new here, forgive me my stupid question. PSM is indeed a very clever system. thanks

Regarding the tiptronic, interesting to hear that it has five modes, does it by itself choose the mode according to the drivingstyle of the moment? Or can we somehow set it?

I have to agree that the manual setting is the most fun setting.
Have you any idea how the fuelconsumption compares manual to auto.

Thanks again
Regards
Ronny

[BliarOut]

I seem to recall reading how the tip chooses it's maps in the drivers handbook but I haven't got mine with me at the moment. If you have a look and it's not in there I'll have a dig around and find the information.

[LeeME3]

vandereydt said:

Have you any idea how the fuelconsumption compares manual to auto.

Do you mean a tip car vs a manual car or a tip car in auto vs a tip car in manual? If the former VERY approx I reckon tip uses about 10% more than manual, but really difficult to say as it varies so much with driving style and (in the case of a tip in auto mode, the map in use, I think one of them is called 'Economy'). FWIW I reckon it changes map pretty quickly - my wife and I drive our tip back to back and it pretty much seems to go to economy mode (or whatever it is called) for her and 'sport' for me within a minute.

I did hear (on t'internet so it must be true) that if you give it a healthy rev soon after start up you can boot it straight into sportiest mode (but make sure engine isn't cold etc etc etc).

[ballcock]

Have you sold your boxter , Ronnie? ... It was a great ad for high mileage boxter/996 engines .

[vandereydt]

Hi Ballcock,
Nope havent sold the Boxster yet, get her cleaned up a bit and then I am afraid I will have to find a new caring parent for her.
Indeed I sure hope this one will be as reliable as the Boxster. But I am not intending to keep this one as long as the Boxster max two years and then move on to a 4S or better a Turbo. But lets not rush and first learn all about this babe.
Thanks for the replies
Ronny

PS have a problem sleeping, the grin on my face is difficult to relax