Tiptronic, would you , or wouldn't you?
Discussion
I agree with Tarka, Tiptronics are underrated, They do shift gears quicker than your typical non-race driver, should the sense of occasion present itself. Fantastic when exiting corners or nice empty roundabouts, As for flat-outness through the twisties, just ask the Kawa-Ninja how close he could hear the flat six as he tried oh so hard to lose the Tippy on the mighty A686, no matter what he did the car & the box was glued to his no. plate. (ahh.. memories...). to my mind you really do get the best of both worlds, I have never been the auto box type (had a big fat Omega V6 manual in a previous life), but i to was in London, and saw the advantage of just torquing through the traffic, and when you break through, Just press the go pedal with intent and it totally transforms the car into a nutter on nuts, there is something appealing about a car as acompished as this having literally two personalities (right Tarka?), the handbook says it has 5 driving 'programs' i have only managed to 'find' 3 at best, maybe you can other Tip drivers can give an insight. The only thing is though, unlike some people, i would have liked to chuck it around a track, but there in I guess,lies the rub, maybe just 4 gear ratios are not enough for a track session, anyone ever Tipped around a rack before?. C'mon admit it, when you are stuck on the M4 in 3 Gobs Prescott's Bus Lane mayhem, just as you see the beckoning dread of Brentford. Stuck, and yee-yawing your way between bumpers, and that ol' left foot is putting in some serious footwork, don't you just wish, don't you...?
The answer is the Tip. Best of both worlds for those that want them. It's a dual personality car, believe me, when you want to, you can really find your limits before the car does, I have driven the ragged arse of this car, on some of the most demanding roads in the UK, very rural and very remote finding out if it really is as quick, from point to point as some say. I really do defy anyone to shift gears quicker than its claimed 0.2sec, go on say "0.2secs" it's just shifted through two cogs. when it's transformed into nutter mode, and maybe i'm not as good a driver as i think i am, but it's ability to let you concentrate on 2 less processes as that tightening twistie looms ahead, and i mean ¨ø width roads with up close dry stone walls, at 'progressive' velocity, is i think a great advantage which let's me concentrate more on lining the car up and choosing a breaking point. Funnily enough, it's the fact that you can get on with the other stuff that lets you explore the engines range, eg: later braking while just bubbling under the ideal torque/HP range for slamming it out of a corner, it really is that good. I disagree with people's inference when they refer to it as ultimately, an auto box, and therefore behaves like one with its implied limitations. C'mon, do you think Porsche would put an 'ordinary' setup in their then flagship model?. They didn't, they fitted one that would exploit the car's engine and chassis dynamics. I think it's a clever well implemented system that always delivers the goods when you want them, there are other benefits to the tippy box, it has a 'slip monitoring curcuit' that senses the speed difference between axles, reassuring on slippery surfaces. Has anyone tried toe and heeling it while playing point and shoot with the triggers on the steering wheel?, marvelous. It has five gear change maps, from Economy to Sport, anyone have any info on what the other 3 are for? (Cue the pisstakers entry point...). I'll end by saying that I am not saying it is superior to a manual box, but i think it's the car as a whole that makes for for a great driving experience, and the Tippy box hold its end up at least in comparison.
I didn't come from BMW ownership, Just always wanted a 911 from about 10yrs old. Funny enough, i had an Omega V6, Manual!. I used to love bashing my way through it's cogs, but when I drove a Manual and Tip 993, it made for an interesting journey, The manual was on the North Circular, From mad gridlock, to nothing for a mile. The Tip was through Central London, Then up through A41 onto M1. by the time i had finished the 2nd test. I had been converted, i could suddenly see the sense in driving a tip box with triggers. 20yrs ago when roads were less clogged and we were in only stage 1 of becoming a police state, I would have gone for the manual, but in this day and age, as I said in my previous posting, it's great to have the choice. As for the torque converter feel, I can honestly say, that when the car is in nuttier mode, i can't tell the difference, the changes are that quick, and when they quickly leap through the cogs into Variothrum-land and beyond, what with the noise, if it does blip, it is still blipping quicker than a manual clutch/left foot depress, the result is sensational, for a car that a short while earlier was allowing me to just torque my way through the dense traffic. I actually like it's dual personality, it suits my moods (and of many others i would imagine), sometimes you want to just enjoy the drive, and then, you want to explore the cars other abilities. I think it detracts nothing from the real sports car pleasure to which others refer.
>> Edited by veewhy on Monday 15th March 18:40
>> Edited by veewhy on Monday 15th March 18:40
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