How do you drive your PDK?

How do you drive your PDK?

Author
Discussion

Chad_Hugo

649 posts

177 months

Friday 2nd June 2017
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Auto 90% of the time in my 997.2 Turbo S.

Sports mode when going for a spirited b road drive on a nice spring/summers day.

Sports Plus is just bonkers on my car!! Agree with what a couple of people said above, it's not really intended for regular road use in my opinion it's mostly intended for track use, and my car has never been tracked. Tried sports plus a few times briefly, too manic and extreme for regular use in my view- at least it is in 530 bhp Turbo S, maybe in other cars its different.

SkinnyPete

Original Poster:

1,411 posts

148 months

Friday 2nd June 2017
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But you can use sports plus along with manual and that towns it down, I just find the gearshifts too jerky.

n4aat

457 posts

211 months

Sunday 4th June 2017
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Sport and manual 100% of the time for me.

Sport + is too harsh.

Have never tried driving in auto.

Weirdly I only use auto in my 330d. Just doesn't feel right using manual shifting. I think that's because I can't hear the engine so no sense of where the revs are without looking at the dash. Plus rev range so very different to the Boxster.

sonnenschein3000

710 posts

89 months

Monday 5th June 2017
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981c 'S' with sport plus.


built up areas: automatic, normal mode.

Dual carriageways and country roads: Sport mode with manual mode

When I want to show my mates what it can do: Sport Plus in automatic - hammer it right up to the point it changes up, and you can feel the gear-change through the car. - (Disclaimer: This one is on an off-road track of course....)

Chad_Hugo

649 posts

177 months

Thursday 8th June 2017
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Can the pdk be driven in sports plus, in auto mode e.g. no manual gear change?

It holds the the revs so ridiculously high at all times (even in low gear) it doesn't seem a good idea at all. The manual doesn't say much about sports plus other than it's for track use or something of that nature.

I thought the only way to use it was with the paddles.


ATM

18,095 posts

218 months

Thursday 8th June 2017
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Chad_Hugo said:
Can the pdk be driven in sports plus, in auto mode e.g. no manual gear change?

It holds the the revs so ridiculously high at all times (even in low gear) it doesn't seem a good idea at all. The manual doesn't say much about sports plus other than it's for track use or something of that nature.

I thought the only way to use it was with the paddles.
Yes

It will change gear eventually

The high revs are less obvious once you're into 3rd and 4th which means on a road you are away from built up areas and on faster sweeping country lanes

I think you have to use it if you want to launch

Chad_Hugo

649 posts

177 months

Thursday 8th June 2017
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Yes, launch control is with sports plus on- never used it personally for that but I'm sure your right.

Interesting, so basically it's safe to use sports plus in auto as long as you are going fast enough to be in higher gear most of the time?

Would be interested to hear from anyone that has driven it in this way.

When I tried it, it was on a very bendy b road where speeds were not too high because of the nature of the road, the super high rpm's it was holding constantly worried me so put it back into sports mode and carried on like that.


ATM

18,095 posts

218 months

Thursday 8th June 2017
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Chad_Hugo said:
Yes, launch control is with sports plus on- never used it personally for that but I'm sure your right.

Interesting, so basically it's safe to use sports plus in auto as long as you are going fast enough to be in higher gear most of the time?

Would be interested to hear from anyone that has driven it in this way.

When I tried it, it was on a very bendy b road where speeds were not too high because of the nature of the road, the super high rpm's it was holding constantly worried me so put it back into sports mode and carried on like that.
I never use Sport Plus. It's far too unsympathetic. I have tried it a couple of times and find if you're at speeds which use 1st and 2nd then the insanity is a lot more obvious. If you are out of 2nd gear and into 3rd then it can't be that insane because you are just revving towards red line in 3rd and then into 4th.

psi310398

9,036 posts

202 months

Thursday 8th June 2017
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ATM said:
I never use Sport Plus. It's far too unsympathetic. I have tried it a couple of times and find if you're at speeds which use 1st and 2nd then the insanity is a lot more obvious. If you are out of 2nd gear and into 3rd then it can't be that insane because you are just revving towards red line in 3rd and then into 4th.
That said, I have used it at 0200 on an empty Autobahn, but even then the greater possibility of a brown trouser moment than in Sport made me come out of it quite sharpish. I never felt quite enough in control on that setting. But judging something on the basis of a few minutes' trial does not make sense so I'll try again when the opportunity presents itself.

ATM

18,095 posts

218 months

Friday 9th June 2017
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psi310398 said:
ATM said:
I never use Sport Plus. It's far too unsympathetic. I have tried it a couple of times and find if you're at speeds which use 1st and 2nd then the insanity is a lot more obvious. If you are out of 2nd gear and into 3rd then it can't be that insane because you are just revving towards red line in 3rd and then into 4th.
That said, I have used it at 0200 on an empty Autobahn, but even then the greater possibility of a brown trouser moment than in Sport made me come out of it quite sharpish. I never felt quite enough in control on that setting. But judging something on the basis of a few minutes' trial does not make sense so I'll try again when the opportunity presents itself.
I've also never turned the TC off. Has anyone else - and can you actually turn it completely off?

Magic919

14,126 posts

200 months

Friday 9th June 2017
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It's a lot more than TC and it'll still intervene if you exceed the limits and touch the brakes.

SV_WDC

679 posts

88 months

Friday 9th June 2017
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My understanding is that (at least from the 981 onwards) the tolerance for TCS in Sport mode was 12 degrees, up from 9 degrees in normal mode.

Presume Sports+ extends the threshold. And yes you can turn TCS off completely. Never done it myself and never want to.

Sports modes are designed to hold the gears & according to the owners manual Sports+ disables 7th gear entirely, makes everything even sportier, enables launch, and changes down if you tap the brake.

ATM

18,095 posts

218 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
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SV_WDC said:
Sports+ disables 7th gear entirely.
Yes I noticed this. I tried sport plus in manual mode while driving miss daisy and couldn't get 7th at all.

Magic919

14,126 posts

200 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
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You might get 7th if you engage cruise control.

ATM

18,095 posts

218 months

Sunday 11th June 2017
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Magic919 said:
You might get 7th if you engage cruise control.
I've not got cruise

pichat

13 posts

108 months

Saturday 12th January 2019
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Guys, can anyone tell me for sure whether the PDK on 997 will shift up for you in fake manual mode? Or is there a setting (e.g. sport +) in which the PDK will NOT shift up for you as you rev up?

Murph7355

37,651 posts

255 months

Saturday 12th January 2019
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pichat said:
Guys, can anyone tell me for sure whether the PDK on 997 will shift up for you in fake manual mode? Or is there a setting (e.g. sport +) in which the PDK will NOT shift up for you as you rev up?
I don't think Sports+ mode manual changes up for you, but haven't tried bouncing the car off the limiter.

I use normal auto when in traffic/only wanting to chill.

Sports+ manual mode for anything else (997.2). The car feels quite lethargic (both gear changes and in outright go) to me in any other mode, but just right in this set up.

I don't see that any of the other options are that useful (though Sport was OK as an incremental step as I got the measure of the car).

I knock off the firmed up dampers the vast majority of the time - the firmer setting is no good for British b-roads. I'm told the DSC PASM dongle thing makes a night and day difference. Yet to delve further.

(Sports exhaust I have in loud mode most of the time).


Shaoxter

4,048 posts

123 months

Saturday 12th January 2019
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pichat said:
Guys, can anyone tell me for sure whether the PDK on 997 will shift up for you in fake manual mode? Or is there a setting (e.g. sport +) in which the PDK will NOT shift up for you as you rev up?
In Sport+ Manual mode, the PDK won't shift up and will bounce off the limiter, done it a few times on track when I've pulled the paddle too late.

pichat

13 posts

108 months

Sunday 13th January 2019
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Thanks a lot. Yes, with regards to the track driving was my concern. I would take it as relaxed as possible on the roads, but when I go to the track I would hate if the comp starts upshifting the gears for me.

FTW

531 posts

175 months

Sunday 13th January 2019
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Cayman R

Manual in Sport mode is the default.

Sometimes I’ll drop into normal mode on a long cruise for a more relaxed throttle pedal.

Manual in Sport plus with ESP off for track.