Tiptronic, would you , or wouldn't you?
Discussion
Manual, as I wouldnt buy one for City Driving, which is really the only point I can see to Tiptronic.
tho whole point of a sports car is the driver involvement.
I drive a Tip atm, and its great.. really is, but it puts a severe dampner on the sporting side of it. sure Sequential shitfing is 'gimmiky' but it will never make up for the loss of a clutch pedal.
The day someone designes a Tiptronic Manuls, will be the day someone gets very rich (and no, I dont mean a Paddle Shifting F1 box, I mean a car with a clutch pedal, which can be disengaged in favour of auto on the fly.)
tho whole point of a sports car is the driver involvement.
I drive a Tip atm, and its great.. really is, but it puts a severe dampner on the sporting side of it. sure Sequential shitfing is 'gimmiky' but it will never make up for the loss of a clutch pedal.
The day someone designes a Tiptronic Manuls, will be the day someone gets very rich (and no, I dont mean a Paddle Shifting F1 box, I mean a car with a clutch pedal, which can be disengaged in favour of auto on the fly.)
As I've said on another thread, I'd plump for the Tiptronic every time, but that probably says something about my idle nature. The thing I like about Tiptronics is that it has that extra dimension of a sequential box and very fast shifting. I doubt whether the performance of the car is affected enough to be noticed anywhere else but on a race track. In normal road conditions in this country, it's still good enough to see off practically any other system.
I used to love manual gear systems and, when I was younger, wouldn't have contemplated an auto of any kind. It was fun, stirring the box and getting the most out of the engine, and there's an undoubted macho element to it. My younger son is still of that mind, so I'm not letting him play with my Porsche - it's a good excuse!
I used to love manual gear systems and, when I was younger, wouldn't have contemplated an auto of any kind. It was fun, stirring the box and getting the most out of the engine, and there's an undoubted macho element to it. My younger son is still of that mind, so I'm not letting him play with my Porsche - it's a good excuse!
I have never driven a Tiptronic box so my opinion on it is of limited value, though I'm sure it's a very good auto box. However, I do drive my wife's 530 auto, which in sport mode or sequential shift mode is also very good too. But, they all have torque converters which somehow puts a bit of an "insulation" between your foot and the engine (a bit like having sex with double layers of rubber!). I just don't like the feeling when the engine revs but the car is not moving forward... Furthermore, I tend to get lazy and not bother with sequential shift, not even the sport mode, just to get a smoother ride and better fuel consumption!
So after all that, manual please on a Porsche!
So after all that, manual please on a Porsche!
I wouldn't describe a tiptronic as "sequential" but then I haven't driven the latest generation....are they really totally instant in their change now (as a sequential 'box is) or is there still that annoying torque converter effect?
Worst tip car I ever drove was a 968, god it was awful
Worst tip car I ever drove was a 968, god it was awful
rubystone said:
I wouldn't describe a tiptronic as "sequential" but then I haven't driven the latest generation....are they really totally instant in their change now (as a sequential 'box is) or is there still that annoying torque converter effect?
Not having driven a true sequential box like those on rally cars etc, I can't give a comparative answer. The Tiptronic 'sequential' is far quicker than any other auto box I've ever driven, and seems to take place instantaneously - but that may say a lot about my reaction times!
Incidentally, since I have a Tiptronic S, I prefer to use the switches on the steering wheel, rather than the 'gear lever'. When I first started using the lever, I found myself trying to dip a non-existent clutch - a bit embarrassing when there isn't one and the footbrake is the nearest item available!
The switches work well though and it also means you keep your hands on the wheel - a possible advantage in both control and safety, expecially if you're pushing the beast.
BTW, what was so bad about the 968's system?
It may be my age but I no longer feel the need to wake up all 300 horses by stirring the stick.
The tiptronic S in my 996 c4 is just so good - I can be lazy and let it do the thinking or I can select manual
and pretend I'm back in my old Alfa Sud or my GTE (265 miles in a time I'm not going to print)trying to get every last horse to pull.
This is my first Porsche (but not my last) and I've never had an automatic before. I think that for motorway or urban driving it's hard to beat. I bought my 996 for everyday use not for track days. If I want the thrill of a track day I'd rather be in the passenger seat with an expert - did itloved it.
Will
The tiptronic S in my 996 c4 is just so good - I can be lazy and let it do the thinking or I can select manual
and pretend I'm back in my old Alfa Sud or my GTE (265 miles in a time I'm not going to print)trying to get every last horse to pull. This is my first Porsche (but not my last) and I've never had an automatic before. I think that for motorway or urban driving it's hard to beat. I bought my 996 for everyday use not for track days. If I want the thrill of a track day I'd rather be in the passenger seat with an expert - did it
loved it. Will
What a Sign of the times, that we buy a porsche 911, as a 'everyday use car' as opposed to the 'specialst purist' car it used to be.
Whilst I cant deny they do make exceptional mile munchers, is this REALLY the job of a Porsche...
Or has Germany just gone soft to firm up its bottom line.
Whilst I cant deny they do make exceptional mile munchers, is this REALLY the job of a Porsche...
Or has Germany just gone soft to firm up its bottom line.
Will,
there is nothing WRONG with using the porsche everyday, my point was more that a porshce is being used AS an EVERYDAY car, slight difference.
Porsche, like most 'specialist' cars were never meant to be mile munchers.... thats what the Euroboxes are for.. they were meant for fun hoon cars.. weekend cars if you will.
How many F-Cars do you see used daily.
Now, whilst its great that you can... I think it 'softens' the marque somewhat, adding the Tiptronic option, given tiptronic is only meant for 'lazy' driving. IMHO of course.
I was just asking, has porsche changed the focus of the 911, from a Sports car, to a sports Tourer.
there is nothing WRONG with using the porsche everyday, my point was more that a porshce is being used AS an EVERYDAY car, slight difference.
Porsche, like most 'specialist' cars were never meant to be mile munchers.... thats what the Euroboxes are for.. they were meant for fun hoon cars.. weekend cars if you will.
How many F-Cars do you see used daily.
Now, whilst its great that you can... I think it 'softens' the marque somewhat, adding the Tiptronic option, given tiptronic is only meant for 'lazy' driving. IMHO of course.
I was just asking, has porsche changed the focus of the 911, from a Sports car, to a sports Tourer.
Jamie,
I have worked my way from poor student (Fiat 124s) through various company cars. I once went from my own Scirroco Storm to a company Sierra (what a nail). I now work for myself from home and do not do a great mileage in a year. I don't commute and the pleasure of driving is all the better for it. I look forward to every client visit I make. I've loved Porsches for more years than I care to number. Porsche needs a broad apeal or it would never have the volume sales needed to develop the models we all crave. Ive already driven as fast as I want to on public roads but I still want a Porsche. My next car may or may not be tiptronic but it will be a Porsche.
Will
I have worked my way from poor student (Fiat 124s) through various company cars. I once went from my own Scirroco Storm to a company Sierra (what a nail). I now work for myself from home and do not do a great mileage in a year. I don't commute and the pleasure of driving is all the better for it. I look forward to every client visit I make. I've loved Porsches for more years than I care to number. Porsche needs a broad apeal or it would never have the volume sales needed to develop the models we all crave. Ive already driven as fast as I want to on public roads but I still want a Porsche. My next car may or may not be tiptronic but it will be a Porsche. Will
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...?
Driver Jamie 
, Kudos has less to do with it than school boy dreams. I have a C4 because I feel safer when I push it. I have tiptronicS because I've nothing to prove and maybe getting lazy with age. If you were to fly past me having dropped a cog I'd smile and say good luck have fun. My fun comes a little cheaper (less effort, less involvement ?). I hope you are as happy driving your car as I am mine.
Can you tell me of a better car to have this much fun for so little effort.
Will
will_t said:
Can you tell me of a better car to have this much fun for so little effort.
and thats my point, driving a Sport Car shouldnt be effortless, thats for the Euroboxes..
Driving a sports car should be an edge of seat, excitment filled, heart pounding experience..
Maybe the GT3 is was the Porsche 911 used to be...
now the 911 is a big soft insulated cuddly wagon, which LETs you have tons of fun when you get bored, but then allows you the ability to switch off and drible along after..
Not that its a BAD thing, its a wonderous evolution, BUT, for me, its NOT what owning a porsche 911 is about..
Owning a 911 was about owning a piece of history, a legend... a raw, ragged drivers car (ironic that I chose the refined 996 then isnt it :P )
Still... were all fans.
Its not about racing everywhere.. its about feeling like you are, even when your not
If you want to poodle around, get an Omega..
Obviously you drive her as she should be driven... but imagine the extra joy from Piloting her, as opposed to just pressing the go pedal and letting her do the rest
Jamie,
An Omega ? get a life!
We are talking about driving on the open road. You will never be able to drive your Porsche on the modern road as I have (as a lad). I'm not missing anything because I've opted for tiptronic - I've done it. I understand what you're saying but if I like my car picking the right cog on occasion why shoud I be denied the choice of driving a porsche ?
A 911 with tiptronic does not compare with driving an Omega.
I don't wish to bore so I'll leave it at that. Happy shifting.
Will
An Omega ? get a life!
We are talking about driving on the open road. You will never be able to drive your Porsche on the modern road as I have (as a lad). I'm not missing anything because I've opted for tiptronic - I've done it. I understand what you're saying but if I like my car picking the right cog on occasion why shoud I be denied the choice of driving a porsche ?
A 911 with tiptronic does not compare with driving an Omega.
I don't wish to bore so I'll leave it at that. Happy
shifting. Will
panel for the Meng course at Staffs Uni ! 
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