Transmission: Japan

Hi, I dropped my car off today for an annual service (yes, I know I should do it myself but if anyone is willing to voulenteer to baby sit my kids so I can get the time... ). I was wandering around the showroom waiting for my loaner car (more about that in a little bit...) when I noticed the 997 S had "Transmission: Japan" on the sticker. How long has this been going on? Now, the loaner... I went from my 996 C4 Cab to Kia something POS. When I take my MB in for service, I get a comprable MB back to drive for the day. Why won't Porsche put me in a Cayman or other? A KIA??? Well, I must admit, I was actually glad to get the Kia because the only other alternative was a MINIVAN. Talk about a "step down".

wow thats sad... we have Cayanne's as Loners at our local Porsche dealer here in Toronto.... Now only if they had Boxters too....

Yeah, I pushed asking for a better "loaner" but the service rep told me that they did a small pilot program at one time and all the cars came back either damaged or with an ungodly amount of miles on them. I call BS. But, fortunately, my car will be done a few hours and I'll be back in the fast lane in no time... A Kia, sheez. Normally I park my car far away from my building to avoid, one, prying eyes and, two, dings but this time I parked far away hoping no one would see me exiting the car.

nothing wrong with japanese gearboxes. have a driven a s2000 hard, i mean hard hard. that gearbox and shifter mechanism makes a joke out of anything porshce has ever made.

Hi mooty, Yah, I hear ya. Long time Honda and Lexus owner here (both were manuals). I was just wondering when Porsche switched to a Japanse mfg for the transmissions. I will note the CGT sticker proudly displayed: "TRANSMISSION: GERMANY".

i think all 997 had japanese trannies since the beginning.

Mooty - I believe you are correct. The Japanese transmissions were first used in the '05 997 cars.

Loaners in the local dealer are Cayenne and Boxsters... when they run out they use Enterprise for car rentals.

So where is the 996 tranny from? I thought it was also Japan ??

My 2004 sticker says germany

My old S2000 makes my 996 transmission feel like a truck. LOL.

Local one uses Enterprise as well. Once, I got a cargo van because that's all they had. LOL! It's driving in an oil barrel on the freeway.

Unless you are in denial, most everyone knows that the Japanese make superior most anything. Japanese cars are the only ones I've had that have been troublefree. When they get it right, it usually gets farmed out to markets where the labor is cheaper like Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China, etc. On the replacement motor in my 996 a Bosch TPS has a BIG Made in China label on it that catches the eye for everyone to see when I open the hood. It's only a matter of time before most of the Porsche is made in China. It may very well be better quality then, as it will most likely be engineered in Japan. After all, it's all about making large profits and keeping the stockholders happy. You shouldn't expect a dealer of what was the most profitable car company in the world a couple of years ago to give you an expensive loaner, be lucky you got one at all. I was told to hang out at the dealership for a few hours while they fixed my wife's Boxster that we purchased there. I'm not pro Asian, I drive a Jeep daily and have lots of Harleys, just observations on my part.

All Cayenne transmissions (starting from introduction in MY03) are Aisin/Japanese transmissions.

There was a time when japanese trannies were a joke. I have seen many synchros blown and auto that slip prematurely on Japanese cars in the 80s. The Japanese have gotten very good since then. I admit the asin in the pepper is one nice auto box. I personally don't like the Honda manuals as while they feel smooth they don't have precise its in gear feeling to them. I guess to eaches own about the how they like their trannies. I don't believe the 997 has a different transmission then the 996. If thats the case then they should be a german transmission. It could be the manufacture of the transmission has manufacturing plants in Japan. Who cares as long as they work good.

A few months ago a mechanic I know was working on a Cayenne with a transmission problem. It needed a part that Porsche did not have, so Porsche said to buy it from a Lexus dealer. Now, about the 997 transmission....

The 997 manual transmissions are manufactured in Japan by Aisin AI. Here is their press release in September 2004. It should have been finished off better saying this is our first manual transmission (MT) for Porsche. September 16, 2004 First transaction with Porsche, Aisin AI started to deliver the 6-speed MT for 911 CARRERA Details Aisin AI Co.,Ltd. (home office: Nishio City, Aichi, president: Masahiro Suo) received an order and started to delivery the MT that are for Porsche 911 CARRERA and this is our first transaction with Porsche. http://www.aisin-ai.co.jp/english/news/040916.html http://www.aisin.com/news/products/05100401.html Ciao, Adrian.

And another....

Here is proof positive. https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/316407-997-tranny-made-in-japan-what-do-you-think.html Somebody posts in this thread that the 996 transmission is also made in Japan. This is false, the 996 uses a Getrag 6-speed manual or 5-speed Tiptronic which are both made in Germany. I cannot guarantee that all the internal parts are though. Getrag have factories all over the world supplying many different brands and I am sure some of the parts are common to some or all of these transmissions. Ciao, Adrian.

I agree with the general Japanese make great cars these days theme. So does my wife, and it's turned into a joke in our house. I usually come home from work in the 996 and declare that "my car loves me" since, well, it does! She drives a Lexus, and her usual reponse nowadays is, "Bah! German trash!" Next I ask if that means the next Porsche isn't her Tip Boxster, but is instead my 911SC track car... hehe (keeping the 996 of course! I need garage space...)