Not sure so asking here... Acceleration and gear change.

I'm not sure if it's just the roads I'm driving on (I now feel the slightest irregularity on the road compared to other "normal" cars) or if it's just me being a little to paranoid when driving the car but sometimes it feels like the engine is hesitating for a split second when I put pressure to the speeder pedal. Split second I mean maybe 1/10th of a second or so... I think this happens when I'm doing a smooth acceleration without being "aggressive" meaning I'm wanting to get it to accelerate as fast as I dare (never over 5'000 RPMS tbh) through 2-4 gear, but rather being civil and slowly getting the car to accelerate. When doing a fast acceleration it moves forward without the "hesitation" if it makes sense? All indicators are as one would suspect (oil pressure between 4-5) and no extraordinary sounds other than the expected roar from 3'000 — 4'000 RPMS Maybe the gearbox also wants to get out of 2nd a little harshly compared to the other gears but not too sure either. Any ideas if I'm being paranoid as I feel I spend time "worrying" rather than enjoying? Cheerio... PS. Acceleration in 3rd gear is just amazing

Assuming that you are talking about a 996 Porsche the vario-cam actuation that happens ~3200 rpm can be felt as a slight: hiccup, jerk, anomaly, hesitation, etc. Mostly during light acceleration. This is a little more pronounced on the 3.6ltr engines with vario-cam plus.

Yes...it happens every so often...makes me look like I am a rookie driving stick...LOL So what is the solution? Trying to be economical with fuel consumption.

+1 Normal due to the VCA. As for your gearbox, 2nd gear can pop out is common, but only when your engine/tranny is cold. If it occurs all the time there is a known fix, so search "Second Gear Pop Out" and "Second Gear Indent". Good luck!

I think the stock system has a small delay built into the system -- possibly to help smooth the car and decrease fuel consumption caused by movement of the accelerator pedal when you go over bumps in the road. A product like SprintBooster might give you a bit more sensitivity.

They don't make one for the 6 speed 996.

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If you mean SprintBooster, then yes they do have one for 6spd manual models as well.

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+1. Have one sitting on my tool bench waiting to be installed.

Thanks all for your replies; so seems like there is nothing wrong and I can start enjoying the ride again... Was not aware of the VCA being the cause of this, but good to know

The SprintBooster on my manual 6spd 996 seems to have reduced, but not eliminated the throttle dead spot or delay. I find this most annoying when I double clutch. Earlier Porsches that I've owned had more immediate, linear throttle response. I could always slightly depress the throttle and get a predictable rpm blip from it. Not so with the electronic throttle. The hesitation or slight jerk you get from the vario-cam plus at about 3,200rpm is something different. You only usually feel that with a slight throttle or mild acceleration. Anyway, sounds like the car is behaving normally.

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I know *exactly* what you mean and had always wondered about this as well. I also notice it on double-clutch, but had assumed that maybe it was just my own driving technique. I never thought about the possibility that it was the electronic throttle being finicky. Coming from two dual clutch turbo cars (evo X followed by GTR), where it tends to be push pedal, car thinks it over, trans decides to wake up, car moves, it feels smooth and consistent as silk though sometimes its relative.

OMG! i thought i was GOING CRAZY "feeling" things at first, then i thought my engine/gears were messed up, then i thought it was my foot on the gas going over a bump and blipping the throttle causing that nanosecond tick/delay/hiccup. PHEW! all same symptoms, happens at slow accel around 3500rpm. anyway, what is a vario-cam and what's it's purpose?? thanks!

Frank ... and others, are you sure this hesitation is not the peddle itself? If you feel the hesitation through your foot at low pressure - but not with rapid application of the throttle it might be the the throttle assembly needs to be cleaned. I had a similar "hesitation" but R & R the throttle and cleaning the 10 years of dust & grime out fixed the problem. There are older threads on the subject and DIY descriptions of this process in several boards.

Some of the guys on RLOT previously tried ways to decrease or eliminate the accelerator delay, but found that their solutions just screwed up other parts of the system designed to have that delay. It's possible that reprogramming the chip might work. But mine has done this since essentially new (so this is not a dirty throttle plate, maf, etc.). I never had this on my previous 911's (or other sports cars) with mechanical throttles. Yet, none of them could get such good fuel mileage with this much hp. So I just accepted the annoyance. (...but it is annoying....)

Why not avoid the problem and stay between 4-7000 rpm. Cars are meant to be driven!!! I only short shift in first gear, then Rev as high as the speed limit allows, of course with warm engine. Girls :-)

Installing larger throttle body speeds "tip-in" response!

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Acceleration will be even better if you wind the gears all the way out. This isn't meant to be overly critical - but if you're not getting above 5K RPM, you're doing it wrong. Enjoy.

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VCA or VarioCam Plus is not the cause of the behavior unless you are attempting the acceleration at real low rpms, down around (or below) 1500. Low lift to high lift valve transition occurs at around 1400 rpms. There are two times the valve timing is changed: at low rpms and again at over 5K rpms. If you tip in the throttle hard there might be a delay from the e-Gas as it will not swing open the throttle immediately but cause it to open with a bit of delay. This is to prevent the sudden drop in air speed in the intake with the resulting bog. IOWs the hesitation would be worse if the e-Gas did not offer a bit of delay. The engine would be "dirtier" too. If you are feeling something at around 3K that is more likely the intake resonance system. Now at 3K the intake resonance system kicks in. There is a bit of change in the engine's feel and sound, like a mod'd engine coming on the cam or a motorcycle (2-stroke) coming on the pipe. If one is shifting at 3K what can happen is the rpms climb and the resonance system is activated. Then the shift happens and rpms drop low enough (a couple hundred rpms) and the resonance system is deactivated. Then after the shift as the rpms climb again to and beyond 3K the resonance system is activated. I would think double clutching (perfectly unnecessary with a modern transmission unless one likes to abuse to the release bearing and the rest of the clutch hardware) can only exacerbate the problem. Try to avoid driving the car in such a way you are crossing that 3K rpm level while shifting. At least in the lower gears. Last but not least there can be an external explanation for a slight hesitation at various engine speeds. The AOS is going bad.

Macster Will the orange cap mod solve the problem if what theyre feeling is actually from the resonance system and not the AOS?