Tiptronic Performance on Boxster - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Sure it takes practice to match that sort of 0..60 time. Sure it knackers the clutch etc to floor it from standing and achieve a blistering 0..60. It'll wear the Tiptronic version too if you go for it every time etc etc. So what if you can't match Porsche's finest test driver - the manual box is FUN! And since you can get to 60 in 2nd there's only one change anyway...and there's a lot of satisfaction in getting it right. I'm not against a Tiptronic myself - if the car will be used in and around a city etc - but I'd counsel against if you want maximum pleasure from your new beastie.

Surley the 30-70 time is much more relevant when on the road, unless you make a habit of racing saxo's. Is there as much difference at these overtaking speeds?

I don't think there's much real difference in normal use - in fact some pundits have said Tiptronic is faster once the car is moving. Then again, you can counteract the loss of pace 'off the line' by revving the engine and holding the unfortunate car on the brakes. Foot off brake and zoom - you're launched - and so is your repair bill! My first auto was a 928, and it infuriated me by its reluctance to change down for slow corners, even after pulling the selector stick back for a lower gear. So I developed the masterly technique of tricking the brute thuswise.... brake hard - pull stick back - give accelerator pedal a good prod with one side of foot while still braking hard with the other side of the foot. Eureka! Instant changedown. After a while it cost quite a lot to remove and rebuild the gearbox! The modern 996 knows you're pressing on by measuring all the relevant forces, and changes (and holds) gears intuitively. Or you can use the Tiptronic even if you're in auto mode - a couple of quick dabs with the thumb as you come into the corner and hey presto - it holds the right gear through the corner and stays in Tip mode until it senses that you've let up a bit. All this in the countryside too; I seldom drive in cities! Good fun for me because I have a weak left leg, and after five years with raging turbos and a six-speed box the Tip is a relief, but I agree with Don - if you want the pure pleasure of driving go for the manual. >> Edited by McNab on Saturday 23 March 17:38

I guess I should just test drive a manual and a Tiptronic. If I can't feel any difference in performance, then it's probably not that important. (I had a weekend's use of a Tiptronic 2.5 a few year's back [birthday pressie from the wife] and although I enjoyed it a lot, I couldn't help feeling that the car was driving itself.) Roadrunner - Porsche don't seem to quote 30-70mph times. For a start everything's in km/h (hence the 0-6 2 times in my original post), and then they choose to go straight to an 80-120km/h measure (that's 50-75mph to you and me). For what it's worth, these are the 50-75mph figures (in second highest gear) taken from their UK web site for the manual vs. Tiptronic: Boxster 2.7: 7.0s vs. 7.9s Boxster 3.2S: 7.7s vs. 7.7s These numbers just look wrong though (don't worry, I double-checked them). Why would the 2.7 out accelerate the 3.2S? I guess it's just because the gearing is different - third highest gear would be more appropriate for the 50-75 range on a 3.2S. I guess I'm just struggling with one of those head/heart decisions. My current daily round-trip is about 2.5hrs and 90 miles. A lot of this is in heavy traffic where performance just isn't an issue, so common sense suggests I should go for the Tiptronic as it'll make for an easier journey. But, as Don says, when I'm out of traffic - the manual's just gonna be more fun!

Folks - According to Porsche, the addition of a Tiptronic gearbox reduces the 0-62mph performance from 6.6s to 7.4s on the Boxster 2.7 and from 5.9s to 6.5s on the 3.2S. I don't fancy losing 10% of the car's performance so I should go for a manual gearbox. Right? But the 0-62 time for the manual has probably been produced by the best driver Porsche could lay their hands on. The time for the Tiptronic could have been produced by anyone who can floor the accelerator. A meer mortal like myself could never hope to achieve the quoted times in a manual - but should be able to achieve the Tiptronic times automatically (sic). So, in the real world, I wouldn't experience a 10% difference in the 0-62 times. Right? Or wrong? Cheers, Ian. P.S. Why does the Tiptronic gearbox always have fewer gears than the manual? Are they trying to reduce its performance?