Triptronic or Manual

Hello everyone, I was wondering if I could pick your brains on something. I am considering the pleasures and possible pains of 911 ownership and if the budget comes through, I will be taking the plunge and going for a 996 911 turbo :worship: . Having looked through a number of adds it seems that the tiptronic and manual models are similar in price but being already an owner of a car with a tiptronic box (Honda Prelude) I was wondering whether I should try to find a 911 with a manual or a tiptronic one. The 911 will not spend much time doing city driving; it will be spend some of the time on motorways but mostly on twisty roads, therefore the auto option of the tiptronic does not hold much appeal. If the shift times of the tiptronic are quick and direct (not much torgue converter effect etc) then I would consider it, otherwise I would go for the manual. The extra cog on the manual box is also nice but I wonder if it is really necessary on a 440 bhp car. What are your experiences and thoughts guys? Has anyone of you driven both and can give a comparison? What about reliability and servicing? Cheers, Paveran

"but mostly on twisty roads" MANUAL :food: (no debate in my book)

I appreciate the 6 Spd Manual, but I think if I was going for a Turbo I would go Tiptronic, but if I was going Manual again it would be GT3 Bi :bye: g Bob

:hand: tiptronic is for town (and lazy) drivers. I've never had any problems with either (maybe cause I've never held onto either for long enough) It would be wise to test drive both tiptronic and manual and see which suits you driving style ... and try the GT3 cause Big Bob has a very good point :thumb:

Tiptronic is for drivers that want to combine regular commuting and a weekend car, IMO. If I didn't have to sit on the M25 regularly, or could travel out of rush hour, then I would go for a manual. However, the Tip is very fast and it'll be quicker than most drivers in their manuals. It's my first automatic and I do not miss changing 1 to 2 to 1 to 2 to 1 about 100000 times a day. If it's a weekend car, then no doubt, I'd get a manual. In a Turbo, that's another consideration again and if you're doing motorway mileage, I would get a Tip, because quite simply you can leave it in cruise control and not have to change gear (unlike the manual!).

Manual with cruise control? :wink: If the car is for commuting and you want to look good then I would go for tiptronic but if you buying the car for the pure enjoyement of driving, then manual has to win everytime!

Yeah, manual with cruise control. It's a royal pain on our motorways, because you generally have to change gear and then you lose the one-click return to CC speed options. On the tip, it can change down gear, but still have a one-click button to return to CC speed.

manual for men tip for the ladies now stands back and awaits the roasting seriously though, try both and whatever suits. manual fine for motorway use imho, engine's are torquey enough that you don't have to change gear, but you will!!

Thanks for all your thoughts guys; I have to admit that I am leaning towards the manual box since the car will be used almost entirely for my own unadulterated driving pleasure :food: . I will test drive both and see what they feel like and make my final decision based on that. It is never the less good to know that both are equally reliable meaning that the choice of the one or the other is purely based on what feels better to me. Cheers!

One thing to add is that the manual cars seem to suffer slightly more from RMS issues, than the tiptronics. However, if you go for a Turbo these do not seem to have the same problem in either manual or tiptronic guise.

Paveran, something tells me you might want something a little more 'hardcore' so don't discount the GT3 - I will leave others on here to guide as to which variant

Ehm...being relatively new to things 911, can someone please tell me what RMS issues are? I have always considered cars to be female so I hope it is not like PMS or something like that uh: . As for the GT3, I always felt that those cars are best enjoyed and experienced on the track instead of on the road. Unfortunately I do not live in the UK where track days are very common. Where I live (Cyprus), we have tons of sun and great weather but we don't even have a single track, let alone be able to do track days. We do have great roads for enjoying a car like the 911, many of which have little to no traffic but they are mountainous and generaly unforgiving which makes that 4 wheel drive of the turbo more appealing than the 2 wheel drive of the GT3. If my assumption that the GT3's are more track day focused and that it is more unforgiving than the turbo then I would strongly consider those as well . Cheers, Paveran

As it's your first 911, I'd avoid the GT3 for exactly the reasons you say. RMS is the rear main seal. A cheap rubber seal that connects the gearbox to the engine (I think?). Because of a slight oversight with the design and casting process, with movement, they sometimes leak. Not really a major problem, but can cause spots of oil on your drive. When inspecting, look for oil drip or misting around the RMS for potential problems. If you see oil, it's worth checking that it's not the intermediate seal, which is more of a problem. It's also a problem on the 986 and to less of a degree, the 997 (generally earlier models) and the 987. They're not cheap to replace (about £800 labour, for a £10 part, as the engine needs to come out). It's possible to get up-rated seals (like the 997 part) fitted, but I'm not sure how successful these have been. The problem varies to having them replaced every year, to never being replaced. It is covered under OPC warranty, but some people suggest that this is easy money for the dealer and probably doesn't need doing! I don't know why, but the Turbo and the GT3 don't seem to suffer from this, but I believe it's because the engines are slightly different and made from upgraded parts. I'm not 100% sure that all of this is factually correct, but it's along the right lines and someone will be along shortly to keep me honest. I would suspect there's something on RMS in the FAQ section is it always coming up, but I wouldn't want to blow this out of proportion, as it's not a major issue.