Manual or Tiptronic

[pvernham]

Teach your wife to drive a manual [][]

You know it is worth it.....

 

[Guest]

Jw, you are right. Dealers are very good at applying pressure to close a deal. I will be patient.
Pvehham, my wife does know how to drive a manual but she is not the most relaxed driver I've known. Tiptronic will make life much easier/happier/safer for her.[]

 

[BrianJ]

I have a March 03 2.7 Tiptronic which I bought new. I have had automatic cars before but all large Vauxhalls from my kids + dogs + bicycles days. The Boxster is the easiest car to drive I have ever had. I use it as a daily driver on all types of roads generally making best progress I can safely in the conditions. I virtually never use the manual capability; as it says in the brochure & handbook you soon get used to using your right foot to alter the performance mapping of the gearbox to the driving you want to do at the time. If you can find the original hardback brochure for the car it has a very good description of how the Tiptronic works (not technically, but from the driver viewpoint) which is well worth a read. Similar content in the owner's handbook if you read that section when trying a car. If you can't find a brochure easily, post your email address and I'll send you a scanned image. The description is very similar to that which appears in the current brochures which you can get from the OPC. When you have read that, you'll have no doubts that Tiptronic is much cleverer than most people (not here) recognise. And if you look at the Porsche performance figures for Tiptronic 2.7 vs 3.2 in the brochure, the difference in real-world performance is almost nothing - 50-75mph in top is 12.1s (2.7) vs 11.6s (3.2) for example. Something else not mentioned above is that it is almost impossible to over-rev the engine in a Tiptronic; it automatically changes up at the redline (or won't change down until it would be below redline). As the manual gearbox is quite strongly spring-loaded towards the 3rd/4th plane, drivers of manual cars have been known to wreck engines by mistakenly going from 6th to 3rd (not 5th) at speed - you can't do this in a Tip. So the mechanicals on a second-hand Tip are likely to be less stressed than a manual. Tip isn't perfect for everyone, but I have found the 2.7/Tip combination can either be very relaxed or very spirited, and has returned just over 30mpg in 38,000 miles of mixed driving. Have fun looking - they are great cars! Brian J

 

[Guest]

Thank you Brian for sharing your tiptronic ownership experience and your kind offer of a copy of the tiptronic description. I have a copy of the 2000 booklet, I will have another read.

I saw two 2.7 tiptronics this week; one was in Paragon (facelift Sep 2002, 27K miles, £27K) and the other in www.911box.co.uk (pre facelift May 2002, 36K miles, £22K). Quite a big difference in prices. the Paragon's is in very good condition and high spec but no sure about the red interior. I am sure some other buyers would like the red. I thought Paragon was quite a well established outfit but still the documentation was incomplete (missing MOT). At £22K, I still think the 991box's is a bit overpriced judging by the condition of the car(very foggy back plastic screen, scratched wheels and driver front wing). I guess the search continues.
In my research, I read in the http://www.whatcar.com/car-review-summary.aspx?RT=121 that tiptronic could develop very expensive faults. I wonder if any owner has some bad experience?

Regards,

Gilbert

 

[Rodney Naghar]

The only fault I've heard about the tiptronic system is on a few early boxsters where the gear lever tended to stick. I think that was a recall item and all would have been sorted out by now.

 

[jw2015]

If you buy from an OPC it should be a good car, in theory having been rigourously inspected by them, and you'll have a 1 year warranty to put your mind at ease. You'll also be able to extend the warranty yearly if you want to, up to when it's 10 years old, for a mere £700-800 a year I believe , but it's bound to cover any serious gearbox issues.

 

[Dapster]

Anything sold by an OPC should be like new - perfect paintwork and alloys, matched tyres with lots of life in them, totally robust services history etc etc. I'd recommend that if your budget can stretch, you search out the very best facelift car you can find rather than a pre facelift with a bigger spec. The spec improvements will totally justify that decision.

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for the info regarding tiptronic's possible problems. I definitely feel more reassured.

As mentioned before, I have been using this week to search actively a suitable tiptronic. I drove down to see Cridford's 2.7 facelift again (Midnight Blue, 52 Plate, £23K, 34Kmiles). Unfortunately Jonathan Cridford only allowed me to test drive the car if I could close the deal today. I was not impressed by this hard sales approach and just walked out. It was particularly annoying because when I phoned Jonathan in advance to make sure that the car was still available and he would be happy to offer another test drive, he said yes to both on the phone. However, he changed his tack and wasted my 100 miles return trip . I don't think I will visit Cridford again.[&:]

BTW, the reason I wanted a second test drive was that the car seemed to slip off the gear when I changed from 3rd to 2nd gear in manual mode during the first test drive; just wanted to check it was my driving rather than the car's problem. I guess I will never know.[8|]

Regards,

Gilbert

 

[jw2015]

These dealers obviously are getting far to much of a commission on sales if they can mess a potential customer around like that. You should've said, "of course I'm ready to close the deal today" and then have a mysterious change of mind after the test drive. Best to walk away from a dealer like that, if that's their idea of service at the point when they should be bending over backwards for you, what will they be like if you have any problems afterwards.

 

[Guest]

Many Thanks for your comment jw. You are right, may be I should have said 'yes' but I would have done so against my guiding principle, i.e. "Never over promise and under deliver". I have met quite a few good and successful sales persons who share this principle. They are the ones who get my business. Furthermore, Cridford pre-sale customer support is a very good indication of what their after-sale support would be like, as you put it succinctly. There was no point to waste my time to test drive the car just for fun.

Regards,

Gilbert

 

[kitchens]

This is tipical of a lot of stealers,.,as I said before do not be pressured into anything ,and I would contact Gifords and tell them you would not have any more dealings with them ,as far as the car with red interior unless you love it ,it could prove a problem in any resale in time to come imo
Brian

 

[RonnieG]

Going to look at a 2000 3.2 S I have found 2 of what I consider the best examples I can find but one is manual and the other a Tiptornic. Now the car will not be tracked or races just a summer car to go along with my 1991 300SL I have been told stories of both but the real facts are:

Tip: £2.5k cheaper, EVERY reciept for everything in a big folder. £1500 brake overhaul just completed. in stunning condition with 80k miles

Manual STUNNING CAR fully loaded with the sports seats 60k miles full history and has a nicer coloured roof and extras this is my favorite but its as I say £2.5k more.


help as I am totally undecided as to what to go for.

thanks

 

[tscaptain]

Manual for me - hate Tip (but love PDK!)

(BTW, you're not allowed to advertise your business in your signature!)[]

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: RonnieG


help as I am totally undecided as to what to go for.

thanks

Go for a good test drive in both and by the end of that exercise you will know exactly which one to buy

IMO it has to be the manual as the Tip really didn't suit the earlier Boxsters at all

 

[bdheng]

In same dilemma last year but after test drive of both, it was very clear - manual.

 

[colinbythesea]

I have a manual 2.7 Boxster and an auto Focus. I must admit in real world driving the auto box is very convenient, especially if you live in a city. Faced with your dilemma I would think hard and balance your use in the real world against the times you can play racing cars and really use the gears. I would choose the best car regardless of the box.

 

[bluenote909]

Go with your gut feel ....ultimately your call.

Personally tried them both and like both but for me by an edge manual wins.