Tiptronic Tweaks

[Guest]

Hi, all

I have owned my 964 for about a month now, and have just about begun to appreciate how much faster it is than my old 3.2. It is just so much more complete a car than even the last of the "old" 911s, it can seem to be slow because what would have been loony-fast in a 3.2 is just fast in a 964.

Anyway... I know that the tiptronic is not the fast-person's choice of car, but I will write about that elsewhere (precis: anyone who thinks that they are slow is just wrong). Move that lever to the right and the car will storm!

However, the 964 encarnation of the tiptronic is just too keen to change up when in automatic mode, leaving the engine bogged down, with MiniMetros storming off into the distance. It is also quite difficult to get the 'box to kick down from fourth to third. Getting the 'box to go to second at 70mph is a piece of cake, but misses the point. I am sure that all of this is known, but what I wonder is whether anyone has "chipped" these gearboxes ho make them a bit more lively.

For those manual drivers, the key is that the tiptronic box effectively looses your first gear; so our second is your third. So, we cannot burn rubber off the line, and there is no doubt that the tiptronic car is slower from rest The tiprtonic car does loose the crush-the-spine-through-the seat that a manual cat can, if thrashed, produced. But with torque multiplication produced by the fluid coupling, from 10mph onwards, stick a tiptronic into manual, select 1st, leave your foot on the floor, and do not touch the gear lever... what follows is three full-throttle up-changes at 6.5+k rpm. Do nothing except hold tight, and you will be maxxed out in not much longer than a hand-working manual 964 driver could manage it. (Beware, though: you will exceed the UK Motorway speed limit before you see third if you do this!)

Anyway, if anyone could brighteup the 'box in drive, I'd like it and probaly pay them money.

Alistair

 

[Shaun Leahy]

Alistair

I think you have 2 questions there:

1 the change up and down in auto mode depends on 1 of 5 settings. These settings range from sport to economy, best simlar description. These modes are determined automatically from your driving style (per the handbook) and cannot apparently be adjusted from one to the other.

2 kickdown: this does not occur in manual mode unless the, I the box detects the revs are too low to pick up again. As to "chipping", it makes sense but I read sometime ago on the 964 smartgroups site (via John Miles' porsche964.co.uk), by the guru Adrain Streather I believe, that apparently these auto mode settings cannot be reset.

Enjoy the ride and the lazy left leg.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I expect that there is too little demand for anyone to produce a chip, even if it could, in theory, be done.

I always believed that the "five modes" are almost fictitious. I can just about discern two. 9M reset some of the long-term "self learning" data and that did seem to change the way the 'box works. (The previous owner rarely exceeded 3000 rpm and clicked the lever into N whenever stopped, even briefly.)

After some practice, I can now get it to "kick down" one gear with a fast foot-to-the-floor action without actually hitting the kick-down switch.

Anyway, the sequential manual is so much fun, I have got into the habit of lever-to-the-left (auto mode) in cruising, around town, or just plain lazy mode, or lever-to-the-right (manual mode) when some proper progress is required, and sod the kickdown.

I don't intend to let my left foot idle. My experienced auto-driving friends all advocate left-foot braking, and this is something I think I should learn.

Alistair