Thrills, chills, and spills at the FIRM 12/29/2016

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by SUPJorge

Steve,

I'm a complete Noob at this, but I really enjoyed watching your videos ... makes me want to learn how to drive my car the right way. Rookie question but: Does it even make sense to take a tiptronic car out on the track? Thanks,

Jorge

PS.I have an '03 Base

Thank you, and to echo Cristian, Heck yes, bring your Tip car out to the track/autocross! Besides the video linked I think there are at least 2-3 others on here that track their Tip cars and I have ridden with several PCA instructors with tip cars that were plenty fast. Even Wayne from Pelican parts has driven a tip car on track as described here: Boxster Track Preparation / Boxster Rollbar extension - 986 / 987 - Pelican Technical Article

I took my wife's 1999 Tiptronic out on the track at the Streets of Willow one day mainly because every other car in my stable was temporarily out of commission. I initially thought the 2.5L engine and automatic transmission would be a slow dog on the track, but I was pleasantly surprised when the Boxster literally outran many of the other cars (mostly early 911s). The mid-engine placement, the balanced suspension and the quick braking combined with the Tiptronic transmission really made the car a secret weapon. I was most surprised at the Tiptronic, which somehow figured out that I was on the track and began to shift exactly where I needed it to.

[78F350]

My wife drove our '99 Tiptronic in automatic mode on the track and both her and the instructor (non-Porsche) thought that it was really lagging. Since then I have taken it out for some spirited drives in the manual mode and found it to be much better that way. In manual mode it shifts quickly and will automatically upshift at redline if you just floor it. Just a quick tap or two of the thumb as I decel into a corner and it gives crisp downshifts. No worry about missing a shift or over-revving. The only change I'd make would be adding a shift lever that I could use to bump the gear up or down instead of just the steering wheel shift.