to "S" owners- how clunky should it be?

[JackG]

My 3rd and 4th were balky, especially when cold. I changed my tranny oil to Redline MT90, and it helped a lot.

[z12358]

I test drove the 987 (5sp) and 987S (6sp) in the same day, and couldn't notice any difference in shifting gears.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by JackG

My 3rd and 4th were balky, especially when cold. I changed my tranny oil to Redline MT90, and it helped a lot.

+10000000000

Anyone dissatisfied with the shift action of their car, ANY car, should switch to redline. It's especially impressive in the improvement in cold operation. Incredible stuff.

[IowaS]

1JB, I think clunky is a relative term, driving a Miata for 15 yrs and then switching to the 986 leaves a lot to be desired...it's still a Porsche and I still love it. In fact of all the cars I have driven the Miata would beat most cars in the "feel" of the shifter department. I wouldn't trade my Porsche in a second though....especially for an S2000.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

IIRC, Porsche switched from the German-sourced Getrag-ZF Manual Transmission to a Japanese-sourced unit produced by Aisin AI in 2005 (not 100% certain of the Model Year switch, but the 987 is definitely the Japanese unit). This could explain the noticed differences in Shifter feel from the earlier cars to the latest ones.

The Tiptronic unit continues to be produced by Getrag-ZF in Germany...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[limoncello]

Japanese tranny? So the Subie engine swap might not even need an adapter plate...

Sorry, couldn't resist.
Ouch! Just took a lightning bolt from the Porsche gods...

fwiw - the shifting on my 2001 2.7/5 speed was great. A little notchy at startup, sure, but the feel was perfect (for me) once warm. On the track it was flawless, never thought about the shifting at all. Maybe the desired shifter feel is a personal preference thing? Never drove an S2000 so can't comment.

[kenkamm]

I drove an S2000 for a year before buying a 986 S. The initial impression from just about anyone regarding the S2000 tranny is that it's the best thing since sliced bread, except for perhaps the miata. The long term impression for many is quite different, me included. It is a very light effort unit, like the miata, and a lot of that comes from the fact that it doesn't have to handle much torque. The less torque the engine produces, the lighter the effort will tend to be because everything in the tranny can be smaller and lighter duty. So, one would expect something like a Boxster S to require more effort to shift. The flip side of that is that the S2000 tranny feels fragile, and it is. Troll around on s2ki.com for a while and read about the high wear rate of the synchros... the crunching into 2nd gear due to light-duty synchros... the recommendation not to do 3rd-to-6th gear changes because of the splines on the shafts rounding off... all of this increasing shift effort over time and causing one to have to be very careful about shifting too quickly and getting the "crunch." Many S2000s that are not new have the "dreaded 1-2 crunch."

So IMO, the S2000 tranny is harder to use properly than the Boxster unit, by a mile.

Personally, after worrying about that for a year, I am very happy with the feel of the Boxster unit, because it feels substantial, rugged and easy to use.

Ken

[Perfectlap]

Well the 986S gear box was not intended to be coupled with tbe Boxster engine.
Kind of an after thought, let's take the Carrera six speed gearbox and stick in the Boxster. I think the differing and wide ranging opinions on the B&M short shifter bolster this opinon as nearly every Carrera owner sees an immediate improvement with a short shifter while BoxsterS owners seemed very mixed.
It's crunchy and noisy but I much prefer it to only having 5 gears.

THere's no comparing anything to the S2000, like a precise bolt action rifle.
But you're paying for it. An S2000 is now creeping over $35K and they still look
like...well an s2000. Compare that to the 1993 Boxster concept car which still looks great today.


I had a miata and I wouldn't trade that gear box for my clunking 6 speed for even a day. That darn thing was notchy as hell. I played with all flavors of Redline fluid and sometimes it was smooth (when the it got hot) and sometimes it was like
cracking walnuts. The best improvement came when I replaced the shift boot, snick, snick, snick. Too bad I sold the car the next day.

[airboxster]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

IIRC, Porsche switched from the German-sourced Getrag-ZF Manual Transmission to a Japanese-sourced unit produced by Aisin AI in 2005 (not 100% certain of the Model Year switch, but the 987 is definitely the Japanese unit). This could explain the noticed differences in Shifter feel from the earlier cars to the latest ones.

The Tiptronic unit continues to be produced by Getrag-ZF in Germany...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Actually the Boxster still has the Getrag as of the 06. I asked this question while at the factory. They showed me the Getrag transmissions ready to ship to Finland. All others including the Turbo are Porsche design made in Japan.

[C5150]

Purchased my 6 speed in Sept - and noticed a huge difference when we hit a cold spell. Once I got her up to temp, it was back to normal. Asked my fellas at the dealership, and they concur. She likes to be nice and warm for smooth shifting.

[wanna986]

Originally Posted by C5150

Purchased my 6 speed in Sept - and noticed a huge difference when we hit a cold spell. Once I got her up to temp, it was back to normal. Asked my fellas at the dealership, and they concur. She likes to be nice and warm for smooth shifting.

Hope Santa brings us summer soon (Couldn't resist; saw your "no rain" post.)
Happy shifting!