Does anyone else think the 6-speed is not necessary?

[blue2000s]

Gears 4, 5, and 6 seem way too closely spaced. I hardly use 4th and never use 5th. I'd much rather that Porsche had put in a torsen diff than the redundant gear.

Has anyone tried a lower final drive ratio? I can imagine that would make the car a liitle quicker and make the 6-speed ratio spread a little more useable.

[wanna986]

I thought it was just my lack of experience, but, yes, an awful lot of gears past 4th in my opinion too.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Gear ratios are designed to keep the engine in the sweet spot. That said, unless you're absolutely flogging the Boxster on a Daily basis, 6 speeds of closely ratioed gears has a lot more to do with matching the Competition in the Marketplace than it does in actually bettering the car...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[SD987]

I'm in agreement here; 5th gear is the superfluous gear amongst the six in my mind and the S would be just fine with five on the floor.

3rd gear in either tranny takes you into the 90s, at least in the 987.

[John Y]

It's definitely more of a marketing thing than a necessity; my GTI 2.0T has a 6-spd and really doesn't need it - the car has an a--load of torque so the gear you're in isn't all that important. The extra shifting can become annoying. I think the base Box could probably use it more than the 'S', but that's where the marketing comes in - you'll find it as a feature on higher-end, premium cars, not necessarily where it's needed.

[John V]

The synchros are tough in these transmissions. Just skip the superfluous gears when in town. I very rarely use 5th gear.

[porsche986spyder]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Gears 4, 5, and 6 seem way too closely spaced. I hardly use 4th and never use 5th. I'd much rather that Porsche had put in a torsen diff than the redundant gear.

Has anyone tried a lower final drive ratio? I can imagine that would make the car a liitle quicker and make the 6-speed ratio spread a little more useable.

I agree, while a sixth gear seems worthless, I do find myself using 4th and 5th when on an open highway. 5th only when I'm in "cruise control mode" on a long stretch of highway, like say the interstate on a road trip. My brother has a 6th gear in his Toyota Celica GTS and says he NEVER uses it either. It's definately a marketing thing. People tend to think if it has that "extra" gear then it must be sooo much faster and have even more power.

[CJ_Boxster]

Thats interesting cause when im driving with normal easy acceleration, I feel that the gear ratios are too short and when upshifting the the car is lightly jolted backward cause the rpms are either droping too fast of im not shifting fast enough. There are times where its smooth but mostly not.

[Tool Pants]

This has been debated for a long time. The ratios on the 6 speed Boxster are the same as the 996, but the 996 has more hp.

At least that is what was being said when the Boxster S came out.

[kelly1005]

If the 6-speed would give me what equates to a gear between 2 and 3 on the 5-speed then I would say it's useful. On my favorite road I find myself bumping between 2 and 3 all the time, which while fun, is tricky when I run out of revs in 2nd exiting a corner and don't want shift just yet and upset the chassis. Once I get a little better at driving the box it won't be such a big deal I'm sure, but for the moment maybe a 6 would be easier.