tiptronic??? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

mrfredsporty · 01-21-2009, 05:44 AM

well, my new dear friends, my quest for an older boxster is getting closer to reality. an acquaintence of mine has a 2000 in just perfect shape and has 39000 miles on it. im interviewing his mechanic later this week. the only drawback ( for me anyway) is that its an automatic. i know iknow no clutch to replace, but IS IT FUN??some folks love automatics since they just steer and brake. are their some of you that enjoy using the tiptronic gears??id love to get some feedback cuz aside from that trannie im pretty much liking this box. thanx as always
fred from nashville

941MXVET · 01-21-2009, 06:02 AM

We have a Tip. When we were shopping, a sales person who is also a Porsche enthuest said the biggest problem with the tip is getting over the macho idea that you are capable of shifting faster, or at the proper shift points better then the car can. BTW he then tried to sell us a manual! Shifting with your thumbs is pretty cool! Or tooling around in drive isn't bad either.

favino1006 · 01-21-2009, 06:19 AM

Hello Fred,

I've got a tip as my daily driver (by choice) and I love it. I think they are every bit as fun as the standards. I of course have no plans for ax or otherwise. But, as the car that I drive day in and day out, I absolutely prefer tip. I however must confess, my car is never in auto mode.. Also worth mentioning, the tips have a handy safeguard that keeps you from lingering in the red.

Sounds like a great car. I say go for it.

-ian

Boxtaboy · 01-21-2009, 07:27 AM

I personally would not get the car with a tip because I feel the manual is more fun to drive. Also keep in mind that with the Tip, since it is not a true sequential shift transmission like the new PDK system is, it will be slower in acceleration than the manaul. My 2001 base with the manual is as fast as my friend's 2000 Boxster S with the tiptronic transmission because the TIP has a torque converter that saps some of the power away.

The other thing is that since you already said in your post that you think the only "drawback" about the car you are looking at is that it has the tiptronic tranny, if you end up buying that car, you might always get a feeling of regret when you see another Boxster with a manual...especially if you are the type that likes to drive manual transmissions.

What I would do if I were you is to drive a boxster with a manual and a tip, and then decide. I think you will find that you'll enjoy driving the manual more than the tip. JMHO.

Jaxonalden · 01-21-2009, 07:58 AM

I'm a Tip guy also and have nothing but praise for the transmission. In Auto the car drives off in 2nd gear and if you’re light on the throttle you'll be in 5th by 35 mph. If someone pulls up next to you and you need to downshift into a lower gear to get the RPM’s up, just flick the thumb levers and you’re there. The trans will revert back to Auto if you don’t manually shift in 5 sec.

If you want to get squirrely, hammer down and the trans will down shift into first and take off. Up shifts will happen at peak HP (6400rpm). If you don't want the car to do all the work just slap your stick (no pun intended

) into manual and shift the thumb levers.

For flying through the twistie’s or auto crossing I don’t think there’s a better trans to have. The shifts come and go at the right points the faster you go. Coming into turns and braking, when you’re getting on it, the down shifts come quicker also to help slow the car.

For me, all the guess work is taken out and full concentration can be given to driving the course and enjoying the ride. I do miss gear jamming sometimes but I personally like the Tip allot more.

Topless · 01-21-2009, 08:28 AM

I drive a 5spd but respect the Tip.

In zero to 60 or 1/4 mile a stick will usually be faster but that is not what our cars do best. In terms of lap times on a closed road course a Tip is often faster. 1st and 2nd year performance drivers usually progress faster with fewer mistakes. Less things to think about, better focus on the racing line. In the hands of a pro like Scott Pruett or Andy Lally a stick will be faster. For the rest of us Joes I am not so sure.

Pick out the car you like.

cvhs18472 · 01-21-2009, 08:35 AM

I have a tip and love it. Ed

gerrygug · 01-21-2009, 09:08 AM

+1 on all the positive Tip comments above.
My wife drives her 2000S Tip at track days and recently ran some competitive laps against a new base Cayman. Her car has 95K and no problems with the Tip. How many clutches would you have gone through in 95K? Get an S model Tip and you will have about the same performance as a base Box.