Lugging an engine with a tiptronic?

[superfans]

Can one cause an engine to lug with a tiptronic (e.g. cruising at a low rpm with a high gear)?

[djantlive]

Tiptronic allows you to place the car at any gear as long as the car won't stall or blow.

When the car is over 35mph, it can be placed in 5th gear which will rev just over 1k rpm.

[dvdude]

It also depends on your driving style. Shift patterns are selected based on how hard you drive it (My car thinks I'm a Wuss most of the time, so pulls off in second and is in fifth around 30-35). Drive it harder, it'll shift later.

[superfans]

The computer wil usuallyl shift down one gear or two for you 90% of the time when you step on the gas. However, it seems that there is still 10% of the time where the gear will, for example, stay with 4th when you press the gas and the car accelerates slowly. Will this be similar to a lugging situation?

[PorschePRH]

It also depends on your driving style.  Shift patterns are selected based on how hard you drive it (My car thinks I'm a Wuss most of the time, so pulls off in second and is in fifth around 30-35).  Drive it harder, it'll shift later.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No matter how I drive, my car almost always starts out in 2nd. I would pay money to change that. It makes the car feel much heavier.

Only on 2 occasions did it start in 1st. Both times it was when the car was cold starting off in the morning. But by the time the car was restarted it stopped doing it. It was bliss for a brief moment.

[dvdude]

[No matter how I drive, my car almost always starts out in 2nd.  I would pay money to change that.  It makes the car feel much heavier.

Only on 2 occasions did it start in 1st.  Both times it was when the car was cold starting off in the morning.  But by the time the car was restarted it stopped doing it.  It was bliss for a brief moment.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree that it makes the car feel heavier, I guess we're using torque instead of revs. You could always tap it down on the wheel switches I suppose....

[PorschePRH]

[No matter how I drive, my car almost always starts out in 2nd.  I would pay money to change that.  It makes the car feel much heavier.

Only on 2 occasions did it start in 1st.  Both times it was when the car was cold starting off in the morning.  But by the time the car was restarted it stopped doing it.  It was bliss for a brief moment.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree that it makes the car feel heavier, I guess we're using torque instead of revs. You could always tap it down on the wheel switches I suppose....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I do that a lot. First it's a pain to remember to do it at every stoplight. Second the car jerks when you down shift it to 1st even if you are at a stand still. And third, the tranny shifts funny when you do the buttons as opposed to when it does it itself. Sometimes it lunges into the next gear, other times it clunks into it. So you just swap one annoying aspect for another...

[Kim]

Yes, I do that a lot.  First it's a pain to remember to do it at every stoplight.  Second the car jerks when you down shift it to 1st even if you are at a stand still.  And third, the tranny shifts funny when you do the buttons as opposed to when it does it itself.  Sometimes it lunges into the next gear, other times it clunks into it.  So you just swap one annoying aspect for another...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might wish to get your transmission checked out. On my 2000 Tip, I never feel the "jerk" you describe when shifting into 1st .... whether moving or not. When sitting still, there is no sensation at all when shifting into 1st.

Also, I do not experience the "funny" shifts you describe when operating the Tip in manual. The only difference in my car is the shift point being delayed until I choose to shift.

Kim

[dvdude]

You might wish to get your transmission checked out. On my 2000 Tip, I never feel the "jerk" you describe when shifting into 1st .... whether moving or not. When sitting still, there is no sensation at all when shifting into 1st.

Also, I do not experience the "funny" shifts you describe when operating the Tip in manual. The only difference in my car is the shift point being delayed until I choose to shift.

Kim

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's about the same for me too - I haven't noticed anything "odd" when taking over from the 'puter.

[x5rap]

With Tip, unless you jump on the gas, it'll start off in 2nd, unless it's cold as described above. To avoid the 2nd gear start you gotta grab 1st via the buttons. There's no way around it that I know of. The way I look at it, it saves wear-and-tear.

I don't think you could lug the motor with a Tip if you tried. The motor's got a lot of torque and you won't hurt it, regardless.

As far as the clunk into first when you're at a dead stop, I determined that it was motor mounts. The mounts are a hard, nitrogen-filled rubber arrangement. If/When the rubber cracks, the nitrogen leaks out and they soften up. Motor and trans then flop around and that's the clunk you feel. With the motor mounts replaced ($300 incl labor), the clunk is almost all gone. It's there a little bit, but it's a massive improvement.

____________________________________________

'99 996 US Tip coupe (Feb-98 build date) Arctic Silver w/ 18's bought in Jan-'05 w/ 35K miles, no M030, new shocks - I love driving this car!

[PorschePRH]

Could I have bad motor mounts on an 03 with only 10K miles?

[x5rap]

Could I have bad motor mounts on an 03 with only 10K miles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I doubt it and I hope not.

But with new mounts on my '99 US coupe tip, the difference from the before to the after is a huge, welcome change. Now when I'm at a stop, even for just a few sec's and grab first, the car rocks, but just slightly. Before the change of motor mounts, there was a noticeable clunk unless the car was rolling. Now, while at a dead stop there's no clunk but you still can feel when 1st engages.

[D_Man]

Tiptronic is a strange bird, You have to learn how to drive one. You have to remember the computer is shifting now, it might need your input sometimes but not often, Less human in the loop.

The Tiptronic I have been told will adapt to you driving style, the road condition, other factors ie: sensors. The older versions like mine (MY99) had 5 shift maps, the newer ones have many times more than this (250).

In "Full Auto" (D) position the car will up shift to 2nd most of the time. This is because Porsche in their wisdom saw fit to make the car do this. However in manual (M) the car will start off in first and stay there until ether you hit the shift button or the car hits its own "rev limit" shift point, (there are caveates to this) I have found the most enjoyment from putting the car in (M) in first gear and flooring it, the car will change gears own its own as the car speeds through each "rev limit" as the tachometer climbs. Or you can chicken out and shift the gear yourself.

The shift maps you are referring to I belive is the "Warm up map" which is activated at < 32 deg C , in "warm up map" the shift points are offset to higher engine speeds, the transmission is started off in 1st gear, this is done to allow the car to warm up faster.

The Drive off gear always starts off in 2nd unless you do one of the following, 1) Perform a Maximum acceleration. 2) In (M) down shift to 1st gear, then Perform a Maximum acceleration.