Quote:
carlos fromspain said:
However all this doesn not compensate IMO the loss of involvement and pleasure in the driving expeience that you derive from a manual, and you have to ask yourself, isn't that what sportcars are about really?
Hi Carlos,
I generally agree with what you say. But, ... I have an opportunity to drive a 996TT Tip vs. a 996TT 6-speed, back-to-back, on a daily basis. If I might add a little bit of my own perspective, ...
The Turbo-Tip absolutely has its charms. I find the Tip to be be smoother in delivering power when I want it for unexpected (opportunistic) traffic maneuvers. Unless I am completely perfect in my clutch/throttle application and timing, I cannot duplicate the Tip's power delivery. It is only after comparing the two cars side-by-side, day-after-day that I have come to this observation.
One of the things that keeps the Turbo 6-speed from being clearly superior to the Tip is the presence of quite a bit of rotational inertia in the engine and/or drive train of the Turbo power plant. This keeps one from efficiently double-clutch down-shifting in an effortless manner.
It's actually a little bit frustrating to have to anticipate the throttle depression to make the revs rise to the appropriate rpm in a short enough time to make the next downshift. I tend to be a little bit jerky some portion of the times when I try to down-shift cleanly using this method. The thumb buttons on the steering wheel of the Tiptroinc are very slow to respond, but they seem no worse than waiting for the engine rpm to rise when trying to double-clutch down-shift the 6-speed
So, ... I welcome the coming of DSG, or whatever it will be called, because I think it will respond so much more instantaneously than the current Turbo engine/flywheel/transmission does.
This is also why I fervently anticipate the Carrera GT with its "no-inertia" engine.
Cheers,
