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Turbo 'tip' run out

easternjets

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29 Apr 2016
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3,079
As some will know my car has been getting a bit of work done over the winter and I was itching to give it a good run out close to home, just in case any issues came up.
So with the weather looking good on Sunday morning, I headed up Teesdale to Alston, the roads were a bit busy but once I got passed the cyclists and walkers I managed to get some 'free air'.
This is probably the first longish hard drive I've given the car so I was wondering how good the 'tip' box would be, especially on tight corners and twisting roads.
I put it into sport and switched off the sport shock absorber setting, it was just far to bumpy for them.
The difference in the box is noticeable straight away, it's a lot more aggressive letting you rev quite a bit higher before changing up but it can be a bit over aggressive when changing down. This is especially so if you brake really hard into a tight corner, it immediately changes down into 2nd and tends to stay in second till you power out of the corner. I did find myself manually putting it up a gear on the buttons just to calm the car down a bit.
The thing is you pick up so much speed so quickly, that before you know it your braking hard again.
Over all though I really had a good drive and I wasn't disappointed at all, especially being able to keep your hands on the wheel at all times and not having to change up/down/up/down.
It's not a PDK, which is so much smoother (I have a DSG towrag) but I reckon on the same road you would be more than capable of keeping up with a manual and maybe even out braking the manual into some corners, (I know I'm opening pandoras box here!) we'll maybe find out later in the year.
Great weather, great car and the roads up Tees dale are fantastic, roll on the summer nights. Oh and no leaks :lol:
 
Always good to get a spring run out in good conditions .....

I had a 997 turbo tip but couldn't get on with the tip gearbox , it always seemed to think differently to me ....

I find the 'auto' boxes are improving year on year the latest PDK must be near perfect...I like the box in my car but think it's been vastly improved since ...

Are you sure you have a PDK in your 'Towrag'........I don't think that is likely , depending on your MY the best you are likely to have is an 8 speed tweaked tiptronic ....
 
Presumably VW DSG is virtually the same as PDK? Have it on my golf R line and god is it good. Can't see the point in manual on a 'normo' car nowadays, especially when it's cranking out near 60 mpg.
 
Glad to read something positive about a "tip" for a change, I personally get along with mine fine, for spirited driving I also select sport and knock off the hard suspension then only ever use my left thumb to override when required. I also agree that things happen so quickly it's nice to have both hands on the wheel, mines only a C4S so in a Turbo it's going me much quicker :thumb:
 
To be precise the PDK is Porsches name for the dual clutch box, whereas Audi VW's name is DSG.
Whatever they're called they are a massive improvement on the old 'tip' box and the changes are barely noticeable, although I have had a few trips back to the dealer with mine when warning lights/messages keep coming up.
 
Tiptronic is an auto box that can be changed manually, pdk is a manual box that can be changed automatically 8)
 
You do a write up about your Turbo 'tip' and how good it is and all people do is pull me up over whether my VW has a this box or a that box!
The big difference I can see is, one changes quicker than the other and has more gears.
 
Easternjets..

That review is exactly what I'd say about my turbo tip too.. Sports activated, turn off sports suspension and give it some beans!

Things can get very fast very quick and I do find myself shifting up manually with the right hand thumb just to keep things steady :)

Looking forwards to pulling mine out the garage now the weather is getting better.
 
easternjets said:
You do a write up about your Turbo 'tip' and how good it is and all people do is pull me up over whether my VW has a this box or a that box!
The big difference I can see is, one changes quicker than the other and has more gears.

Hi 'Eastern',

Fair comment , my comment on the gearbox wasn't meant in that vein really , merely that the Porsche & VW boxes are two different units altogether, manufactured by different companies ...

Main point is the run out in the turbo ....and how good it feels ....can't be beaten can it ?!!

I haven't had mine laid up over winter , been using it and abusing my pressure washer and snow foam ....

Terry
 
I do the trip up to Alston a few times a year too. The selection of roads really shows the best and the worst of the turbo IMO.

You only really need 2 gears when off the A roads - 2nd and 3rd - because 120mph is plenty on some of the twisties on the way up to the Cafe with a sheer drop on one side. I've never had a problem with the tip myself and even ruled out a manual car when I was considering changing at the end of last year, favouring a tip or (preferably a PDK turbo).

I usually go up there with a friend of mine who has a 3.4 996 C2. Once off the A-roads the limitations of the turbo come into play. Piloted by an excellent driver an old C2 is light, nimble and almost impossible to keep up with. The weight of the turbo combined with a lack of any reasonably straight bits of road and the inability to keep the car on boost through tight twisty roads means that the NA C2 soon disappears into the distance.

Its a really interesting comparison (sorry to be slightly off topic), and a very good example of 'horses for courses'.

Back to the tip subject - even though its old technology it is still capable of shifting gears quicker and more reliably (and with no loss of boost) than a manual transmission. I have a healthy mix of manual and auto cars and I don't see the turbo of less of a 'drivers' car because of its box. When your eyes are out on stalks as you're piloting the turbo around the B roads it makes the rocket safer to guide if your hands can change gear without leaving the wheel.
 
Hi Ragpicker, yes you need a 'big pair' to keep the Turbo on boost going through the twisty bits and your right a lighter more nimble car would leave you struggling a bit.
Perfect car would probably be a Chateram type pocket rocket or a well sorted M3.
Anyway my days of being the first one there are more or less over I just want to enjoy the car and the empty roads. I didn't appreciate how poor the roads are when you cross over into Cumbria, don't know if it's the result of the weather or just neglect.
If ever your heading up that way let me know we could meet up.
 
monster said:
Tiptronic is an auto box that can be changed manually, pdk is a manual box that can be changed automatically 8)

They are all auto's no matter how you dress them up, they just get better with time obviously.

Nice write up Eastern :thumb:
 
Thanks Boba, how are you getting on with the RS? By chance I happened to be talking to the dealer you got it form the other week, was looking at a 997 they had for sale.
 
Interesting write up. Good that you can separate the sport mode of the box and the suspension.

I loved driving my XKR auto... hands on the wheel, using the shift paddles, gave it a connected and direct feel in the twisties.

We are obsessed with numbers of gears now... for something as torquey as a Turbo, probably 4 is enough like the original 930!
 

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