l cannot decide whether to buy the porsche carerra 2 or 2s or whether l should buy manual gearbox or tiptronic. does any one have first hand experience of both models and gear shifts. what should l be looking for in terms of preferences and performance

Full manual all the way FTW

l have a 997 Carrera. had a 996. Both with manual gearbox. l truly believe it is the way to go, not unless if someone else who would use it can not drive a stickshift. Some people also opt for the tiptronic if they use it as a daily driver & r always in stop & go traffic.

If u wish, u can go for the S. To me, it did not really merit the extra $$$ to go for the S. When one drives a Porsche, it is not about acceleration. it is about handling. Besides, u can put a chip in a regular Carrera for less than $2K & you're up to par with the S.

Whatever u decide, u will never go wrong with a Porsche :-)

The carrera S is a pretty big performance jump compared to the normal C2. The power output is fairly close, but the S has a much more track oriented suspension.

Tiptronic is a joke. No porsche should be sold with it except the cayenne. Whats the point of having one of the best drivers cars in the world, then taking out like half of ur involvement with the car (by having an auto box).

That being said, l would look at 996 turbos, personally. 997 C2s is r wicked cars, but 996 turbos r even faster, cheaper, & more tunable (if thats what youre into).

In terms of performance, honestly, its completely up to the driver. l could quote performance stats, & all of that, but the fact is, on a racetrack (which is where the car deserves to get some time at), its 95% driver. A good driver in a miata will roast a bad/new driver in a carrera GT.

no matter what u get, l cant stress strongly enough how badly u need to get a few trackdays. A 911 never taken to a track is a total waste. If u want something for a badge, buy a mercedes. If u want something designed to be an awesome performing car, buy a 911. Whats the point of having a car designed for the racetrack if u never bring it there? most decent sized porsche club of america regions have regular Drivers Ed instructed trackdays that r wickedly fun, wickedly informational, inexpensive, & very safe. Think about it this way: You will at least double ur capability in the car with a single track weekend. Thats like getting twice the performance for like a 300 dollar, awesomely fun weekend. Not half bad if u ask me.

also: George is partially right, but its pretty ironic that he says its about handling (which it is), which is the primary upgrade for the S, but it wasnt worth it.


To the moron below me:
Tiptronic is a completely different system than F1. F1 cars use paddle shifting sequential gearbox. A tiptronic is an automatic transmission with a manual gear selector on it that isnt actual manual at all. It just tells the computer: ''change gears, if u want to, & it wont hurt anything.'' Its completely uninvolving & is all of the hassle of a manual with none of the added control. l only know of 2 regular guys at the PCA track events that use a tip. Out of about 150. If they were so great, the most hardcore, most dedicated porschephiles would be all over them. But they arent.

And my wifes last 2 cars have been tips. l know exactly what they r & what they arent. Theyre a gimmick. Theyre just automatic transmissions with a mode that nobody uses.

Heres a nice little quote from wikipedia: Though Tiptronic transmissions allow the driver a certain measure of discrete control, the Tiptronic design is implemented using a torque converter like other automatic transmissions. A Tiptronic is not a computer controlled clutch-manual transmission or semi-automatic transmission. Most Tiptronic implementations still make some shifts automatically, primarily to protect the engine & transmission.

Tiptronics cost more because A: theyre more expensive to produce, & B: if people need an auto box because they cant drive stick, they will be willing to shell out the cash (because they have to).

They tend to have a higher resale value in most average car, but in porsches it doesnt really add any value. Any added value would be because most of the people with sticks tend to drive the cars harder because its not a total yawn-fest to drive.

And when u own & race 2 of the most pure porsches ever made with the porsche club of america (and my son races a subaru), do all of ur own work on ur cars, r an engineer by trade, & arent blatantly wrong in ur post, THEN come talk to me about not knowing anything, especially about porsches. Idiot.

l totally disagree with the person who states that a Tiptronic is only for a Cayenne. what a stupid comment !!!
Tiptronic is for enthusiast who want to drive the car both ways, in case that guy does not know, it can be driven manually & automatically, that is the whole idea behind Tiptronic & comes from the F1 cars !!!!! l guess he thinks Hamilton & Alonso do not know how to drive. What a mediocre knowledge he has about cars.
l think a Tiptronic is for u if u want an easier way to drive & have the freedom to decide whether u want to drive faster or just enjoy the road. A manual car only is boring in usual city traffic & if ur legs hurt due to sports or strain. it can be a pain in the a.
There is a reason why Tiptronic cars r more expensive & have a higher resell value.

as for ''normal'' Porsche or a S one, well the S is exciting & the wider air kit & all make it look amazing. if u have the money.. get the Tiptronic S !!!! Wow, & if l u will configure it from factory, go for the yellow on black with the yellow safety belts. it is out of this world, no ferrari looks that cool.
have fun shopping & l hope this helped.

Manual transmissions are NOT fun if this will be a commuter car as shifting in traffic get is old.if it is a weekend, fun car, then get the manual.

Good Luck!

in short nice car but auto trans on a ''sports car'' is never a great idea.

Go with the S and manual. 997c2s is a fun car to drive around for sure! mine got a aero kit and x50 package too.


added.
FYI.. the 997 Turbo Tiptronic S is 0.3 sec faster than the Manual. So, Tiptronic is NOT a JOKE.

Manual vs. Tip: while the Tiptronic is a very good automatic transmission, it is an automatic transmission (not at all similar to an F1 gearbox as Klye has already pointed out). And while each generation of this improves in performance, it is still compromised & will result in both more weight on the vechile, more parasitic power loss, & slower shifts. I've driven a number of such units on student cars at track events - they r not terrible, but l would never choose to own one. The manual can feel like more work in heavy stop & go traffic. but since all my cars r manuals l am used to this & it is not a concern. A manual transmission too is much more fitting for a car like a Porsche.

C2 vs C2S: Some interesting comments on this so far. Bottomline. if u r interested in the added performance that the S has, do not think u can simply add it to a regular 997. At least not for many times more than the factory version costs. There r many upgrades that come with the S; however, even if u look at just the engine, do not be so naive to think that spending $2k to reprogram the fuel maps will be the same at another .2L displacement (though u will get the added bonus of decreased weight from a lighter wallet).

To decide on what suits u best, u need to decide what u r buying the car for. If it is mainly for the occassional Sunday drive along the coast or such, the added goodies of the S may not be worthwhile. And here too maybe the tip would not be a terrible fit if u do not know how to drive a manual. At the other end would be buying the car mainly for track use, which would mean a C2S with the manual transmission.