Lack of sport chrono on 981 PDK, is it really a problem?

[Gerber1]

I’m amazed at how few 981s have the sports chrono option and it’s getting in the way of me finding a car.

The car won’t be used on track due to the fact that insuring a £45k car for a few hours round a race track costs almost as much as a full year’s road insurance, and I don’t intend to use launch control.

My worry is the 2% of the time that I really want to get the hammer down, I think the car will come up short.

I recently did a track day in a 991.2S (someone elses) and it was a bit anodyne when just left in sport mode, only when it was put in sports plus did the car come alive (faster shifts, reduced ESP, artificial kick in between shifts)

I’m worried the same will be true on my favourite country road, people will say shift with the paddles but I don’t really like them and I prefer the multi-function steering wheel with the buttons.

Is this really a problem or am I being awkward?

[mr pg]

I have to say you're in a minority that prefers the buttons to the paddles! Mine has chrono, but even when in sports+ I still use the paddles, as I prefer that to just letting the box do its own thing. Worth waiting for in my view.

[boxsey]

You can have the sport and sportplus retro-fitted by your local Porsche centre for about £800. You get all the functionality of sport chrono but without the clock on the dash.

[Porsche911R]

boxsey said:

You can have the sport and sportplus retro-fitted by your local Porsche centre for about £800. You get all the functionality of sport chrono but without the clock on the dash.

I am not sure you can on the 981

[boxsey]

Porsche911R said:

boxsey said:

You can have the sport and sportplus retro-fitted by your local Porsche centre for about £800. You get all the functionality of sport chrono but without the clock on the dash.

I am not sure you can on the 981

I'm 99% sure because my installation was delayed by a day because the OPC ordered in the kit for a 981 by mistake instead of the one for my CR. Would be worth checking the Porsche website though...albeit I remember the pages for the retrofits being a bit tricky to find.

[Porsche911R]

I only say that because my friend was going to buy a OPC 981 car without it and they flatly said "NO" so he made sure he got one with. So a tricky one for sure.
Suncoast parts don't list it either, and they list every thing available normally.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 24th November 15:28

[DJMC]

If it won't be used on track and it won't have paddles then don't bother with SC.

My short test with a SC equipped 981 left me bemused. In Sport Plus you have to shift manually via paddles, buttons (tricky!) or gear lever whereas for swiftest progress my PEC instructor told me to leave the car in Sport and let it change gear by itself.

I'd be really surprised if someone in Sport Plus with MFSW could beat someone in Sport without.

[Porsche911R]

People do like to change gears though, a computer cannot see a bend coming and will change down after the bend ! , manual mode is faster if you have any sort of brain power/forward vision and SC gives the fastest changes.

So for me a must have if I were going to go PDK as I would be a paddle user 80% of the time.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 24th November 16:51

[fridaypassion]

The benefit of chrono is more on that it's only properly driveable in sport mode. The shifting is much more intuitive I'd say it's essential in a pdk. Manual not so.

[Jack drinker]

DJMC said:

If it won't be used on track and it won't have paddles then don't bother with SC.

My short test with a SC equipped 981 left me bemused. In Sport Plus you have to shift manually via paddles, buttons (tricky!) or gear lever whereas for swiftest progress my PEC instructor told me to leave the car in Sport and let it change gear by itself.

I'd be really surprised if someone in Sport Plus with MFSW could beat someone in Sport without.

That's not true, I recently sold a 981 with SC and in Sport Plus you certainly don't have to shift manually, in SC auto mode the car takes the revs to the redline before changing.

I wouldn't buy any PDK 981 or 991 without SC, easily one most important options to make the car come alive.

[Gerber1]

No you can't retrofit in, new engine mounts really? Yes it does shift automatically in sports plus mode.

I think ultimately I just have to wait for the car to come up otherwise it will annoy me, unless I am lucky enough to find a manual example with the options I want.

[daz05]

After reading this I'm none the wiser but in the same predicament as the OP.

Due to the overly long ratios on the manual I'm after a PDK, it must come with paddles on the basis that I will use those to change gear 80% of the time.

Coming from an E92 M3 which offers the option to change throttle response, and gear change speed as standard, can someone explain to me why I would be disappointed with a car not fitted with SC, is the throttle response and speed of gear change that sluggish in comparison to the M3 or a car without the option to change those settings?

Considering what the brand represents I had expected that the standard car would be set up rather nicely?

Thanks

Edited by daz05 on Friday 25th November 17:50

[fridaypassion]

Explained in my post above.

[daz05]

I was hoping you may be so kind to expand. So when you say pdk is more intuitive in sport plus what is the difference when shifting manually?

[Gerber1]

I haven't noticed it to be more intuitive as such in sports plus, it's just the fact it hold the lowest possible gear which allows for greater progress.

When in sport mode the car gets the wrong gears or goes back into economy mode, even when you are on the track after heavy braking you'll find the car has jumped up a couple of gears so you'll need to manually downshift with the paddles before you enter the corner.

[daz05]

Thanks Gerber, when you say hold gears I take it you are referring to behaviour in auto mode? If I was braking hard for a corner I would always choose to shift down the gears manually anyway, I would only be using auto mode in the city or in traffic my expectation is the car doesn't interfere unless I load the engine or attempt to over rev.

[Gerber1]

daz05 said:

Thanks Gerber, when you say hold gears I take it you are referring to behaviour in auto mode? If I was braking hard for a corner I would always choose to shift down the gears manually anyway, I would only be using auto mode in the city or in traffic my expectation is the car doesn't interfere unless I load the engine or attempt to over rev.

Yes in auto mode.

In sports plus mode you will not need to shift down manually, the car will have beaten you to it. In sport mode this is not the case, it's just not aggressive enough and it requires manual intervention to make maximum progress.

[fridaypassion]

So in normal mode the box just wants to shuffle up as soon as possible. The throttle feels a bit dead and you have to prod it to get it on the right map to shift anything like normally.

Sport mode shifts more like you would yourself in a manual. The throttle comes alive and the kickdown levels and throttle maps just feel more natural. I never drive mine in normal. Occasionally if really pressing on I'll use sport plus.

[boxsey]

Porsche911R said:

I only say that because my friend was going to buy a OPC 981 car without it and they flatly said "NO" so he made sure he got one with. So a tricky one for sure.
Suncoast parts don't list it either, and they list every thing available normally.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 24th November 15:28

I finally found the tecquipment pages for the 981 and it looks like I was wrong. Lots of retrofits listed including bucket seats, PSE, etc but no Sport/Sport plus upgrade. A real bummer for 981 PDK owners because the retrofit on my 987 has been just great.

[Dr S]

daz05 said:

Thanks Gerber, when you say hold gears I take it you are referring to behaviour in auto mode? If I was braking hard for a corner I would always choose to shift down the gears manually anyway, I would only be using auto mode in the city or in traffic my expectation is the car doesn't interfere unless I load the engine or attempt to over rev.

PDK auto in Sport Plus is perfect on track - and faster than anyone with a manual. Even pro drivers on the Cayman S' in our race team came to that conclusion. The box will always engage the lowest possible gear for any speed you are travelling. No manual intervention will better this in terms of speed/performance