Tiptronics

[M.D. Holloway]

Forgive my ignorance but I need some help understanding tiptronic transmissions. I tried searching old threads and got bogged down. So, here goes:
1) What is it - how does it work?
2) Why was it invented?
3) When did Porsche start putting them in 911's?
4) What is the advantage?

If there is a ref post in Pelican, it didn't pop in my search. Thanks for the help.

[ZAMIRZ]

1. It's like your traditional automatic transmission with torque convertor. It is NOT a sequential manual ala BMW SMG or Ferrari F1

2. Probably to appeal to a bigger market, mostly women and those who do lots of city driving in traffic.

3. The tiptronic started going into 911s beginning with the 964.

[M.D. Holloway]

Is it like the Benz transmission where I can shift by moving the stick left or right, or just drive it like a automatic?

[Britwrench]

Tips were first installed in 968 and 964 models. It's basically a ZF trans (as in BMW, etc). Yes, you can keep it in "D" or manually change gear with the lever. Once the novelty wears off, that lever stays in"D".
In my experience it's a reliable system, have only ever changed one trans since they came out.

[Early_S_Man]

The Car and Driver guys didn't care much for them ... or maybe it was the overweight, overpriced 968 package it came in!

[JBO]

I have 2 friends with tips- one a 993 and one a 996. They both said if the car was not a daily driver that they have to drive in a lot af ATL traffic, they definitely would NOT have them. That said, they said they perform and work well. If I had to drive my 911 to work everyday in rush hour traffic I might have one myself!

[Pete000]

The nice thing about the Porsche system is that you are able to blip the throttle (heal and toe) on down shifts. Can't do it on my BMW Steptronic system.