Have you driven a 911 with Sportomatic?

[Mukilteo911]

I've been reading about these Sportomatic trannies, and although I have no intention of convertion. I would love to hear oppions about them from people who have experianced them. Also if you have one in the NW, I'd love to drive one just for the fun of it. From the sounds of the torque converter in them, I bet it would be interesting.

[LakeCleElum]

A local guy in Kirland (Jerry) just bought one that wan't running when he got it, but may be running now. It was a '72 that was converted to a 3.2 and had updated fenders, bumpers and doors. Hopefully, he'll chime and an let us know how it's going...

[oneblueyedog]

I drove a 911 once with a Sporto. It was more of a cushy and comfortable ride. The car was also one of those comfort group suspension cars. It was from the early mid seventies. My girlfriend and I test drove it off a used car lot. She still thought it was cool.

[Mukilteo911]

I think it would be trick. Blueyedog, did it shift cool, what did it feel like, did it have punch?

[Dirty Marty]

I drove one recently and when they originally came out in the 70's. It's not an "Automatic Transmission" in the sense of what we're used to these days its actually an "Automatic Clutch''. To the dyed in the wool Porsche Driver it makes your left foot unnecessary and the shifting a little slower that a full manual. I will say that where it really is an advantage is in a freeway stop and go crawl.

Would I prefer one over my regular manual -no, I have another car for the freeway.

The realibility or the Sportomatic wasn't that good as I recall. Sometimes, when it failed you were in a gear or neutral and that's where you stayed until you go it home

I think it belongs in a Porsche as much as a recorded female voice telling you that "your brakes have failed" at 95 MPH............

JMHO

Dirty Marty
Fallbrook, Ca

[Mukilteo911]

An automatic cluch back then is what is so cool about it. They had some interesting acheivements. Looking at the gear chart in the manuals, seems the engine rpm would be rather high at say 70mph.

[Tsunamiboy]

I drove a sporto targa in the late 70's. I was driving a 59 356 A at that time. The Sporto was tight and the 911's handling knocked my socks off. What was hard to get used to was you had to keep your hand off of the gear shift knob or the clutch would disengage. You could burn up the clutch if you could not keep your hand off the knob.

[Speedo959]

I have one and it's ok. It is the only 911 that I have ever driven so I really wouldn't be able to give a good comparison. All I know is that when it's tuned right it's a blast to drive.

I owned one in the 80's for a year or so. It was '73T Sporto and it was all of the above. I had a lot of fun in that car, but I remember that the torque converter used engine oil, so if you pushed it, it tended to heat up near overheating. As someone above said, it was really an automatic clutch with the standard 4-speed tranny. You could adjust the speed of the clucth action as well. Loved the 2.4 motor! Big fun off the line, good commuter... Never took it on track, just didn't seem to belong.

My $0.02
CKKrause

[Zeke]

I rode around in a friend's a few times. It was just as easy to start off in 2nd. Does that tell you anything?

[oneblueyedog]

Originally posted by Mukilteo911
I think it would be trick. Blueyedog, did it shift cool, what did it feel like, did it have punch?

No punch. Pleasingly smooth. Better though, than an auto trans since it's interactive.

[Fishcop]

I recently converted my car from a 905 sporto (901 equivalent) to a 915 manual... I did it with much trepidation as I really liked the sporto, but it just became too hard constantly troubleshooting problems (it didn't help that I upgraded the engine from the old 2.0 to a 2.7RS spec

I miss driving it like a go-kart with two pedals; I miss the ease of trotting around in traffic; and believe it or not, I miss just how fast it shifted - definitely quicker changes than my 915

If you have a well sorted sporto, there is no real reason to change to a manual.

[layzee]

If it works - its great.

1. You can left foot brake just like you do in video games.
2. In traffic it is zero stress, just put it in L and dab the throttle occassionally
3. I haven't driven a 915 but I've heard people say you have to take care with the speed of your shifts. I can change as fast as I like (within reason)
4. It allows for very relaxed and probably economical cruising - at 70mph in top gear the revs are pretty low

[cnavarro]

There is a bit more rotational mass, I had a 2.2 70T sporto and I would say that it revs like a dual mass 964. Very comfortable drivers, very well suited even to snow (I ran into a blizzard coming home from hershey, what was it, two years ago, and it drove great with awesome traction on skinny tires too). When it's tuned right and you have no vacuum leaks, very sporty, all the way to redline, and if memory serves correctly, the sportos were faster than their manual counterparts 0-60 because of the fairly high stall speed of 2750 rpm, which makes for awesome get up and go, either in L or 2.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Is the Sportomatic more or less the same setup as the "Automatic Stickshift" they used to have on the VW Beetle in the early 70's? I ask because my sister had one and I leaarned to drive on it. In retrospect I think it was a very nice shifting transmission. Perhaps not the ultimate but quite good. YOu had to sort of very slightly lift on the accelerator as you made you upshifts or you tended to get a kind of awkward lunge. NOt too bad, you just had to learn this slight technique. Anyone know for certain?

And if it WAS the same system could parts from the VW's be used or adapted for keeping these now rare Sporto's on the road?

[cnavarro]

The sportomatic is a little more advanced when it comes to the vacuum actuator, but yes, you have to lift off the accelerator just as in the autostick. The autosticks also had their own separate ATF tank with a two stage oil pump, cam driven. I used synthetic in my sporto because of the higher oil temps, especically on a hot day with spirited driving, as the torque converter generates alot of heat.

[JohnKo]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but I think it's interesting that Peter Gregg, no slouch behind the wheel. allegedly preferred a Sporto for his daily driver.

[Mukilteo911]

I had read that Porsche himself prefered it to the manual. But you know that could have ben a rumor. I bet parts ar impossble to find if something goes wrong.

[rcooled]

I had an "Autostick" VW Karmann Ghia cabrio some time back which I eventually converted to a 4-speed. I have to agree with Tsunamiboy...the one thing that annoyed me the most about it was trying to remember never to touch the gear lever unless you intended to shift. Even the slightest brush of your hand or bump with your knee will disengage the clutch. If you've got your foot in it, the tach will see red instantly.

[B D]

Sportos Rule, Manuals Drool. JK

The Sporto is actually blast to drive and once rolling doesn't give up anything. You can shift just as quickly as a manual. Peter Gregg and Vic Elford both owned Sportos after they raced sporto equipped cars. Elford actually won the 84 Hour Marathon de la Route event at the Nürburgring in a 911R equipped with a sporto.

Sporto parts can be found easily since so many convert to a manual trans due to simple problems. Also putting your hand on the shifter when not shifting is bad news on manuals also, and any driver instructor will tell you only to touch the shifter when shifting. Once you have the feel though you can hold shifter if you like. The only downside is having 4 gears vs. 5 speeds in a manual.