automatic Auto gearing low

[SteveEu]

I’ve got a 2008 987.1 s auto and the gearing is weird. It never shows first gear being used and very quickly goes up the gears. If I try to manually drop a gear it seems to over rev so it seems the gearing is all very low. Am I going mad?

[Menoporsche]

How long have you had it? Don’t they learn behavior, did the previous owner rag it?

[Nath]

It shouldn't allow you to drop a gear if that would cause an over-rev.  When you say it goes up through the gears very quickly do you mean that it is slow to accelerate because it is shifting up earlier than you expect?  If so, it should hold the gears longer if you use a heavier right shoe.

[Nobbie]

The Tip box always starts off in 2nd by default and if you're pootling around town it will climb up the gears quickly as it adjusts to the demands of your driving. If you boot it off the line, it should drop to 1st and if you keep your right foot planted it should start adjusting the changeup points for a more sporty drive.

I do notice that in gentle driving it does sometimes feel that it should have drooped a gear going up a hill since the 2.5 has little torque, but flicking it to manual mode and dropping a gear soon sorts that. Not sure how dropping a gear is causing an over rev🤔, You'd have to drop 2 or 3 gears to hit the rev limit in mine switching from auto to manual mode since in normal driving the engine is kept around 2-2500rpm around town from memory.

[headless]

In auto it learns your driving style, you must be light footed, either start sticking your foot down more or don't use auto, have it in manual, these might also help, I (see pic below) never have mine in auto as it's too sluggish and as you say changes up too early for my liking and will lug in too high a gear at low speed....

[Nobbie]

Just a thought about the 'over rev' when dropping gears. Is this just a temporary blip before settling down in the new gear? Could be something like low fluid level in the tip box, so worth checking for obvious leaks underneath.

[SteveEu]

Sorry when I said over-revving when I drop a gear (say from third to second) it just seems to to jump and stay at a level that makes me think that third is too high and second is too low and there’s quite a long way in between. All this is mostly when I’m town or on a country jaunt. Not pushing it hard. Not helped by injector/ tapper rattle that the Indy says is normal and two people I know have the S and they make the same noise. Not the smoothest of engines are they? I’ve had it 18 months and some 6,000 miles. Been better since I put Shell V Power in it and had a leaky exhaust manifold sorted but still not smooth. Driving it in manual other than a fast drive just isn’t enjoyable. Top down, in auto and push it is fine. 

[Nobbie]

8 hours ago, SteveEu said:

Not the smoothest of engines are they?

I think I sort of understand where you are coming from, the tip is not as smooth as the modern boxes and the engine can be a bit noisy although I'm sure your 987 is quieter than my 986. Maybe an upgrade to a 987.2 with PDK is in order, or maybe a 718. I've heard the 4 cylinder in the 718 is a much better engine with plenty of torque in the mid range.

[DaveEFI]

I found the way the TIP was programmed in the Boxster quite unlike any other car I'd driven with the same ZF box. And not to my liking at all. I bought an auto because I wanted an auto - not because I couldn't drive a manual.

Because of that, I changed to a PDK. That behaves in normal driving just like I'd expect an auto to do. It gets to the highest gear it can pull very quickly, and doesn't change down too easily. Just what I'd expect from an auto.

But one the real advantages is the much taller gearing on a motorway. On the TIP,  the engine always sounded busy at cruise.

[Patt]

it will only drop to 2nd when stationary and is generally programmed for fuel economy. 

I find I can only live with the auto setting if sports button pressed.  Not sure on yours, but the 981 auto can be over-ridden using the paddles for hills etc and then defaults back after about 10 secs.

I only found out at the weekend that the "hold" feature only works in auto and not manual - hence I rarely see it work

[DaveEFI]

I'd have rather they raised to gearing so it had a taller top gear. And therefore had to start in 1st. Might have made the 0-30 mph on paper time worse, but would have made a much better auto package. And given better MPG.

[entdgc]

20 hours ago, SteveEu said:

Not helped by injector/ tapper rattle

When I first got my 987.1 it made a lot of harsh ticking noise - not tappety. I used a bottle of Wynns injector cleaning and within 50 miles it was almost gone. 1 year later it is still fine - although I have just used it again as a 'maintenance' clean. Worth a go for £6.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/fuel-oil-additives/wynns-injector-cleaner-for-petrol-engines-325ml

[SteveEu]

Thanks to all. Gave it a blast in manual with the top down and you are all right it works fine. It’s the (rough ticking)  noise with the roof on that has been putting me off. I’ve also bought some fuel additive for the injectors to see what that will do to the ticking/rattle which had been diagnosed as the injectors by two specialist Indy workshops