New Technology In Porsche 911 To Make Downshifting Smoother

By: Kevin Green  |   September 7th, 2012   |   Cars, Gadgets, Living

Car enthusiasts love the grip of their steering wheel, the rev of the engine and the feel of the road through the pedals. A true gear head loves shifting into higher gear but probably loathes shifting down. The abrupt reduction of speed usually causes the car to shift its weight and gives the feeling of falling forward. This is usually caused by the fact the engine rev is not matched with lower transmission speed. In order to overcome this issue, drivers have developed the heel-and-toe downshift which is a little dance in which the driver will presses the clutch and shifts into a lower gear. They will then simultaneously brake with the right foot and pivot the heel to punch the accelerator. After releasing the clutch a smooth transition to the lower gear is achieve.

 

Porsche 911 drivers will not have to worry about perfecting the art of heel-and-toe down shifting anymore because the German company has created an automatic system that will detect the driver’s intentions and rev the engine to match it with the transmission. This new advancement will be available in the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S if they have the Sport Chrono Package. These all wheel drive Porsche models should be able to provide their owners with the perfect down shift experience. It is expected the new technology will be available on the remaining line up of cars from Porsche in coming years.

 

Some Porsche lovers may have a problem with this because some purists believe that the fun in driving a car is all about handling and control. The more that we give over to automation and computer the less enjoyable it becomes. However, the car manufacturer have stated the down shift system is only active in the Sport Plus mode and in the Normal and Sport mode it is automatically deactivated. However, there will be no off button to completely switch off the system in the Sports Plus mode.

 

Source: Wired

Photo: babez.de