My 2 cents worth is this. I have a modded tip turbo and it works well for me. I think a normally aspirated motor with a tip would suck because the power band is too high. These modded turbos will pull like a freight trane down low and that helps get the car going no matter what gear you are in. The 2nd gear starts are sort of a pain but the car will still pull off well and keep pulling in the same gear to around 90 or so. Max lauch is definately in first gear. Car goes like a rocket and no clutch to ruin. I can see how nicely modded cars go through clutches. THis is a good bit of power and has to be harder on all of the drive train. The other thing I like for tracking is it will not let you blow it up or overrev the car.

I've had my 996 TT Tip S since Feb 2001, and have enjoyed every one of the 28,XXX miles of it. As for first gear launches, that's what the 'S' in Tip S is for. 8-second override using the steering wheel controls. Works just as well for rolling starts, especially from pole position. Getting a Tip will allow you to upgrade it to DD, even in Fresno or Bay Area traffic. If you get a 6 Speed... no scalability.

Silver you have any work done to your transmission or engine mod's only?

My tranny is bone stock. No extra coolers or anything. I think perhaps an extra tranny oil cooler plumbed in for tracking would not be a bad idea and perhaps the torque converter upgrage if you drag race or make above 640 crank. I wish sharkey would chime in on this, does the car drive any different with the upgraded converter or does it just launch at a higher rpm from a stand still. I have had higher stall converters in some muscle cars and they do help launch but would stall 2500-3000 rpm and to me that would be a bit high for this type of street car. Anyone else have first hand experience with evo's upgraded tip converter as to drivability?

I agree that a mod'd Tip is extra fun to drive. A couple of clicks on down shift, step on it, and there she goes.

One thing that I want to mention is I can finish a cup of Starbucks and driving at the same time.

I have personally been a 6 speed kind of a driver myself all my life. It took me a while when it came down to making a decision between the two. Being in southern California I went with the tiptronic S transmission. First few months after my purchase I literally hated it so much and at one point I was going to trade it in for a 6 speed. Then I decided to give it another shot and really learn and understand the system. It did not take me too long to develop my own driving technique for speed and handling. I learned not to fight against it and I realized small tricks that made a huge difference in driving. For example cruising on 4th or 5th gear I learned about an inch down on the gas pedal pulled it down one gear, about two inches down on the gas pedal actually pulled two gears down at once. This way I was able to drive in any gear I wanted to be in at any time without shifting up and down. I also measured and learned about the shifting lag which could be really annoying at times. After learning my pick powers on any giving RPM range and the time it takes for it to gear up and down I was able to pin point and maintain the power range by shifting up and down about one second before you reach your intended rpm range. Like I said little tricks made huge difference in driving and in performance. Most importantly until you develop your own technique by trial and error doesn’t matter how hard you try the system in place will always outperform your skills in performance and handling.

996TTSCAB is right about you have to learn to drive a Tip. I used to not liking how the Tip drives until Sharky showed me a few little tricks. It makes a night and day difference when it comes to fun.

996TTSCAB, great tips for the tip (sorry couldn't avoid the pun!).

MY996TT, care to share your tips?

Sharky showed me mainly on power launch; double tap on the gas paddle would down shift; every manual down shift would stay for 8 seconds, and a quick shift to M and back to D would get out. I usually stay on D and use the switch only to down shift and let the car controls the up shift; this would maximized the rpm for up shift when wot.