Apparently a common and unsolved problem, I've got a surge of power (i.e. rude nudge) in first gear and to a lesser extent second at ~3200rpm. It's happened since the car was new. I've seen at least eight other owners posts with the same problem but no fixes. Variocam roughness? Some owners have done ECU upgrades and engine swaps to no avail. This is apparently a problem in the '03 996 too. Does ANYONE know how to fix this?? I drove a '03 Boxster and was angered by how much smoother the rpm run-up was, very satisfying. Help me before the sledgehammer urge overtakes me.

 

What you are feeling is the variocam switching over to the upper end profile.

I guess the best thing to do is not to linger in that rev range

 

uh... what he said.

 

Damn! (oops, I curshed) Maybe Porsche will get the kinks worked out of Variocam by the 997? Maybe I'm sensitive, but if I pay 90 large for a hot little sportscar I expect a certain amount of smoothness (granted otherwise I'm tickled pink compared to the '94 Vette). I'm surprised Car and Driver didn't mention this in their eval of the 2001 911 Cab but maybe it's a 2002+ phenomenon? Sulking now....

 

Don't count on it. My '99 Boxster had it and my 2002 911 has it.



A certain amount of smoothness? I think there is plenty of smoothness. The only area that isn't smooth is the Variocam switch RPM, and only then if you drive steady state at that RPM. The rest of the RPM band is smooth, and if you're on the throttle, it's OK from idle to red line.

 

Is this the same random chunky feeling that I occassionally get within 30 feet of my driveway in first gear when I first start the car in the morning?

I've been getting a jolting, almost similar to a stalling feeling somewhere in the 2-3k RPM range of 1st gear when driving forward for the first 30 feet some mornings after pulling out of the driveway. It doesn't always happen, and it never happens after the first time in the morning.

 

Sounds like the same thing. It seems to happen under moderate acceleration usually. Light acceleration sometimes causes it and it doesn't seem to happen when stomping it. It feels like when you let the clutch out too fast. A 2003 Boxster I just drove didn't do this although one guy said his 90's Boxster did.

 

I have always looked at that little surge as additional power that wasn't there in previous 996 engines. Makes me smile. I guess it all depends on how you look at it.