I tried searching and did not find any answers to this. Has anyone successful (and safety) bypassed the PDK Kickdown? That is my only complaint about the PDK transmission. In the GTR, I can bury the throttle in the higher gear and pick up speed slowly and quietly. If I do that in the 997, it violently kicks down to the optimal gear and rockets off. I understand why it does this, I just don't prefer it. If anyone has been able to fix this issue, either at the dealer, or with a software tune, or with some custom work; please let me know. Thank you in advance.

 

Wow that's an interesting request. There is no effective TCU upgrade for the PDK let alone a customized TCU hack that would allow for specific parameters to be modified.

Your best bet is to be more throttle-sensitive when accelerating as to not induce a downshift.

 

I've never driven a PDK, only Ferrari F1, but the PDK doesn't have a mode where it stays in whatever gear you manually put it in? If not, that's interesting. That would really **** me off if it was constantly doing its own thing. What about Tip, will it auto down shift as well?

 

I drive the car in sport plus manual all the time and the only time I notice the car changing gears itself is when I stop at a stop sign or red light, goes to 1st gear. I know a couple of times I have been in third and taken a turn and hit the gas and it slowly accelerated. I have felt it shift down a couple of gears when accelerating hard on the freeway to pass someone when cruising in 6th but not often enough to irritate me. The only time I have felt the car change gears by itself is when it is in sports plus auto when I forget to move it over or I want to blast onto the freeway.

 

Put the PDK gear selector in manual mode.

 

It will still downshift in manual mode.

The Getrag DCT in the BMW's. doesn't do this.

Basically the PDK for the 997.2 has been programmed to drive and feel like an automatic transmission. The programming for the 991 changed some of these characteristics.

 

Yes it will downshift if you push the throttle to the floor. However, I think what the OP is wanting or talking about is leaving the transmission in 7th gear, depressing the throttle and NOT have the PDK downshift automatically. OP, correct me if I am wrong please.

I use manual mode on a daily basis and this is EXACTLY what I use it for. I quickly upshift with the paddles to 7th and leave it there for the most part. I stay in 7th gear from 40mph to 70mph+ without the transmission ever downshifting on it's own other than when I come to a stop.

I probably use 75% of the throttle movement which is just above the detent/switch on the floor that causes the transmission to downshift and the car to go WOT. It takes a day or so to learn exactly how far to push the throttle but after that it's not even something you think about.

It works really well and my fuel mileage is much better as a result.

That being said, I had the car in sport+ today as I was feeling rambunctious!

 

reading comprehension fail

 

Longboarder seems to be the only one who understands the struggle here.

Basically, I want to put it in manual mode; put it in 3rd gear (WHEN IT SHOULD BE IN 2ND); mash the throttle; and have it accelerate in 3rd instead of downshifting to 2nd. There has to be a way around this..

 

There have been a number of inquiries about customizing parameters within the TCU of the PDK. But so far nobody has effectively hacked it.

I spoke with BBi Autosport about it yesterday and they said that Cobb might begin some development. If so that would be awesome. But my guess is that the development will first start with performance items, like increasing line pressure to allow for more clutch grip for higher-powered motors.

Like you, I would like to get an "a la carte" option list of things I could change with the PDK.

 

From what I've researched, there seems to be a physical button under the gas pedal that activates the kickdown when its pressed (which would be at full throttle). There has to be a way just to deactivate the button; either with software, physically removing the button, or simply unplugging it. These are just fantasies, I have no actual clue how the button is mounted/powered.


Edit: Found a photo.

 

Ok. Sorry for trying to be helpful.

 

Maybe easiest compromise is to mash the throttle without going all the way down to the button?

 

I always thought the PDK doesn't let you do this so that you don't lug the engine and cause damage.

 

I can prevent the kickdown with my foot, that's not the issue. I'd just like to remove this feature if possible. Just like modifying anything to suit one's taste.

Its the only car that does this. Other dual-clutch transmissions, such as my GTR, do not do this. In cars of this caliber, sometimes acceleration in the proper gear is just too violent for how I'm driving at the time. The downshift just takes too much time and makes unnecessary noise.

Anybody have a suggestion? Maybe a software tune is in the works? Button can be unplugged/bypassed, etc?