Paddle Shifters

[zak]

I think that the 3 modern MB's we have all have paddle shifters.
I was never a fan and never used them. Do race cars have them ?

It is much more satisfying to me to put the foot down and hit the kick down button.
Anyone use them regularly ?

jz

[teahead]

w/the advent of 8, 9, 10, 11-speed auto trans, that's a lot of "paddling" you have to do.

Kinda stupid, but a bit more convenient if you HAVE to shift an automatic.

[MikeSimon]

We have 2 Audis with paddle shifters and I use them a lot. Love them.

[dirkbalter]

Have them too. I believe they are useless for 99. 875% of the driving. With various modes selectable depending on who you want to race, you can not beat the electronics.

[Cees Klumper]

We had them on our BMW Z4 which had a (I believe 6-speed) DSG box, and now on our GLK 250 7-speed. We never use them.

[MikeSimon]

Have them too. I believe they are useless for 99. 875% of the driving. With various modes selectable depending on who you want to race, you can not beat the electronics.

I will argue about that. With the paddle shifters, you can pick your own shift points and that may give you the edge over the electronics. Also, you can use engine braking more efficiently. With so may fans on here of manual transmissions over automatics, I am surprised the paddle shifters don't get a more positive reception.

[Peter van Es]

I only use them when driving in the mountains...

[mdsalemi]

Had them on a few cars. On some of the cars, I didn't even know they were there. The average modern 6+ speed automatic transmission shifts better than all but the best of the world's drivers, so I let it be. The transmission generally knows when it needs the torque and when it needs to shift. I leave it alone. I generally don't have diagnostic equipment hooked up to the car when driving (it's a car, not a test cell) thus determining the efficiency of shift points, engine braking etc. is all just speculation.

[MikeSimon]

..and that's why race cars all rely on the automatic transmissions and their preset shifting patterns. There is a significant difference between an "automatic" with a torque converter and a double clutch automated manual...