paddle shifters
 

Just a quick question.

So you guys noticed theres actually 2 kinds on the market, ones that turn with the steering wheel (like the FRS/86/BRZ) and ones that are stationary on the steering column which are huge (like LFA and some supercars)

Which ones the 'proper' setup? When i test drove an FRS automatic over the weekened the sales guy said he prefers the stationary column mounted way cuz its he 'proper' way to do it.

There's no "proper" setup. FR-S/BRZ design is alot like the F1, as they move with the wheel. F1s don't make huge corner turns so both their hands are mostly on the wheel and on the paddles.

The only time the FR-S paddle setup bothers me is when I'm accelerating too fast from standstill *and* turning. Its a showy move to kick the tail out and if I was a bit more mature, it wouldn't be an issue at all.

I prefer stationary but this car and my M3 both move with the wheel. On this car it isn't very noticeable since you don't cycle gears that fast, and aside from showing off when launching around a turn from a stop, you will likely not need to do a gear change while turning.

On a road car, stationary is usually a little more user friendly, but both versions are out there on a wide range of performance oriented vehicles.

As was said before, the only one that can be considered the "proper" set up is how F1 cars have it since I believe they're the ones that started it. They have the ones that rotate with the wheel because they always have both hands on the wheel, and you're not really supposed to be shifting during a turn.

I believe I've seen Rally cars with stationary paddle shifters which makes sense since they usually have to make really big adjustment when they're turning/about to turn.

I personally prefer that they're stationary because it was just easier to adjust to. It took a while for me to get used to the FR-S's shifters.

I like that they are mated to the Steering Wheel, it has re-trained my old bad habit of 8 & 4 wheel orientation to 10 & 2 and made me more concious of hand over hand steering.

Like said above F1 has limited max steering at just over 90degrees of rotation from the centerline. They developed it in mind so they can shift while cornering. On a car like the FRS I highly doubt the engine is responsive enough to shift during cornering (although possible). I haven't test driven the FRS but im guessing the steering wheel makes at least 360 degrees of rotation from the centerline? That means when your steering wheel is completely upside down (180 degrees) your shifters would be opposite unless your hands are still in same place as they were at centerline.

I would say generally its better to have shifters on the wheel with a tighter steering and shifters on the column with FRS type steering.

Who actually takes their hands off the wheel when turning besides in a parking lot? If you are even going around a 25mph turn you will not be turning the wheel enough to take your hands off.

I have found it more comfortable to use the "stick" shifter instead of the paddle shifters due to my hands not always being in position for the paddles. If the shifter is in the manual position, just bump it forward to shift up, backwards to shift down.

I do the same thing. It's just more natural for me.

ive used both and the paddle shifters do have a nice way to manually downshift without reaching down to do so -- in those situations when turn-after-turn the paddle shifters to shift up or down are real cool. ive learned not to use it when turning too much but if you do - then use the shifter.. both together with the SPORT mode are just fabulous !!