Hi everyone, just wanted to show that we have love for the AT's too. Thanks to @
sevi21, we were able to get our hands on an AT model for R&D purposes. We noticed the biggest complaint was the small paddle size so we wanted to see for ourselves.
The thing we noticed was that there wasn't a whole lot of room between the steering wheel, paddle, and stalks. Originally we were planning on making aluminum stick-on pieces from "waste" material cut out of our wing uprights, but after driving the car we felt a stick-on extension might not be the best choice because it would further limit the space. Another thing was that the spring weight felt good, but could be a little heavier for a more solid shifting feel.
So this is the idea for what we came up with
The top is about 25mm longer, the bottom is about 15mm longer. This would allow the driver to shift even with the hands at the 10/2 o'clock position or the 5/7 o'clock position. We're trying our best to retain the OEM curvature to keep the same feel of the OEM paddle. The idea is to make the paddle out of CNC'd aluminum for better tactility. We are also trying to incorporate an adjustable spring system that you can preload to adjust to force needed to shift the paddles. So you could effectively use the same force or increase it for a "heavier" shift feel.
If we can keep the OEM electronic box, we will do so, but if we have to make a custom box, we will. However, the development on the electronics side will likely have to wait until the end of May because our electrical engineer won't have free time until after the Indy 500 (he's currently the lead EE for an Indy Car team).
We are not married to the design or the ideas and we would love input from the AT owners.