Your thoughts on Paddle Shifter sports cars?

[SevenTenSplit]

Curious on what everyone here thinks about paddle shift sports cars like the LFA, 911 Turbo PDK, Ferrari 458, GT-R, etc

[Mitch]

I'll be honest, I hate them. Don't get me wrong. If you have to drive an automatic, it's the lesser evil. I just love the third pedal too much.

[xantonin]

I'm curious about the style of paddle shifter the FR-S has. Are they steering or column mounted?

I just watched a 5th Gear episode about an Aston Martin and he was blasting the car for having steering column mounted peddles. He hated them.

[Neutral_Eyes]

I'll never be able to own one so I don't really care.

[Longhorn248]

I've never driven any of the supercars with paddle shifters so I really can't say how they drive. But I do know that the paddle shifter in the FT86 will not be the same type as in those cars. In simplest terms, the supercars have a manual gearbox that happens to be electronically shifted, in the FT and other similar lower end cars the gearbox is an automatic that you can tell when to shift. I'm sure someone else can explain it better and throw out terms like "dual plate clutch", "rev-matching", "milliseconds", blah blah blah. I've driven cars that have "manumatic" gear boxes and they're not all that impressive, you have to be spending a pretty penny before you get something that shifts seamlessly so I'll be going with the 6 speed when I get my BRZ.

The paddles on the FT are on the wheel, which would be fine if the wheel was like a Formula 1 car where it only had 300 degrees of rotation, but when you can turn the wheel more than 360 degrees you're just setting yourself up for confusion and not knowing where the shifters are. "Oh shit I better shift up into fourth" *downshifts into second* "&$#%".

[Fortunate Few]

M3 paddles are nice
Rx8's are lame
Some Aston's suck

[AE]

Talking about paddle shifters, gotta love the new ones mounted on the steering wheel of the 2012 911.
Usually the steering mounted ones are really small and are designed to be accessible when your hands are in a certain position, exactly above them.
The ones on the 911 are wheel-mounted but are almost as big as the column mounted ones, the best of the two worlds.

Personally I prefer huge column mounted paddles Ferrari 458/Nissan GTR style but i'd take a proper manual instead any day.

[Re_Invention]

I love em! In the big picture of things, the more that tech is developed the better it is for everyone - including enthusiasts.

Having said that, I don't believe the FR-S will be as complete with the automatic transmission, however not having driven either, I may eat those words. The automatic transmission has received mostly positive remarks from reviewers, so there is that.

But put me in a 911 Turbo or any modern Italian super car and I will take the paddles every time. Too much sophistication in those cars and with my lack of experience handling a billion horsepower I don't want to be messing with a standard gearbox. As well, if I spent my money on something that can do 0-60 in 3 seconds.. well damn it, I want the dummy proof launch control that'll do it!

Has anyone tried VAG DSG gearboxes? I fell in love on the first upshift

[Guff]

All the above mentioned supercars, except for the LFA, utilize Double Clutch transmissions which divide the gears into odds and evens with their own respective clutch systems. When you are in an even gear, it preps the odd gear so you can near instantaneously shift into that gear, and vice versa. People praise this system for it's very fast shifts, but also bash it for being too jerky (especially in auto mode in regular driving) or just plain taking away driver involvement.

The LFA uses a sequential box that is more akin to a traditional gear box, but can shift very quickly, albeit not as quickly as a DCTrans. People praise it because it feels more like a proper manual regarding shift feel, but also say a DCT is just plain faster and perhaps, better.

The BRZ, like the ISF, uses a conventional auto trans with torque locking, this can provide quick shifts under load and still be smooth in regular driving.

Rev Matching is blipping the throttle between downshifts, ie: Heel-Toeing

[old greg]

Originally Posted by Longhorn248

The paddles on the FT are on the wheel, which would be fine if the wheel was like a Formula 1 car where it only had 300 degrees of rotation, but when you can turn the wheel more than 360 degrees you're just setting yourself up for confusion and not knowing where the shifters are. "Oh shit I better shift up into fourth" *downshifts into second* "&$#%".

I agree with you in principal. But realistically if you are trying to shift gears with that much steering lock, you're doing it wrong.

[Guff]

Originally Posted by old greg

I agree with you in principal. But realistically if you are trying to shift gears with that much steering lock, you're doing it wrong.

At 360* you are probably taking a U Turn, and you should be going fairly Slow for that. Therefore you should be in first coming up to the turn and stay in first until you are out of the turn.

Oh wait, at 360, you are back where you started. Soooo, everything should be on the correct side.

[blur]

I don't know. If I can get the solid kick from the disturbance everytime I shift, I would get it. It doesn't need to be fast, it just needs to feel raw, like the manual Tire chirps are a must.

That goes for the FR-S, at least.

Oh and column mounted for me.

[n2oinferno]

I'm all for manual transmission, and all of my personal vehicles have been manual with the exception of one. However, I'm not elitist enough to think that my beliefs should have to reflect on everyone else, and that everyone has to drive a stick or they're somehow less deserving of the vehicle or a worse driver. Putting an auto in a sports car widens the demographic, which means more sales, which means more likely to continue on development and future revisions of the sports car.

I owned a DSG VW with wheel-mounted paddles, and they seemed fine in their placement.

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by old greg

I agree with you in principal. But realistically if you are trying to shift gears with that much steering lock, you're doing it wrong.

Can't argue with that