Paddle Shifters

Never used them on my 2016 diesel E Class, but my EQC has them for changing the one pedal regen through 4 settings from nothing to ‘a lot’ so I can easily control my speed going downhill without touching the brake.

Use them every day.
 
I use them in my Q7 all the time because on long journeys I like to keep the engine running the whole time and save battery. I run it in sport mode so need to knock it into manual to keep it top gear. I'm weird.
 
Had them on the last 5 cars and only used them once on the 1st one that had them, what's the point of having an auto and then using them, don't see the need for them tbh
 
I have them on the BMW 420d coup.

Mostly I'm in fully auto mode. But it's nice now and again to stick it in sport mode and use the paddles.


I have the zf8 auto box and to be hobest if your In comfort or sport in auto it's so quick to shift really you dont need to use paddle shifters. But it's nice sometimes makea you feel like an f1 driver
 
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First had paddles on F31 330D - never used them. Current Passat has them but will never use them.

GT4 is PDK which is pretty much in auto other than on track. Even then, it does a half decent job of choosing better than me :D
 
Never really used the paddles more than an occasional try. I find it more fiddly to drive an auto in manual mode than drive an actual manual. In a manual, I know when to change down but in an auto in manual mode, it's all a bit of a mystery.
 
I tend to drive in sports mode, so the main use is to change up when I reach cruising speed after accelerating. Otherwise it stays down a gear or two for a while 'cos it thinks I haven't finished yet. But that's about it.
 
I hardly ever drove my GT R in automatic, virtually always in manual mode. Cayenne is the reverse but when properly pushing on I want to chose the gears to move to manual mode, as I do in the Golf R and did in my R8. I like to control it myself, it is always better when making proper pace, no matter how good the tech is today IMHO.
 
When you want more control. When you want it to stay in a specific gear. When you want to dictate what it does. If you ever get caught at a speed where it keeps changing but you don't want it to.
 
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Pfftt, if you're going to paddle shift, paddle shift properly.

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Housey said:
I hardly ever drove my GT R in automatic, virtually always in manual mode. Cayenne is the reverse but when properly pushing on I want to chose the gears to move to manual mode, as I do in the Golf R and did in my R8. I like to control it myself, it is always better when making proper pace, no matter how good the tech is today IMHO.
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This is interesting. I've been looking to buy another older BM but chosing the right engine / gearbox combo is quite the yo-yo task as one month a manual with gearstick seems the right choice, the next the DCT does, or the zf auto occasionally creeps back in too.

What would make you choose an actual stick over a the more modern boxes? Or would paddle shifts be your preference, especially on larger engines? Had smg paddles in my M5, then just normal ZF8 auto paddles in my later bmws, but get so much more enjoyment from my manual R53... But it's not mated to a 3litre turbo. Although my e46 was a large engined manual, but NA, I guess power figures are a lot more these days.
 
NVP said:
This is interesting. I've been looking to buy another older BM but chosing the right engine / gearbox combo is quite the yo-yo task as one month a manual with gearstick seems the right choice, the next the DCT does, or the zf auto occasionally creeps back in too.

What would make you choose an actual stick over a the more modern boxes? Or would paddle shifts be your preference, especially on larger engines? Had smg paddles in my M5, then just normal ZF8 auto paddles in my later bmws, but get so much more enjoyment from my manual R53... But it's not mated to a 3litre turbo. Although my e46 was a large engined manual, but NA, I guess power figures are a lot more these days.
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After driving a BMW auto (ZF8) - I dont think i would go back to a manual at the moment

BMW Manuals , i had two of them, always seemed to have stiff gearshifting, stiff gearboxes, and clutch issues,

even doing prevenatative maintenence on say the transmission fluid didnt really help the shifting


Having a BMW in a ZF8 gearbox, they are so good, smooth, rapid changing
 
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...but so boring. I should add, I'm looking for a fun weekender, not a daily. So it's more a question of enjoyment when making progress.
 
funnily enough i did you use the paddles on a long decent yesterday that has a 50mph speed limit.....drop it down i gear on the paddle and it stayed at around 48mph all the way down for 4ish miles
 
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