I know I’m supposed to be off today for Yom Kippur, but it’s technically the night before, so I think if nobody rats me out to any clergypeople or their authorized agents, then I’m probably okay. And that’s good, because we need to do another episode of Prove Me Wrong! As you know, this is important. This time, we need to talk about paddle shifters, commonly found on a wide variety of vehicles you can buy today. They’ve been around for a while now; in fact, I’d say they may be the most common and yet least-used controls in a car, because, let’s be honest: aside from playing around with them every now and then, nobody really uses these things.
Now, I’m not talking about genuine racing cars with transmissions that will only shift with paddles – I mean the sort of paddle shifters that actuate semi-manual gear selection on otherwise automatic transmissions in mainstream, mass-market passenger cars. It’s quite likely you, the devastatingly sexy person reading this right now on the deck of your pleasure-helicopter, have a car with such paddles.
My theory is that people with cars that have optional-use paddle shifters use them for about, oh, 12 minutes per month in the first few months they own the car, and then after the initial novelty has worn off, they forget about them. Maybe, maybe, your fingers will graze them on a boring drive and you’ll remember they exist, and you’ll have fun for a few minutes downshifting and getting the car to rev really high and feeling that pull of torque, and then you’ll have to pay attention to your next turn or whatever and you’ll forget about those paddles for months. Maybe years.
On just about everything modern with paddle shifters, the automatic transmission left to handle the job itself shifts better than you can, for acceleration, for efficiency, for whatever. The act of paddle shifting isn’t nearly as satisfying as using an genuine manual transmission anyway, and people learn that pretty quickly.
So what’s the point?
[Editor’s Note: On vehicles with good transmissions that do what you want them to, I tend to agree with JT, here: paddles don’t see much use. The ZF eight-speed auto that’s seemingly in every car these days usually puts the driver in the gear they want if the transmission is properly calibrated. I think people are more likely to click a “sport mode” button that ensures the transmission behaves a certain way than they are to use the paddles. Though, on transmissions that don’t behave how you want them to, a paddle might help you, for example, hold a lower gear on a steep incline/decline.
I think, on a fun sports car like an E92 M3, paddles can be fun, but on most other cars, they tend to be forgotten, as JT argues here. Center tunnel-mounted slap-stick “manumatic” shifters, though (you know, the shifters that you push or pull to change gears)? I think those are even less frequently used — again, unless the transmission isn’t doing what it needs to do, like downshifting up a grade or holding that gear. -DT]
Maybe you’ll argue with me. Maybe you’ll say I just don’t understand the pure, visceral joy one gets from those flappy paddles. But I kinda doubt it. Is there anyone, anywhere who routinely, consistently, uses paddle shifters exclusively on their daily drives? I think you’re more likely to find a Corvair-driving toucan with a fondness for the large-scale works of Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline.
I’m not even going to say that paddle shifters are dumb or useless or anything like that. I don’t need to. Because it just doesn’t matter if they are or not, because nobody ever really uses them enough to care.
So there.
The few times I drove my grandfather’s ’11? early-big-fat-version Outback, being able to downshift was useful in slippery weather. I’ve missed that with the newer Foresters he’s had since.
I don’t really care about having paddles on an Ordinary Car™, though, as long as the slushbox doesn’t argue with me.
I use the manual shift mode in the center console of my lowly 4 cylinder Kia Sorento with no sport mode. I use it for downshifting fairly often and for holding the gear a little longer on the onramp.
I’ve rented a car with paddles and found them harder to use than the console shifter. But I imagine that I would still use the paddle shifter if the transmission didn’t have a sport mode and the engine didn’t have the power to get out of it’s own way. My DD has neither, so I shift my own fairly regularly.
In a world where you can’t put a car in 1 or 2 when descending steep terrain the flappy paddles are quite necessary. While I don’t use them regularly there are times where I have used them several times in a weekend in my Wife’s absolutely not a sports mobile Honda Passport.
Have them on my 2014 lotus as I did not want the manual. Use them all the time on back roads in sport mode, love the engine sound on the upshifts and pops on the downshift. Also have them on an H-RV – agree in that application its completely useless and never been used, plus how does that even work as its a CVT??
My Z has an automatic. Yeah, “shame” on me. It was the only one coast to coast that fit my (other) criteria after searching for 4 months straight a decade ago. I had the transmission built (along with so many other tasteful mods) and the thing shifts as well as a DCT and could handle 500+whp if I ever want to boost it.
But, the issue is that it has only 5 gears and the slushboxes of old do not have the best intelligence, tuning be darned. So yes, I manually shift 99% of the time I drive it. I only ever let it shift itself if I need both hands for something, or if traffic is stop and go.
I also manually shifted my old Stage 2 LGT. Same deal – older transmission, no brains, and especially with turbo lag coming into play, manually shifting was optimal if you wanted to have a fun drive.
That said, other pedestrian cars? Nope. Never used it on my either of Mazda 6’s or my CX-9.
My Bolt EUV has one to toggle one pedal driving / engine braking, and I find it quite good for that purpose (instead of having to kill cruise or tap the breaks). But otherwise, yeah, never had much use.
You’re not wrong. I have 2 cars with paddle shifters and I just let them be automatic. I didn’t even use them for 12 minutes the entire time I’ve owned the cars.
Wife’s Edge has flappy paddles – they are pretty much useless. When we first got the car I used them maybe twice when driving in the mountains, where engine braking can be useful. But I quickly learned putting the transmission in “Sport” actually works better, so haven’t used them since.
Agreed, they are utterly pointless on anything besides enthusiast cars. i’ll add even on sporty cars the auto transmission programming has gotten so good that in street driving it’s barely worth bothering, though nice to have the option. Most “regular” drivers I’ve been around barely seem to know what the other settings on older autos did (1-2-3-tiptronic gate etc) can’t imagine they’re utilizing paddles.
DD is an Infinti G37x. I added paddle shifters to it after owning it about a year. It’s 7sp auto is known for it’s (lack of appropriate) shifting. The paddle shifters are used a lot, downshift when I want a lower gear and let it go back to “D” on it’s own, or put it into Sport mode and shift gears manually.
We also have a Kia Telluride, the (ZF?) 8sp auto does a great job with shift points, but there are times I wish it had paddle shifters.
For real shifting fun nothing beats our old Miata. Such a hoot to drive and stir your own gears.
Based on a sample size of one, I’d say you are correct. I’ve owned 4 cars with paddle shifters, and had 5 more company cars with then, and think I used the feature maybe once, when it was still kind of new and a novelty, then never again.
My S55 AMG has three transmission modes – C, S, M. For context, peak horsepower on this engine is 493hp at 6,100rpm.
C is very relaxed and shifts fairly quickly into the next gear unless you have the accelerator absolutely floored. It wants to sit between 1500 and 2000rpm.
S is a bit sportier but, again, will shift too early for my liking unless you have the pedal down 75%+ of the way. It feels like it almost touches peak horsepower and then shifts up out of it.
M uses the paddles (well they’re more like switches or buttons, but they work the same as paddles and are in the same place on the rear of the steering wheel) to let you control the shifts up and down. This is the only way to really rev the engine high without having a two mile straight empty highway to straight-up floor the gas pedal on.
Between the power and the sound of a supercharged 5.5 V8 at those rpms, I find myself using M often. It’s also good for smoothly shifting down in anticipation of a incoming hill, rather than let the auto hit the incline and hesitate before saying “ok fine I do need to shift down”
My wife’s car is a Subaru Impreza with a CVT and the fake shifting paddle shifters are utter foolishness, she definitely doesn’t use them.
In my driving of it they offer no real performance benefit, but with the Blizzaks on it after a good dump of snow they do add to the joy as I get to play “rally racer” on the unplowed or icy roads. More fun than a sit down arcade cabinet. (-;
I use the the center console selector to engine brake down hills sometimes, that’s about it. I use sport mode far more, like you said
I’m kind of OCD about anticipating red lights and I use the paddles when I drive my wife’s car to downshift enough to hit the light when it turns green.
DD is a manual BRZ, so I have to do something to keep myself occupied when I drive her car…
BTW, does everyone remember that Jeremy Clarkson called ’em “flappy paddles”?
“It’s got a flappy paddle gearbox!”
Our HR-V has them, I’ve used them a few times.
MK6,7,etc… DSG equipped GTI/Golf R owners seem to love them, but I don’t know if you can technically call the DSG an automatic transmission even though it’s got a regular “drive” mode.
I am a person. A living and breathing human. Not a “no one”. Therefore you are wrong.
I don’t have an E92 M3, but I do have an E93 tuned to meet or exceed the cousin M3 (stupid easy to do and still considered a modest tune..no where near 20psi the more agressive tunes allow..some shoot for 25psi but should have a closed deck and upgraded twins or a big turbo). I don’t use the paddle shifters too often, but use them on occasion. My wife on the other hand uses them and the sport shift function almost all the time. She doesn’t drive as aggressive as I tend to, so I let the ZF 6 speed do all the work. I also have a trans flash to make sport just a little more agressive than the stock shifting parameters (easy to do as well). When I have the summer tires on, I use the paddles.
Of note, the N54 tuner community uses the paddles heavily. Some have even set the left to down shift and the right to up shift via some wiring.
Paddle shifters are silly, but paddles are great for tuning the radio.
I test drove a Camry with paddle shifters. Who am I, Sebastian Vettel?
Test drove a Equinox with paddle controlled Infotainment system.
So much nicer and safer too. Damn near ran off the road trying to adjust the Camry radio. Can’t see the buttons! (Get off my lawn, yes, yes.)
Bought the Equinox.
You are absolutely right. I think I’ve used them in my TLX twice since buying it. I’ll use them in a rental car occasionally for laughs.
Also in my dreams in which I am an F1 racer, I use the paddles all the time.
I’ll use them to downshift for upcoming traffic or sometimes corners I know. Worked pretty well in my ’18 diesel Grand Cherokee, and similar or even better in my ’18 X3 (especially in sport mode). Worthless in the loaner Pentastar’d ’22 Grand Cherokee L I’ve been driving the last few weeks (just as pictured above: what you can’t see is how tiny they are on the new wheel).
Still wish manual was an option across more models, even if it is slower and a little less fuel efficient anymore. I love the engagement. Guess I’ll have to keep buying motorcycles.
I’ll buy that, my cars don’t have paddle shifters but one does have a Tiptronic style option which I’ve used maybe three times in five years. On the other hand the Sport mode switch is very useful in the mountains for engine braking and less lugging on long climbs.
Well heck, you condensed my thoughts even better and an hour before I got here.
…
…aw, y’got me, I’m often in the right lane on long climbs regardless of which gear I’m in.
Same experience as most everyone else – I use them on my Chevy SS periodically for the novelty. I have owned and driven manual cars quite a bit, but paddle-shifting has some issues that make it difficult to love.
First, without using them all the time (and why would you if you’re not trying to drive fast) you don’t learn the feel and rhythm for shifting that you do with a manual.
Also, with a traditional manual you can feel what gear you’re in and which one you’re choosing. If you want a specific gear, there’s the extra step of figuring out what gear you’re already in and calculating how many clicks you need in which direction – it’s not much, but it takes a little focus away from other driving tasks and makes you a half-second late on your shift.
Most importantly at least in the case of the SS, is that they move with the steering wheel. Unless the wheels are pointed straight ahead, this makes them very hard to use. To make this matter worse, when I’m turning from a stop light I need 2nd gear half-way through but the shifter is 180 degrees from where it started.
There are times I wish I had the manual (was way more expensive used and really hard to find) so I try the paddles and quickly remember why I never use them.
The wheel moving part always bugged me.. but the alternative of a moving wheel and static paddles is no better. It’s almost like if you want to change your own gears they should put some kind of stick in the center console that actuates some kind of mechanism to change the gears.
The benefit of having them move with the wheel is that on a track, you’re not hand-over-hand turning. You’re always at 10 and 2 and not having to take a hand off the wheel to shift is a big upside.