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View Poll Results: Paddle shifters, what say you ??
No, my vehicle(s) do not have paddle shifters 18 32.73%
I don't have paddle shifters but wish I did 1 1.82%
I have them but don't use them 6 10.91%
Yes, on the steering wheel, and at least occasionally used 7 12.73%
Yes, on the steering column, and at least occasionally used 2 3.64%
Irrelevant to my car buying considerations 21 38.18%
Voters: 55. You may not vote on this poll

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  #16  
Old 07-16-2017, 06:56 AM
SMan SMan is offline
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My Hemi Challenger has them. Fun for getting on the freeway but really don't use them much other wise. Haven't used the "Launch Control" yet.
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  #17  
Old 07-16-2017, 09:14 AM
LSemmens LSemmens is offline
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My Hyundai has them, I do use them on occasion, but, they are a gimmick. Changing up or down using the stick is no harder. I do prefer a manual, but have had automatics for the best part of the last 20 years. They do make it much easier when I visit the big smoke. Out in the sticks where I live, a manual would be much more useful.
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  #18  
Old 07-16-2017, 10:10 AM
AX17609 AX17609 is offline
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My BMW has them, and I thought I'd use them all the time, but I don't. I fell into relying on the automatic transmission way too easily.
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  #19  
Old 07-16-2017, 10:43 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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i've never heard of paddle shifters. i'll have to google them to see what they are.

play music!
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  #20  
Old 07-16-2017, 11:06 AM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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I have them on steering wheel and have been in other cars with them. Family members have cars with different versions.

I'm mostly indifferent. Even though I've had some great cars and appreciate engineering and design I am at a stage where I think cars are just an expensive consumable I wish cost less.

Those words will probably get eaten when my days of pushing it with sports toys are over.

So many people with performance cars do things that threaten others vs do it on a race track so that adds to not being a fan. We had the experience of a fool behind the wheel killing a family member so I'm way more interested in following autonomous driving tech than performance.

My wife's car has no paddles and manual shift with flicking the shift lever.
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  #21  
Old 07-16-2017, 06:13 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imwjl View Post
...So many people with performance cars do things that threaten others vs do it on a race track so that adds to not being a fan...
As an occasional NHRA bracket racer, I'm much more comfortable driving at far-in-excess-of-legal-speeds in competition than I am getting to the track on the NJ Turnpike - there are personal/vehicle as well as track safety protocols in place, and I can rest assured that the guy/gal in the next lane isn't going to have a spontaneous case of road rage and do something stupid; that said, over the years I've also cultivated the ability to toe-shift any good automatic transmission at any desired shift point - don't need paddle shifters...
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  #22  
Old 07-16-2017, 07:29 PM
Nailpicker Nailpicker is offline
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I had no idea what a paddle shifter is so I Googled it.
I find automobiles to be little more than a necessary pain, that takes up too much of my time and my money that I could use for better things. My only requirement in a vehicle is that it be dependable, durable and long-lived and as such can get me from point A to point B.
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  #23  
Old 07-16-2017, 08:13 PM
The Growler The Growler is offline
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I tried them but found I could heel-n-toe much better when the controls were on the floor.
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  #24  
Old 07-17-2017, 05:19 AM
Puerto Player Puerto Player is offline
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I've raced cars and karts for most of my life. I could care less about having paddles or floor shifting, it's about being in the right gear going into and coming out of the corners. For street cars, you're just stroking your ego, there isn't a need for paddles or anything else anymore. On the track, the smaller and lighter the car, the more need there is for paddles, but it all becomes second nature pretty quickly.

The only time I've ever seen a need for paddles was racing karts. You shift so many times ever lap and you have to be in the right gear going into, through, and out of the corners or you get swamped.
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  #25  
Old 07-17-2017, 06:15 AM
mdunn mdunn is offline
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My wife's Subaru Forester has a shifter option to allow manual shifting of the automatic transmission. She doesn't use the option and when I do she complains that I am playing with "her" car.

My daily driver is a Ford F350 DRW Crew Cab pickup with the 7.3 diesel engine. It looks something like this. Mine is metallic beige.



The transmission is a 5 speed stick shift plus a super low "crawler" gear.



I personally select gears as appropriate. I like it that way.
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  #26  
Old 07-17-2017, 06:36 AM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imwjl View Post

So many people with performance cars do things that threaten others vs do it on a race track so that adds to not being a fan. We had the experience of a fool behind the wheel killing a family member so I'm way more interested in following autonomous driving tech than performance.
This pretty much describes a number of drivers, performance car or not. From pic up trucks to old Subaru Outbacks and everything in between. Stupid, inconsiderate, and or dangerous, is by no stretch limited to performance car drivers, it is an equal opportunity affliction.
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  #27  
Old 07-17-2017, 07:10 AM
Brick is Red Brick is Red is offline
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This is my first time seeing this on the wheel. I've had it on the column but I can't make good use of it. After having manual shift in a car and riding a motorcycle, I want the control of a clutch. Without it, an automatic will do.
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  #28  
Old 07-17-2017, 08:01 AM
Wasper Wasper is offline
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I chose the last option even though I had (past tense) paddle shifters on my last CVT equipped car (Mitsubishi Lancer GTS). At first I would use them occasionally, but once the novelty of them wore off, I never touched them again. Traded the car in with 186k miles on it and didn't touch the paddles after the first 5k miles.

Also, they were located on the column and I thought it was a poor design. The paddles were not extended enough and if you wanted to shift, up or down, during a sloping turn, you were out of luck as your hands would be past the paddles. The whole idea was supposed to be that you didn't have to remove your hands from the wheel, but that set-up forced you to do so. I think having them attached to the wheel would have been a better set-up.

The car also had the ability to shift up and down with the CVT at the conventional shifter location. Since I have owned many standard transmission equipped cars in the past, it was much more natural for me to shift at that location instead.

When I sold that car, I bought the same model car in AWD instead. This model does not have the paddle shifters the more sportier GTS model had. Don't miss them a bit, not at all......
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  #29  
Old 07-17-2017, 09:03 AM
SMan SMan is offline
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I worry far more about people distracted by their mobile devices than I do about someone using paddle, floor, or manual mode shifting. At least when you're shifting you are driving.
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  #30  
Old 07-17-2017, 11:43 AM
valleyguy valleyguy is offline
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My car has them (steering wheel mounted). Tried using them when I first got the car, but the novelty wore off quickly.

The only time I find the automatic transmission is not in the right gear is driving winding mountain roads, where downshifting is important. Having learned to drive on a manual, I find going for the shifter works better for me, but I could adapt easily. I don't drive mountain roads very often.
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