Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

I really dont like paddle shifters. (I drove an is-f) I could see usefull-ness of paddle shifters in a straight drag but in daily driving i hate them. You have to shift through every single gear to get into the gear you want. Why does this suck?

Simply put, i am driving on a street. Red light. I slow down, then i need to go again. In a manuel i can simply switch from 5th gear right into 2nd. In a paddle shift car, i have to shift like 4 times to get into the right gear and every downshift feels ackward since they arent gears i want to be him.

If you were driving in places where you only need to go 1 gear down or up at a time, i could see paddle shifters being useful. (like on a track where you want to slow down a bit but not to an almost halt) But in daily driving your better of not even using paddle shifts. which means essentially your driving an automatic.

BTW i hate how the is-f auto shifts for you and doesnt even allow you to get to the redline. Maybe their is a way to turn that off, but i didnt see it.

dsp979

+1

I used the paddle shift on the IS350 during the taste of Lexus event on their autox course and couldn't tell what gear I'm in??

Blackraven

Granted, for pure sports-minded individuals and for majority of the people of the car owners in Southern Europe, the stick shift is beloved and sacred to them.

However, as we progress further into the 21st century, technological advances in newer, more sophisticated gearboxes has made it clear that these new transmissions have reached the peak where they are now at par with the stick shift (and in some cases overpassed it).

You basically hit two birds with one stone, leave in auto mode for grandma and leave it to manual mode for your son during a weekend drive.

Hopefully, by around 2020, I project that the stick shift will start to disappear and based on the current trends & vehicle population, the number of stick shift vehicles on the roads by year 2020, the number would be BELOW 50%

Danimal

Right now, with me being young, I love the feel of driving a 3-pedal manual; and I would like to continue it for as long as possible.

When trying to teach my girlfriend to drive my SC300, she kept asking, "How do you concentrate so much on what gear you're in?". The simple answer is that I don't, it becomes second nature. Like anything else, it will eventually fall by the way-side, but even right now, most of my friends (sans the car enthusiast ones) don't even know how to work one. It makes me feel smarter than them.

Basically put, I don't care if it's slower and less efficient than newer technology, I just like it.

SLegacy99

That number is already below 50%.

Mbenz528i

My daily will always be a auto and if it has shifters, I will never use them. On all my cars, I thry it out once and hate it and never use it again.

For my weekend car/sports car, it will always be a 3 pedal H gate (as stated above).

Sure paddles are like F1 and they can even go faster, etc, etc. However, nothing allows you the true interaction with the car and full on control like a standard. May be a personal preference, but it is one I will take to the grave, hopefully in a sports car on the way there ofcourse!

Threxx

Every manual car I've ever owned would not allow you to put the transmission into first unless you were doing under 6-7mph and even then they usually resisted you putting them into first until you were at a complete stop.

Then again I do remember I had a friend who powershifted from 2nd to 1st instead of third... I guess maybe his 94 Cobra didn't have a lockout of 1st gear like I've always had, or else something was wrong with the lockout.

SLegacy99

I've never driven a MT that didn't let you down**** into first. It does require you to exert some force in my car however, but its worth it for that torquey response. First gear is great.

mmarshall

There's a reason for that. First gear usually means a large difference between engine and drive-shaft rotation speeds. That puts a big job and a lot of wear on the transmission synchronizers, unless you're good at thottle-blipping or heel-and-toe downshifting to co-ordinate the crankshaft and drive-train speeds. Enev with the synchros working fine, if the rotation speeds are off, you will often get a jolt downshifting into first and letting the clutch back out.

Some automatics and computer-controlled manuals now automaticially blip the throttle for you to match engine and transmission/driveshaft speeds on downshifting to eliminate the jolts.

mmarshall

Problem is, with first gear, you run out of RPMs quickly. And see my response to Threxx, above, about downshifting into first at not-low-enough speeds.

Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

The sc300 doesnt let you downshift into 1st unless your at a stop or rolling at 0 on the speedometer.
Their is no such thing as paddle shifting on a weekend drive. If you try to use paddleshifts on the roads, you end up getting frustrated and just put the car in auto mode so you can actually stop n go.

SLegacy99

Oo thats weaks. I did it tonight at 25 MPH (not on purpose). But Marshall is right, you do run out of room. However, one of the annoyances of my dad's A6's Tiptronic was that you couldnt go into first gear if you wanted to. Very annoying. Nor could you decided when to shift from 1st to 2nd. So I don't understand why that is fund or an appropriate substitution for a conventional MT.

Boosty.vip

iTrader: (1)

Paddle shifters are like game console controllers.

CDNROCKIES

Why?

Because they actually allow 95% of drivers to shift like in a video game....something they'd never be able to do with a true stick in their hands?

Ryeno

iTrader: (3)

Actually i just tried FORCING the car into 1st and i can do it at like 5mph. I am not sure what the max speed is before your not allowed to go into 1st, but i believe its in the 10mph- range.