Paddle Shifts
- Thread starter Moliveira
- Start date
G-RELL
FULLY DIPPED LS
yeah someone!!!!
Had a Fusion rental with the paddle shifters. Used them once or twice then was over them. Way too much of a hassle for me...... Maybe it's an acquired taste....
Paddle shifters are more for tracking/racing a car. It's so you don't have to take your hands on/off the steering wheel when you are doing rapid transitions and trying to have a precise control in a turn. When you are turning really hard and barely avoiding a slide sometimes the little bit of input the steering wheel gets from when you put your hand on or off the wheel will be enough to cause you to lose control. The paddle shifters eliminate this problem by allowing you to just flick one paddle with your finger to upshift and flick the other to downshift. This way both hands are always on the wheel and you can maintain precise steering input. Hence why they are in Formula and Indy cars.
QuikLS, who did the paddle shifters on his LS, did it because he was tracking his car.
For most street cars it's just about bragging rights.
QuikLS, who did the paddle shifters on his LS, did it because he was tracking his car.
For most street cars it's just about bragging rights.
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
part of what I don't like about the SST, is that most of the time when I want to shift are times when I am starting to turn the wheel and would rather have both hands on the wheel, it least with a real manual, you can down shift, get you hands back on the wheel then get off of the clutch. I wouldn't mind having gear selector switches on the wheel if its gonna have SST.
JMT03LSV8
Well-Known LVC Member
Same here, not impressed at all. Shifted better by itself.
The fastest 0-60 time is in automatic......
I used the SST driving down Pikes Peak to hold gears; paddle shifters wouldn't have helped. I like to do my shifting before or after a curve, not in the middle of one.
I'm not seeing a huge difference between reaching over and pushing the shifter up/down or reaching over and shifting into a different gear. If anything I would see shifting the manual making control through a turn harder since you have to use one foot for brake/gas at the same time. The LS turns better when you are slightly pushing through a turn. If you aren't the ass gets loose and wants to spin. Letting off when going through a hard turn would be bad. I guess I just downshift a second or two before the turn. On my LS it takes the transmission that long to downshift anyways.
Automatic does shift better then SST in a drag race though
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
its more the timing, not the actual act, with a clutch, I can down shift ahead of time, and then get my hands back on the wheel...then clutch out as needed
you dont use the same foot for braking and gas now with your automatic???
of course it does, it never shifts too early and it never shifts late tagging the limiter! lolAutomatic does shift better then SST in a drag race though
I just honestly dont think auto trans need a way to manually select gears... its not like its a twin clutch GTR or anything. if your going to shift your own gears your better off getting a car that you actually have to shift gears.
but if your going to be forced to by an automatic, and that auto has to have a form of select shift, I would prefer it to be on the wheel vs by the shifter...
FDR
Dedicated LVC Member
But you don't want the car shifting unpredictably in a hard turn as you change the throttle input. Still, I really only use SST for engine braking, at least with the stock exhaust that is.
Anyone know if engine braking puts too much stress on the transmission? It has a hard 3-2 shift so I only go down to 3rd under 60mph and the rpms stay under 3000. I really just wish I could have a manual.
Not when i'm getting on it. I use both feet so I can instantly brake without having to wait for my foot to move from pedal to pedal.
You always want to be under power as you approach a turn until you HAVE to let off, usually right as you start to turn the wheel. Down shifting before getting to that point would lower your time. You'd also be slamming on the brakes hard right before you started to turn. The idea being you want to drop the speed you need to before you turn the wheel so you aren't dealing with the weight of the car shifting around from the braking.
So you'd want to shift while braking on the entrance of the turn, or you'd want to shift while in the turn. I usually like to shift just before the exit as i'm starting to straighten out. The higher gear usually has more then enough power to maintain speed through the turn and a lower RPM on the engine is smoother and doesn't jerk the car around as much causing it to become unstable.
Mine actually shifts different. The shift is smoother and there's no power drop-out from 2-3 in automatic mode like there is in SST. It's weird. Automatic sucks for anything twisty though. It always tries to get into 5th gear at 40mph. Definitely need SST for that.
Just ordered the bmw m3 e46 switches and titanium paddles same as quick had. Except I couldn't fine the long paddles only the eom smaller ones. Paid 80 for the switches used and 35 for the paddles used on eBay. 2 different sellers. So FYI they are still out there. I only started looking Friday so after 3 days I have them on there way.
This was something I always wanted to do when I had my LS. Anytime I get in a vehicle with paddles I always use them, normal driving or not. Its just funner for me. I drove a Lancer GTS for a couple of days that had them, never let the auto shift itself. Was actually very surprised how quick the shifts were too. Had a blast them couple of days. I am looking to get a vette in about a year and I drove a C6 GS, I enjoyed the paddles in that but when I bite the bullet I am getting a manual trans. Some cars just have to be manual.