I went to an auto show in Minneapolis a couple weeks ago and many of the cars there were automatic transmissions with paddle shifters. While I can drive a manual transmission with a clutch, I’m not sure what I’d do if I had to drive one of those paddle cars. How does that work? I noticed the paddles were on both sides of the steering wheel; is one up and one down?
What is the advantage of something like this over the traditional automatic transmission?
We ended up renting one sort of by accident, and IIRC correctly the paddles were forward/up back/down on both sides, so you could use either hand to flip the gears in either direction. My GF had no trouble with it whatsoever (figuring out how to get the autoclutch thing to engage was a different story). The advantage is pretty obvious - you can manually flip the gear up or down without needing to take your hand off the wheel, which is both faster and more convenient.
I thought they were a type of automatic transmission, and with those you never need to remove your hands from the wheel (unless shifting in of/out of park or such), but it seems like they are a manual transmission? The cars that had the paddles looked like they had a normal automatic gear shift lever, so the paddle addition seems extra.
Where is the clutch?
They are a hybrid of the two. They have no clutch, but they allow you to select the gear you want to drive in. Usually they have a fully automatic setting, but the intention is to give the driver control over the performance curve while taking away all the headaches that a manual clutch creates.
The shifting paddles are not indicative of the type of transmission. Steering wheel mounted paddle shifters can be used on several different types of transmissions including :[ul]
[li]conventional clutchless “automatic” planetary gear transmissions with a hydrodynamic torque converter (Porsche/Audi Tiptronic, Chrysler AutoStick, et cetera),[/li][li]computer controlled “clutchless” manual transmissions in which the clutch is actuated by pressure to the shifter connecting to a conventional spiderbox (found in a few exoticars like the Ferarri F355 F1),[/li][li]semi-automatic sequentail manual gearboxs like the transmission found on most motorcycles, but with an automatic clutch (used in the BMW E46 M3 SMG, Aston Martin Vanquish), [/li][li]dual clutch semi-automatic (Audi TT DualTronic, Bugatti Veyron), and[/li][li]continually variable transmissions (MINI Cooper, Mitsu Lancer).[/ul][/li]
How the transmission operates and the resultant performance benefit to the vehicle depends on the actual design of the transmission, not that it uses shift paddle controls. Although paddle shifters are beneficial in that they allow the driver to retain his hands on the steering wheel, one downside is the inability to directly shift between non-adjacent gears as can be done with a conventional H-gate type manual transmission. However, this is rarely an issue for anyone but off-road rally drivers and rockhoppers, and the fast shift intervals permitted by the more advanced transmissions are far less than even an experienced driver could shift a conventional stick controller, and the sequential nature of shifting helps to prevent accidentally overdriving the engine.
Stranger
My fully automatic Fit has those things. I’ve yet to play with them for fear of messing up the transmission (the Fit is brand new, and I had to buy a new car because the transmission on my old car died so I’m a little gun shy). I don’t particularly understand the appeal, but whatever floats the collective boat.
I have (console mounted) bump shifting on my automatic Mazda3. I turn it on when I feel like having a zippy, fun drive, and leave it off when I’m just going somewhere.
Had them on my Merc - same as above. Used them when I wanted a zippy drive or when I wanted to pass someone on a two-lane road; otherwise just used the normal automatic.
As for the clutch question - it’s just like shifting into 2 instead of D on the shifter; it doesn’t stop you from going down in gears, just stops you from going up. The car won’t stall or anything.
You can’t really screw up a semi-auto gearbox that way. It will upshift and downshift for you when you get near the rev limiter (or close to stalling).
It can be really useful, especially in a car like the Fit in which a little engine is doing lots of work. Use it to kick down a gear when you need to overtake someone.
Another term I’ve seen used for these is “manumatic”
Having driven a fast car on a road course I would think a paddle shifter would be great. Not having to take one hand off the wheel to shift would be a big benefit when going into and leaving corners.
Saab was selling a “clutchless manual” for a while (mid-90s) which was exactly that - a normal manual gear selector, but with a sensor that engaged the clutch while you moved the lever.
All the fun stick-waggling, none of the annoying foot-pumping.
Also included in this list is the Smart. Paddles are an option on the high-end models, or you can get a kit to convert the horn buttons into shifters.
I think it’s the ‘wave of the future’. While I find driving a stick VERY satisfying, all of the real competition (drag racing, Rally Cross, F1) all use some kind of bump-shifting where the clutch and gearing is computer controlled, or other engine events are timed where using the clutch is avoided, and gear selection is automatic.
That vast majority of cars have automatic transmissions. If paddle shifting can give the bulk of the drivers that little added control they lost with a stickshift, then I think you’ll find only the far outlying people want a clutch and fully manual transmission. Pulling numbers out of the air, if 80% of your buyers will settle for an automatic, and 98% of your buyers will settle for an automatic with paddleshifters, it makes a certain economic sense to ignore that remaining 3%.
The vast majority of cars in the US are automatic; that is certainly not the case here in the UK or in Europe or in most of the rest of the world. My English girlfriend didn’t even know how to drive an automatic until I taught her - she’d never even sat in one until she was 32.
Which strikes me as anecdotal evidence at best. I’m trying to find more useful statistics but my Google-fu is weak this morning. IIRC, the ratio I’d heard was about 85% automatics, but I don’t recall the source or scope of that number.
Anecdotal or not, when you rent a car in the UK you’re asked (especially if you’re an American) if you can drive a manual - nearly all the cars rented here are manual transmissions.
I’m struggling to find the stats, but it is not my opinion or anecdotal evidence - nearly every car sold in the UK, until you get way into the high-end motors like Range Rovers and Mercedes, are manual.
That’s a bit extreme. My mother lived in Britain for twenty years and never owned either a manual or a high-end car. Can’t drive a manual, in fact.
Her vehicles went like this: Peugeot 205 (I think), heavily used Mercedes 200E, Triumph Acclaim (rebadged Honda Accord), VW Golf GL, Honda Concerto (5-door Civic, basically).
All of them were sub-5,000 pounds except the Concerto, which was nearly new and cost a whopping 7,500.
Struggling with the definition of anecdotal?
From Wikipedia:
Most cars sold in the United States since the 1950s have been equipped with an automatic transmission. This has, however, not been the case in Europe. In most Asian markets, automatic transmissions have become very popular since the 1990s.
So, until actual numbers are assigned to the statistics, it’s just ‘your experience vs. mine’
That’s a pretty snarky answer.
ETA - go to any car hire company with a UK office. First question asked is automatic or manual. This is not anecdotal, this is fact.
Did you miss the crux of my argument - I am talking about the UK and Europe, not the US. I would think your cite actually backs my argument.