PDK Paddle Shift
Discussion
Have had the paddles coming up to 2 years now. Not sure am blown away by it as I was when I played with it for the first time.
Mind you, 90% of my driving these days are on the motorway so don't really need to use the paddles as its generally left in auto, save for the very few occasions when I make a positive overtake. Then the quick double down shift and hoof does make me giggle a bit. The other 10% is being in town.
Not sure if I would pay the extra next time as, based on the current drives, I would much rather have steering wheel with the audio and phone controls instead as I would use them a lot more!
Guess I just need to get out into the back roads more to enjoy the paddles again. Not done that since April last year
Mind you, 90% of my driving these days are on the motorway so don't really need to use the paddles as its generally left in auto, save for the very few occasions when I make a positive overtake. Then the quick double down shift and hoof does make me giggle a bit. The other 10% is being in town.
Not sure if I would pay the extra next time as, based on the current drives, I would much rather have steering wheel with the audio and phone controls instead as I would use them a lot more!
Guess I just need to get out into the back roads more to enjoy the paddles again. Not done that since April last year
I have paddles on one of my cars and buttons on the other. I much prefer the buttons actually.
Not only are they more tactile, I have the option of shifting with with either hand when need arises.
Those who say they are counter-intuitive haven't driven with them for long enough. Using PDK at all is not intuitive after manual, but its easy to learn. Ditto the buttons.
It has become a bit fashionable to criticise PDK buttons but the majority of buyers are happy with them and I suspect more people would be if they made up their own minds after testing them properly.
Not only are they more tactile, I have the option of shifting with with either hand when need arises.
Those who say they are counter-intuitive haven't driven with them for long enough. Using PDK at all is not intuitive after manual, but its easy to learn. Ditto the buttons.
It has become a bit fashionable to criticise PDK buttons but the majority of buyers are happy with them and I suspect more people would be if they made up their own minds after testing them properly.
Driven a car with buttons, and driven one with paddles (and owned a VW with paddles thanks to its DSG), and I thought the buttons were fine - took me maybe 30mins to adjust, but after that I thought they were fine. Paddles look better I reckon (if they're nice metal ones, not crap plastic as in my VW).
All of that said, I'm back in a manual again now, and I think I prefer that to all of them...
All of that said, I'm back in a manual again now, and I think I prefer that to all of them...
Paddles give you that race car feel because nobody uses buttons in racing. Also if you are lucky drive many cars with sequentials, it can be hard to adjust to buttons. I prefer paddles because it just feels better to me. Also there is possibility hit button as mistake more likely than with paddles.
With purely scientific approach, buttons can be seen as the better alternative.(for reasons already posted here)
With purely scientific approach, buttons can be seen as the better alternative.(for reasons already posted here)
Raitzi said:
Paddles give you that race car feel because nobody uses buttons in racing.
This +1Buttons are a Porsche solution, paddles are a race car solution that you see across a broad range of marques. Someone who owns a F1 Ferrari, a BMW M3 or even a Mini Cooper S could sit in a PDK car with paddles and know instantly what does what. That is by definition more intuitive imo.
Edited by Durzel on Thursday 29th March 10:40
I haven't got a PDK porker, BUT I loved the multi-function wheel on my Gayman S.
I've driven a couple of the tiptronic and PDK porkers with the buttons for changing gear and they took some time to get used to but as mentioned here I'm sure after you've had the car a while you'll learn to use them.
If your PDK Porker is just a toy where you only drive it for the sake of driving it when the paddles might work better than the buttons. (but then why not get the manual??)
BUT if you are actually going to use the car every day, sitting in traffic, cruising on the m-way, getting bored at the traffic lights etc etc, then the lack of any controls for radio, sat-nav etc etc on the wheels would drive me nuts.
So beyond the Clarkson flappy paddle comments/Gran Tourismo generation upbringing I can't see how the decision of manual vs auto gearbox would end up with you picking the auto (PDK) for convenience/ease of use but then want to give up convenience/ease of use of the MFC wheel to just get 'flappy paddles'...
I've driven a couple of the tiptronic and PDK porkers with the buttons for changing gear and they took some time to get used to but as mentioned here I'm sure after you've had the car a while you'll learn to use them.
If your PDK Porker is just a toy where you only drive it for the sake of driving it when the paddles might work better than the buttons. (but then why not get the manual??)
BUT if you are actually going to use the car every day, sitting in traffic, cruising on the m-way, getting bored at the traffic lights etc etc, then the lack of any controls for radio, sat-nav etc etc on the wheels would drive me nuts.
So beyond the Clarkson flappy paddle comments/Gran Tourismo generation upbringing I can't see how the decision of manual vs auto gearbox would end up with you picking the auto (PDK) for convenience/ease of use but then want to give up convenience/ease of use of the MFC wheel to just get 'flappy paddles'...
I'm not actually convinced I'd get an MF paddle wheel even if such a thing existed. The current MF wheels are ugly things, with buttons and scrolly wheels all over the place, whereas the plain paddle wheel is subtle and sleek.
I don't think the PDK buttons are bad, and for the average driver (or the one-arm brigade) they're fine, but for me dropping down a few cogs on the way into a tight left-hander isn't half as fun with buttons as it is on a paddle.
I don't think the PDK buttons are bad, and for the average driver (or the one-arm brigade) they're fine, but for me dropping down a few cogs on the way into a tight left-hander isn't half as fun with buttons as it is on a paddle.
Always wondered how easy it would be to transfer a wheel from a VW to a Porker - I'm guessing impossible, but then I wonder how much commonality there is between parts. A Golf GTi, with DSG, can have MFSW, and paddles, and looks good and is good to hold. Paddles are plastic, but that's the only bit you'd need to change (for nice machined aluminium please).
For Porsches the only wheel I've ever liked are the sports wheels - rest are too big and too thin. How can a 25k Golf get something so crucial so right, when a 50k Boxster doesn't (or didn't, don't know about 991/981 wheels).
For Porsches the only wheel I've ever liked are the sports wheels - rest are too big and too thin. How can a 25k Golf get something so crucial so right, when a 50k Boxster doesn't (or didn't, don't know about 991/981 wheels).
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