During aggressive acceleration and up-shifting, does anyone slightly feather the throttle during the shift, or do you just mash away?
CRS

 

Mash.

 

mash and pray

 

mash

 

Mash.

 

Mash

 

Supercharger allows the mash. Not sure it's the best efficient drivers approach, but fun.

 

Mash. That glorious snort on the up shift makes my heart flutter.

 

I assume by feather you mean "let off"? If so, you're just slowing yourself down because the ECU does all that for you much more quickly than you can.

 

If you'd like to do more than just mash the paddles, I highly recommend a manual transmission.

 

Leave it alone.

 

Step on it, Jeeves! Mash away!

Sorry for the excitement. My F-Type has been sleeping since October. I will be taking her out of storage in another month.

 

Ha! Unanimous response of "Mash Away!" which has been my instinct. I drove nothing but manuals for 27+ years, and frankly, I"m so done with the manual thing. The paddle shifts on my F-Type are superior the the XE-R Sport I was driving. Better gearbox mapping? Anyway...thanks for the feedback fellow mashers.
CRS

 

As a manual driver my whole life, can someone succinctly explain the difference of paddle shifting vs manual, and pros/cons? It seems the paddles are why people crash in all those supercar crash vids? Or just dumb guys with stupid feet.

 

Paddle shifters can be quicker than rowing depending on programming. They don't tend to miss gears and they don't tend to allow downshifts that over rev. IMHO, rowing is still better because it keeps the driver engaged.

Supercar crash vid drivers are douchebags that don't understand how to modulate the go pedal.

 

To state the obvious: paddle-shifting still uses an automatic transmission (in our case). Some cars have double-clutch manual gearboxes, which behave like an automatic, but there's no torque converter. They can switch between gears even faster than our quick-shifting automatic.

 

What protections does our transmission have? Such as not allowing downshifts that would harm the engine. Thanks in advance.

 

I think the crashes occur because the cars have tremendous power and torque and either the car does not have "electronic nannies" or those "nannies" have been disabled by the incompetent driver.

 

So, as a track guy, I try to stay near the limit at all times. I've run both ways - using the paddles and just letting it shift in auto mode. In my personal tests, my track times were identical either way. Auto is always faster than manually shifting too.

To answer your question, one difference of using paddles is how quickly the gear change is completed. With a manual, it takes time to depress the clutch, engage the gear, release the clutch then feather in the throttle. If you pick an incorrect gear with a manual, correcting it will take time, maybe 1 - 2 seconds. With paddles, the correction is almost instantaneous with no measurable loss of time. And, with manual, if you accidentally skip a gear on downshift, you will likely permanently damage the engine.

As others have said, there is no reason to lift off the throttle while shifting with paddles - the computer expertly handles it without any fuss. With manual, a throttle blip is required on downshifts - usually referred to as "heel / toe" to manually increase the revs to match the next gear level. Not with paddles, the computer blips it perfectly every time.

One benefit to manual is that even though it is difficult to do it perfectly when running near the limit, once you get good at it, it is a very rewarding sensation. Like learning a new dance. Feet, arms, and head - all involved. Once you learn the tango, you want to do the tango! Paddles take away some of that sensation.

I primarily run in Auto shift mode but do use the paddles on occasion. Again, it is not faster, but can be fun. At the end of the long fast straight, I play by trying to time my downshifts just perfectly. The sound and the fury of each gear is truly intoxicating. Here is a story that is unique to paddles.

Not Yet...

As the speed builds on the straight I find myself doing 120, 130, 140mph and climbing. The the turn is fast approaching. I place the car at a point on the track I think has the most grip and steady my hands.

"Not yet, not yet, not yet" I think to myself WAIT. Wait to the very last second before coming off the throttle and going to brake. "Now" I say, then quickly get my foot on the brake assertively, and the front end drops to the deck. I then downshift with a flick of the paddle..."BRRRUMMMMMEMEMEM" which buries the nose even further. This is the moment I am not sure the car will slow to make the turn so I drop down to another lower gear "BRUMMMEMEM", and another "BRUMMEM". All while full braking everything I've got.

Between shifts, I hear these wicked sounds; "snaps, crackles, and pops" as if I am pulling back on the reins of a very upset fire breathing dragon letting me know its' disposition. 5th to 4th, then to 3rd, and I will even drop it down to 2nd if the girl is not accepting my commands.

Turn 1 is a 3rd gear turn. And, I downshifted all the way down to to 2nd to help slow the car. No problem. With a quick flip of the paddle, I'm back up to 3rd gear and I start feathering in this 550 hp torque monster and let her run.

With paddles, you can shift as much as you like.

 

WARNING Adult Content