Really just on the track where using them provides a definite advantage, otherwise it feels kind of silly cruising around at normal speeds manually shifting an automatic.

 

The average Jag "driver dude" such as myself, will get better 0 to 60 times letting the transmission do its thing in D. Using the the paddles get the best times requires a level of skill and concentration unsuitable for normal driving situations.
Of course, as noted buy previous posts, there are those who drive in race track mentality all the time. You just got to decide who you are. AND never buy a car from a race track mentality dude. IMHO the exclusive use of paddle shifting constitutes abuse of the machine. LOL

 

If you were to ask Jaguar if utilizing the paddle shifters would cause excessive wear and tear on the transmission, I'm sure they would reply with a, NO. These cars are built with paddle shifters to use, not for decoration. Every time you open your car's door you're subjecting it to wear and tear. So, to take your reasoning to another level, why don't you store your car in a heated, humidity controlled garage with no natural sun light to preserve it for as long as possible. These cars are built with paddle shifters to use and the transmission is fully designed to accommodate utilizing them. Can you imagine some dude driving around in a Ferrari 458 or McLaren P1 in "D" all the time because he was afraid to damage his car by utilizing it. I'm not saying abuse your car, but one should be able to utilize it for it's intended purpose or why buy it in the first place.


If one drives their car hard shifting with hard throttle at high rpms then yes the car will be subjected to excessive wear. However, utilizing the paddle shifters at normal rpm's should not subject the drive train to excessive wear. It's not using them that causes the wear, it's how you use them that causes the wear--just like any thing. I'd rather buy a used XKR from someone who used the paddle shifters all the time normally than from someone who never used the pedal shifters but always drove the car with close to full throttle with hard braking and cornering.

 

The issue is not that occasional and judicious use of paddle shifting is detrimental.

The issue is that routine and heavy use of paddle shifting leads to premature wear and early failure of very expensive components. I doubt that any technical authority, excluding sales staff, at Jag or ZF condones the practice.

A side issue, and one of some amusement, is the outright rejection of the obvious by those addicted to the practice. By the way DGL, we are mostly in agreement if you consider closely the first sentence of this post.

 

I did a search and found a BMW forum thread about whether paddle shifting increased tranny wear. Some comments predict:

No difference as the shift is initiated by the same electronic signal regardless of how it was initiated,

No difference as wear is related to acceleration, not how it shifted,

Less wear with paddles if the shift is done quicker (Sport Mode for MY10+?) as there is less slippage in the torque converter,

And many ridiculing concern over even worrying about it any more than wear on other systems and the risk of driving it at all.

One or two thought it would increase wear.

Paddle Shifting Causes Premature Transmission Wear?

I don't know enough about the ZF tranny myself to say one way or the other, nor read comments from someone who would know the inside scoop, but if you have faith in ZF's ability to build it to withstand years of shifting automatically it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch that they might know how to build it to withstand years of paddle shifting. The same ZF-6HP tranny goes into a very wide range of high powered performance cars, many of which are daily drivers like Mercedes/AMG models that would often see several times the mileage that our coveted XKs would, so it's reasonable to think the tranny is built to take whatever you throw at it.

But I'm sure if anyone is able to find evidence to the contrary we would all be most appreciative to hear about it.

Bruce

 

Routine and heavy use of any trans, manual, auto, or manumatic, causes more wear.

A "smart" manumatic (one that rev-matches on downshift) should last longer than one that doesn't. With that said, I have a 2009 Challenger SRT8 with a Vortech blower on it, about 540 RWHP. The manumatic in these cars is not good (slow response), and it's worse when shift firmness is increased... but I manually shift this car ALL THE TIME because it's more fun and I like holding gears. After 30k miles, the thing works great; leave it in "D" and cruise around all day smoothly. Hammer-solid shifts at the drags.

I think you'd have to work the paddles and throttle REALLY hard, constantly, to noticeably reduce the lifetime of the ZF in the XKR's.


Rich

 

All you big o mean boys beating up on me. I feel like a voice in the wilderness. LOL

Nevertheless, I don't know who would want your car if you really do drive it like you say you do. When it comes time to sell, my advice is not to inform your potential buyers of your driving habits/theories. I suspect you won't.

 

I'll have you know I'm a conservative driver and very seldom exceed the posted speed limit on public roads, which is 60 mph or less in Canada (and never exceed any on the race track) Furthermore, our XKR has been driven by a little old lady...but please don't tell my wife I said that!

Bruce

 

As I mentioned in another post...

Babying and not driving your car is like not sleeping with your girlfriend in hops that she be more desirable to her next boyfriend.

Enjoy these wonderful machines.

 

R Rated -
I don't want to get my nose too far in your bidness but your ex GFs might be well advised not to advertise their past association with you. I'm just saying-------.
Well Dang. You brought it up!!

 

I like R Rated's analogy, but the response is a cracker.

I suppose that even as an occasional (social?) paddle user, I'd be concerned about engine wear if I thought that the previous owner had held it in gear constantly to get it close to redline. But I dont think that anyone is talking about doing that.

 

Unless one drives like a maniac and down shift at high RPMs all the time, I cant see why using the paddles should cause more wear and tear...

Anyway, I like using them for the following reasons...

More engaged drive

Rev matching sounds great

And in S and manual mode the car does not drop down to 1st gear, thus making city driving much much more comfortable...

 

I know in my r to hold it in redline would be crazy on a public road. A car driven like that would likely show much more wear and tear.

 

You could have a go at your girlfriend analogy for that situation, but I think it would be X-rated.

 

I have noticed leave it in Sport mode is the best when you are looking to hammer it.

 

I'd like to use my paddle shifters on your girlfriend.

 

The paddle shifters are only like 2 inches long... is that all ya got?

 

I said "my" paddle shifters, not yours.

 

everyone, thanks for providing so much input to my question. This greatly improved my consideration of the 2nd gen XK/XKR to replace my first gen XKR coupe. Tarheal provided some nice counterpoint (his interior color is Aston delicious, and its for sale!) and Storm's practices/views were especially notable to me when I noticed his extensive experience in Porsche sports cars during the past 10 years. No other forum has this level of detail, good behavior and camraderie.

 

And by good behavior - do you mean my counsel?