u/FollowingThrough

Not ‘does your car HAVE paddle shift’, but more for anyone that does, do you actually use it? I have three manual cars (two of them are race cars) and one automatic. I like manuals for the visceral raw feeling of control (also an automatic rally car and drift car would be garbage) but I love my automatic daily for the simplicity in traffic.

I saw an ad for some Lexus SUV yesterday on TV and one of the selling points was the paddle shift. Instantly, my first thought was that no-one buying an SUV is probably gonna use the paddle shift outside of the novelty of it when they first purchase the car.

My best mate has an Audi RS5 4.2 V8 with a DSG gearbox, he has paddle shift and whenever I’ve driven it (even quite spirited driving out in the hills) I find the paddle shift to be an unnecessary gimmick. The DSG box holds gears and shifts so nicely, that the paddle shift seems like a hindrance.

Again, lifelong manual owner and driver here, but I feel like paddle shift is a gimmick in an automatic street car.

Your thoughts?

****UPDATE**** well that’s interesting, didnt realise how many people actually use their paddle shift! Shows that I shouldn’t just assume things. Thanks for the insights!

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