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01-26-2013, 08:17 AM | #1 |
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Paddle Shifters on M3 vs Other Cars
I have a quick question. The paddle shifters on our cars move with the steering wheel. Meaning, when I turn, the paddles turn with the wheel. But then on some exotics like the Lambos and Ferraris, the paddle shifters remain stationary. Meaning they always remain in the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. I've always noticed this but last weekend, I was able to road course a Gallardo. I caught myself wanting to downshift or upshift during a turn and my hand had to let go of the steering wheel to get to the paddle shifter. It was uncomfortable as I wanted to keep my hands on the wheel. On our cars, since our hands are supposed to be on the 3'o'clock and 9 o'clock positions, when we turn and need to shift, we don't have to let go of the wheel since the shifters always remain by our fingers. My question is, why do Ferrari and Lamborghini have their setup the way they do and we have it the way we do? Is there a reason? Is one supposed to be better than the other?
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01-26-2013, 08:35 AM | #2 | |
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during street and light track you downshift before entering the apex so its not too bad. on BMW with paddles i use a combination of both the paddles during corner entry to slow down (in a straight) but if im in a heavy drift or wheel is rotating ill just tap the shifter up/down vs 'looking' for the paddle. imo paddles are good when your arm is not crossing over during steering other than than i prefer a quick up or down tap on the shifter. f1 cars also have paddles fixed to wheel but their steering radius for the most part doesn't go beyond a half rotation as they rarely take their hand off during steering (yes i know they hit knobs off steering and make brake bias adjustment manually via lever)
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01-26-2013, 08:41 AM | #3 |
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Our shifter is there for when the paddles are not convenient.
Ferrari and Lambo don't have a shifter, and I suspect it is safer to have fixed paddles for those cars without shifters for obvious reasons. |
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01-26-2013, 08:41 AM | #4 |
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Thanks Nova. It was my first time tracking ever. It was a light track. It was at the Speedway outside of Magic Kingdom so just imagine. It was a gift from my wife. It was a exotic car experience. It was a lot of fun. But that was one of the things I noticed. Again, thanks.
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01-26-2013, 08:43 AM | #5 |
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I personally prefer the paddles that move with wheel. On track, you rarely need to turn the wheel beyond a quarter turn, so it is not an issue to keep the hands at the 9-3 position. In the rare occasions I need to shift when my hands are not at 9-3, I just go for the shifter instead of trying to figure out where the paddles are.
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01-26-2013, 08:47 AM | #6 | |
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01-26-2013, 08:52 AM | #7 |
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01-26-2013, 08:58 AM | #8 | |
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I always thought the same thing |
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01-26-2013, 10:12 AM | #9 |
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LoL. That was good!!
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01-27-2013, 05:46 AM | #10 |
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In all regards.. It is not common practice to be shifting while your car is in a turn for the simple fact that you could very easily upset the balance of your car...
Proper racing technique as you approach a turn would be to 1. Scan ahead, look for turn, apex and exit if possible 2. Brake and Shift 3. bleed Off the brakes 4. Turn-in 5. Clip the apex 6. squeeze back onto the throttle....
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01-27-2013, 06:17 AM | #11 | |
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01-27-2013, 06:21 AM | #12 |
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And there lies one of the beauties of DCT in that you can shift mid corner without upsetting the balance of the car.
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01-27-2013, 06:55 AM | #13 | |
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01-28-2013, 04:07 AM | #14 | ||
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Quote:
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01-28-2013, 09:06 AM | #15 |
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I love the paddles on an EVO X MR, It's stationary and covers a larger area than our M3's. But that said, I primarily use the main shifter, with that I love how you pull for upshifts and push for downshifts. Its the right way to go not like VW's, opposite or Mercs, left to right.
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01-28-2013, 02:11 PM | #16 | |
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Ditto! Anyone hitting vegas on a trip should definately hit up Exotic racing. I was down in Vegas for a conference in October and being that my wife knows my fetish with cars, she signed me up for 8 laps with the 458 italia and a 8 laps in Gallardo. Man was it awesome. They really let you kick the crap out of their cars. The instructors are cool and not overly intrusive. OP sorry for the mild thread jak.
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01-28-2013, 03:18 PM | #17 |
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+1 on stationary paddles. Much better and logical. You never have to question where the + - are when you need that split second extra gear or short shift on opposite lock. Hallelujah for the pull back for upshift on DCT vs. Audi push forward (dumb).
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01-28-2013, 03:29 PM | #18 | |
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True on all counts. Generally turns where you'd be upshifting are going to be pretty wide and thus require relatively little steering input, like the oval the OP mentioned, and turns where you'd downshift would be longer, decreasing radius turns like the tight turns at the end of the straightaways on Circuit of the Americas, where you're coming down from 4th or 5th all the way to 2nd.
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