I dont mind the paddles attached to the wheel on my VW.. the hands never leave the wheel, the little fingers can activate the paddles... you do need to remember where the wheel is (and whether to flick the +/-). If you do get confused from that, there is still the conventional DSG shifter...
..... funny how times change. Clarkson gave the 348 a great rap back in the late 80's early 90's in a Top Gear clip (it's on YouTube). He had long curly hair back then. In 20 years time he will probably be bagging the 458. Maybe he's dislexic. He thinks a 458 is 348.
Horse, Are you a (steering) wheel shuffler by any chance? If you are, having fixed paddles would make sense ... but IMO you really shouldn't be driving any car fast through corners and repositioning/shuffling your hands, as you can get lost with where your steering wheel is actually pointing real fast. Did this once in my last club race car in a test day and ended up smacking the armco nice and hard . Only police officers do this because their driver training is wanting ... any good racing driver does not do this. Surely also a modern Ferraris steering lock is such that you don't need to move your hands? Pete
We have a PDK Porsche Boxster S and the F1 360. The Boxster has paddles that move with the steering wheel, and the Ferrari has paddles fixed at 9 and 3. Very often, when turning at a stop sign or traffic light, I want to shift from 1st to 2nd while in the turn. I usually need to move my hands on the steering wheel in order to turn as sharply as needed. In such circumstances, I find it much easier to shift if the paddles are fixed than to hunt for the moving paddles. With the Boxster, I just use the console-mounted shift lever when my hands are not right behind the paddles. On the open road or on the track, you should do most of your shifting (and all of your downshifting) in a straight line, so the paddles are always at 9 and 3 in either case. As for the shift buttons on the Panamera, our Boxster came with the same buttons. I hated them so much that I had the steering wheel assembly replaced by the version with paddle shifters. I was always hitting the buttons with the heel of my hand when turning the steering wheel more than 90 degrees, and upshifting unintentionally. As for shuffle steering or not, I have had driving instructors advocate both ways. Even in these cars, I find it very awkward to turn the steering wheel more than about 135 degrees without moving my hands on the wheel. The great Vic Elford, in Porsche Panorama (April 2010) advocates shuffle-steering when turning the steering wheel more than a half-turn (I guess his shoulders are more flexible than mine!). Shuffle-steerers are in good company, and so are non-shufflers. Do what works for you.
On a race track if you are having to turn your steering wheel ~180 degrees there is something wrong with your car ... change the ratio! Shuffle steering is for road work (carpark, etc.) only IMO. Pete
I always shuffle steer on the track, you get the best control over the steering wheel if you do but I'm sure I would turn the wheel ANY way if I was racing though
