Shift paddle alternative?

I have had pretty good luck with a lever stuck between the seats.

 

You really should have completed your gearchange before you start turning the wheel!

 

Brilliant. When did they introduce this?

 

I drove an Audi TT with their 'S-tronic' (DSG) gearbox. There are very thin, flat levels on the back of the steering wheel. It took some getting used to, but they were easy to reach no matter how the wheel is turned.

Still, as 410SA said, you probably want to pick your gear before the turn, unless you're trying to break the wheels loose for the camera.

 

You can buy replacement paddles that have longer points to overcome this issue I believe at least one of our carbon fiber sponsors has them

 

The SMG in the BMW and Audis DSG both are very disorientating, at least that has been my experience. The E gears and F1's are always in the same place so your up and down shift paddles are never reversed.

 

Do new Ferrari's even have the option of a stick manual with a foot clutch anymore?

 

+1

 

of course...depends on model..some bit more complicated than others...

 

The longer Challenge style paddles aren't practical for the road cars. The long bottom extension blocks the right and left stalks.

 

I just ask because I have never ever seen a picture of a F430 of 599 with a stick manual - and I have seen a tonne of F430 and 599 pictures.

 

the 599 situation is very iffy...they will be RARE...

as for 430, here's a beautiful one... Britblaster's car...
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Fantastic, what a beautiful machine. Great to see a stick manual. Because stick manual is rarer in the F430 are they more expensive now?

What is the future for stick manuals and Ferrari?

 

couple more examples, from old stash of pics from F-chat..as for the value...not sure if there will be a premium...hard to say, the future will say...
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Mmmm good stuff!

 

Old School
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cool!

 

I have an M5 - the paddles are mounted on the steering wheel rather than the steering column. Without commenting on the "shift before entering the turn" which might not be critical in casual street driving, it can be disorienting not knowing right away which paddle is where. On my 360, even if I have to take a hand off the wheel, at least I know I'll be shifting in the right direction.

 

FWIW, I noticed that many rally cars use a ring mounted on the column behind the wheel, where pushing or pulling the ring shifts up or down, so the shift can be performed by either hand from any position around the wheel.

But then, rally cars do things that you wouldn't generally do on pavement.

And it complicates the turn signal, headlamp, or wiper stalks. (But those controls could well be moved to the wheel itself.)
Wipers are significant in WRC cars, but I'm not sure where they put the controls for those on modern rally cars with sequential boxes.

 

My aunt has a Mini cooper S in Automatic (I know, Auto, but she has special circumstances). The paddles are absolutely terrible. You have to either have giant fingers to reach them and they are righ behind the lights/wipers stalks, so any spirited driving will have you hitting those...

 

Yeah, but who uses signals, anymore?

I wouldn't mind seeing the wiper controls on the wheel itself, including a one-shot button for a single wipe. (Handy after following someone through standing water.)

And with the clutch pedal removed, we could go back to the floor switch for high beams that american iron used to have back in the 50s and 60s.