stick shift vs. paddle shifters

**Sharpie** · 01-22-2015, 11:39 AM

I loved my stick shift when I bought my brand new Z24 (yep, I'm older) and loved it. But, with age also came a bad left knee and no more stick shifts.

**builthatch** · 01-22-2015, 12:02 PM

ahaha, i used to be on staff at a forum that would ban people temporarily for bumping a four year old thread without seeking info...but it's not a bad thing. it keeps traffic up for the forum and it's better than starting a new thread on the same subject imo, even if Visitor didn't want to start a new thread on this lol.

i wonder if i responded in the first iteration of this thread? i know i was unsubscribing from threads for a while...oh well, if i'm bored later i'll read through it all.

my take would be somewhat different now anyway. i've had even more experience with not only various generations of F1/PDK/DCT etc. transmissions (real performance automated manuals) but i have all automatics now. gone are the manuals that i had when this thread was active prior.

i find a true automated manual to be superior in every single way other than maybe nostalgia. i relent to the computers and while it's hard, i will admit that the computers can, if they are the right ones, do a much better job of shifting than i can. it's hard to admit, but the tech is so crazy now. the only thing it can't do, maybe, is provide that lost nostalgia but i'm ok with that.

my AMG has a 7 speed slushbox with paddles. i use the paddles often because they are way better than the automatic shifting when driving even somewhat aggressively, even in S mode. and you can downshift, which sounds ridiculously awesome in this car. in fact i'd put that sound up against almost any car out there. that M156 engine has a world class exhaust note! the biggest reason i have this in automatic is because that is the only option available. for the price i paid for this, i could have gotten a newer CPO with the later MCT, but this car had 1200 miles on it and was in a condition that could not be matched by any '12s (which is the first year with their take on an automated manual).

my Audi has an 8 speed tiptronic with paddles. they are never used. the automatic programming is pretty damn good and adaptive in every mode. i would be less happy, for sure, if this were a true manual.

on the Audi, it's totally fine. it's a pretty high performance little SUV, but it's still an SUV. what it has works perfectly. would the S-Tronic be better? maybe, but it's not an option and that's good, because it's really not remotely necessary.

however, on the AMG, i have been bummed since day one that it's not an automated manual. the car deserves it. that much power and a pretty capable chassis. people who say it doesn't have the dynamics of the M3 are partially right - the trans brings it down, but the chassis and everything is really great, it's just undertired from the factory and overpowered PARTIALLY because you don't have precise control over all of that power at the exact time you need such control...because of the slow paddles.

the IS-F is a car i looked at a while back which is very similar in terms of the trans limiting what it could really be. it too has a paddle shifted slushbox.

like i said earlier, AMG came out with a quasi automated manual later in the C 63, by 2012 they were using the MCT transmission, but even that isn't nearly as good as BMWs DCT. it's better that the 7G i have, that's for sure.

imo Porsche's latest generation of PDK is above and beyond what anyone's wildest dreams would be in an automated manual.

automated manuals don't have to be in crazy cars to be exceedingly good and enjoyed. VW's DSG and the trans Mitsu was putting in the latest gen Evo...that trans is realllllly nice too imo. but man that new PDK is just out of this world.

**dcjredline** · 01-22-2015, 01:29 PM

In my Bonneville Im happy with an Auto. In my Formula...that I wish they had put the T56 in instead of only Auto available for the 350 in 1989.

Muscle Car = Stick NO DOUBT
Luxury = Auto
Econo Box = Stick

**DetailKitty** · 01-22-2015, 01:54 PM

Manual.

Nuff said

I transitioned to manuals a few cars ago... haven't looked back. I'll drive a manual until I can't anymore.

**cartman1** · 01-22-2015, 03:06 PM

Nowadays automatics are faster and more efficient than manuals. I don't know why people love them so much.

**builthatch** · 01-22-2015, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by cartman1

Nowadays automatics are faster and more efficient than manuals. I don't know why people love them so much.

me neither. i think a lot of people (not all) just need exposure to real automated manuals to know what it's like. i drove a caged manual Honda for almost 10 years, about as manual as you can get - linkage actuated trans, manual windows, no cruise control, etc. - and swore up and down i'd never have an auto as my fun car and here i am years later on the other side of the fence lol.

**cartman1** · 01-22-2015, 03:23 PM

I hear ya. I swore I would never have an iPhone because I saw little kids playing games with it and I thought it was a child's you, not a professional phone. Here I am replying to you on an iPhone.

Regarding manuals, it's just that progress makes almost everything better.

**Mach1USMC** · 01-22-2015, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by VISITOR

which do you like better and why? discuss...

From a "pure" driving experience nothing stirs the soul like a good manual gear box. Something about rowing through the gears gives a visceral connection to the car and road.

But from a performance stand point, paddle shifters or a SMG cannot be beat by an automatic or manual gear box.

A great example of this is the R35 GT-R, it's heavier and makes less HP than the Viper, Z06, GT500 etc but EASILY beats them. If you watch the stock vs stock comparisons that R&T did for example with every shift by the manual cars they fell further and further back.

**builthatch** · 01-22-2015, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by Mach1USMC

A great example of this is the R35 GT-R, it's heavier and makes less HP than the Viper, Z06, GT500 etc but EASILY beats them. If you watch the stock vs stock comparisons that R&T did for example with every shift by the manual cars they fell further and further back.

huge wildcard with that though is that the GT-R is awd. it can put more power down (like, actually down meaning with traction) at any given time than any of those cars listed...particularly at the start. but yeah, the point is still there.

latest gen Carrera S is ~7/10 of a second and ~3 mph faster in 1/4 mile with PDK vs. manual.

**AlPap** · 01-22-2015, 04:51 PM

I had sticks in all my cars until I broke my left ankle and have a plate and 7 screws in it. I'm in my mid 60's and I have paddle shifters in my car. For me, it's a pleasure not having to keep depressing the clutch in traffic. Didn't know if I would like the paddles but it's not too bad driving my Porsche.