11-07-2012, 04:55pm
I'm going to entertain the idea momentarily that there may be some better and more experienced drivers on here than me (of course, as a man I am not quite ready to concede that, but purely entertain it for a moment)...
I am trying to understand the point of Paddleshift..
I drive everywhere in Sport mode as the gearbox is a lot more responsive and as such provides smoother power delivery, more rapid progress is made, and there appears to be zero difference in terms of economy when tested over 6,000 miles against standard Drive mode.
If I decide to drive very aggressively, the car appears to notice that very quickly and will take me a certain point in the rev range before change of gear (I think it's about 4,500 RPM)...if I am driving more steadily, it changes gear before 4,500 RPM albeit later than in Standard Drive mode.
In an attempt to drive even more aggressively and take it to the top of the Rev Range, I switched to PaddleShift...but...the car (being far wiser and more sensible than me, and with self preservation in mind) changed up automatically when I hit 4,500 RPM (or whatever the 'change point' is for the Sport mode)...which meant PaddleShift became exactly the same as Sport mode.
Ahh...I hear you say...what if you are mid range in Sport mode and want to suddenly accelerate by knocking down a gear to overtake someone...well, a stamp of the foot in Sport mode does exactly that for you...no need for Paddleshift.
But what about engine braking facilitated by PaddleShift to speed up deceleration (if such a phrase is acceptable)...well, truth be told that it doesn't really work (the 911 does it very well, but I've not known any other Paddleshift to effectively support engine braking).
So am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? Am I a worse driver than I think? (of course I am a worse driver than I think I am, that goes without saying, but am I even worse than that!)
And of course...if the Sport mode driving experience is so much better than Drive mode (which it is)...and it senses how your right foot is behaving and therefore how you wish the car to behave (which it does)...and the fuel economy is about the same (which it appears to be)...does that make 'Drive' mode redundant as well?
I am trying to understand the point of Paddleshift..
I drive everywhere in Sport mode as the gearbox is a lot more responsive and as such provides smoother power delivery, more rapid progress is made, and there appears to be zero difference in terms of economy when tested over 6,000 miles against standard Drive mode.
If I decide to drive very aggressively, the car appears to notice that very quickly and will take me a certain point in the rev range before change of gear (I think it's about 4,500 RPM)...if I am driving more steadily, it changes gear before 4,500 RPM albeit later than in Standard Drive mode.
In an attempt to drive even more aggressively and take it to the top of the Rev Range, I switched to PaddleShift...but...the car (being far wiser and more sensible than me, and with self preservation in mind) changed up automatically when I hit 4,500 RPM (or whatever the 'change point' is for the Sport mode)...which meant PaddleShift became exactly the same as Sport mode.
Ahh...I hear you say...what if you are mid range in Sport mode and want to suddenly accelerate by knocking down a gear to overtake someone...well, a stamp of the foot in Sport mode does exactly that for you...no need for Paddleshift.
But what about engine braking facilitated by PaddleShift to speed up deceleration (if such a phrase is acceptable)...well, truth be told that it doesn't really work (the 911 does it very well, but I've not known any other Paddleshift to effectively support engine braking).
So am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? Am I a worse driver than I think? (of course I am a worse driver than I think I am, that goes without saying, but am I even worse than that!)
And of course...if the Sport mode driving experience is so much better than Drive mode (which it is)...and it senses how your right foot is behaving and therefore how you wish the car to behave (which it does)...and the fuel economy is about the same (which it appears to be)...does that make 'Drive' mode redundant as well?