Gee Guy

I have never learned to drive a manual. Never really cared to learn. I have driven a manual but never mastered the art of NOT rolling backwards into the guy behind me when I am on a hill.

My question here is...with the paddle shifters...how do you know when to flip up? flip down (is this when braking to come to a stop)? Some have told me flipping down isn't necessary as the car automatically will change the gears to slow down. So then what's the point of a down paddle?

When I had my G35c and even when I had my Lexus GS430...i never really cared much for the semi-manual shifters. I toyed with them on a few occasions but didn't really understand what I was doing so I would just drive the cars on auto. I heard using the paddles wrong could mess up the transmission. Is this true?

DJMatrix1067

Few questions here.

You do not need to worry about rolling backwards. Your semi-auto never disconnects the engine from the wheels (go google "torque Convertor" for more info)

You do NOT NEED to downshift under normal driving conditions. the purpose of the paddle is for more spirited "sport" driving. It becomes necessary to shift to a lower gear in order to get more torque out of the engine. Example. You are merging on the highway and nail the accelerator. Your engine downshifts two gears to get you power on demand. in manual mode, you would need to flip the down paddle twice to achieve the same result.

you should be shifting around 2800 to 3200 rpm under normal acceleration. cruise in 5th gear. if you need more power, downshift to a suitable gear. As far as i know, you wont damage the trans, so go out and have fun!

SFG37S

Well, I kinda don't understand why you would want a sport model if you really dont care for semi manual shifters. Maybe you are better off just placing the vehicle in drive and there ye go! If you ask me, Its one of the fun features of the car! Maybe read the manual, find a back road to do some learning as to how to use it and go for it! You just might have some fun yourself! Start off kinda slow and What ever you do do not down shift to far to fast at a high rate of speed!!!! Your valve train will love you for it.

Callaway

The paddle shifting on the G is basically the same as those semi-autos you've avoided in the past. You can accomplish the same thing by putting your regular shift **** into semi-auto mode. I use the semi-auto mode occasionally to engine brake in heavy traffic. The only thing to be careful of is hitting the rev limiter. The car will not shift up for you if you forget and you can easily bounce the needle of the limiter.

Blackjack

iTrader: (3)

Lol.. True. I did that once. I was at a light and leaned over to get something out of the passenger floor board. I guess when I leaned back over I engaged the Tiptronic. I didn't realize it. So when I go at the right, I bounced it right off the limiter and felt like an idiot right there at the intersection. It got up and went though.

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

You will need to understand the dynamics of shifting and engine reving- then you will be able to use them effectively- otherwise keep it in D or DS.

The oversimplified explanation is to just make sure you shift before redline and only use the down paddle when you want to engine brake or accelerate quicker. You can hold a gear to give you a quicker response for spirited driving.

Otherwise keep it in DS mode and it will doo all of that for you- engine brake hold gears etc...

D mode will be just plain ol' auto driving. however you can still use the paddles in D mode.

i would suggest practicing in D mode. That way if you get scared just don't touch the paddles for about 3 seconds and then the car will take over for you.

Gee Guy

Thanks. I guess I will find a nice open stretch late night (when there's way less traffic) and practice.

Meltdownblitz

iTrader: (1)

^^ Very good info, listen to these guys.

Just maybe avoid crusin' above 4 rpms, might cost you more gas then you want to pay for.

Also does engine braking hurt the car? That is when your using high rpm to pull the car foward to stop right? "Helps save the brakes".

Wezbian

iTrader: (3)

Engine braking is great, I do it all the way to 1st gear sometimes to lay off the breaks. Although this whole idea of "saving the breaks" translate to causing the tranny to work overtime and Matic J fluid is not cheap. Does anyone know more about this trade off? brakes vs. transmission?

These paddles are like training wheels for a manual car, you cant stall and if in D mode, the car will revert back to drive after you touch the paddles. Also it will not let you shift up or down unless the computer knows the car can handle the revs.

On another note, does anyone have an issue with downshifting to 1st gear while applying acceleration? I.e. coming to a light shift to 1st, but immediatly the light turns green again and you give it gas but there is no power for about 3 seconds? This is the only issue I have found with downshifting into 1st (which isnt all that necessary to begin with)

SkyzDaL1m1T

^^^ yeah its the rev match that the car is doing trying to catch the right rpm.....ive gotten to understand my paddles and tiptronic pretty good by now where almost everyone that sees me driving thinks im driving stick...lol..i put it in nuetral often when im at a light or dead stoped...i learned then i got used to driving my MT Audi and now i can say ive mastered the art of paddles on the G!!

g37at44

Brakes are for stopping. Trans is for going. I's rather replace pads then a transmission. Doing it once in a while is fine. Using it to slow down all the time will put a toll on the transmission over time.

nonsensez9

umm.... why would you want to engine brake? Brakes are much more efficient at slowing the vehicle, and they are cheap and simple to replace. Not to mention they're friggin huge on a G37... they will take any abuse you can throw at them. Besides, doesn't the G blip the throttle on downshift? And one question while I'm here, does the G let you downshift into a redline situation? Some cars won't let you downshift if it would put you over the rev limiter.

Wezbian

iTrader: (3)

Like i said earlier, the computer will not let you downshift unless it knows it can handle the reves (i.e. not redline). Downshifting is fun for the rev-match feature and allows you to be in a lower gear for a quick take off through the light if it changes to green. But ultimatly i downshift for the rev-match...

G37Sam

Get any Need for Speed game and play in manual transmission.. you'll learn all you'll need without screwing any trannies or running over pedestrians haha

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

Just come off the gas all the way then reengage and that will abort the rev matching the car is attempting to do and the car will start accelerating a bit sooner than it would if you just stayed on the gas.

The better option is to press the gas first then downshift- with that the car will respond immediately to that and wont attempt to rev match.