What are the pros and cons of paddle shifters? I’ve read that paddle shifting improves MPG and reduces wear on brakes and transmission.
Should I only use the paddle shifters after the engine and transmission have warmed up?
My vehicle is a ‘21 Camry SE.
Great if your driving a Grand Prix car. Other than that, dumb idea IMO.
What are the pros and cons of paddle shifters?
Pros: more control in the hands of a good driver
Cons: more control in the hands of a bad driver
I have paddle shifters on my Toyota, I love them - allows me to control my transmission without using the lever.
I’ve read that paddle shifting improves MPG and reduces wear on brakes and transmission.
Nope, it's just a quick way to temporarily suggest to it what gear you'd want to the transmission computer.
Being a '21 Camry, the TCM is sophisticated and knows best, on a DirectShift auto? they're useless.
Should I only use the paddle shifters after the engine and transmission have warmed up?
Again, you're just suggesting the TCM as to what gear to pick...
It's probably the cheapest way to provide a manual mode for modern multi-speed automatic transmissions. (Once you get beyond 4 or 5 speeds having them all in the shift quadrant of a conventional floor or column shifter would be problematical.)
I’ve read that paddle shifting improves MPG and reduces wear on brakes and transmission.
It does none of the above. Humans can't time a transmission shift anywhere near as accurately as a computer, upshift or downshift. Transmission computers are programmed to calculate every single variable in real time and get the right shift timing. They do it hundreds of times per second. Humans only approximate when to shift.
Using an automatic transmission to slow a car down instead of the brakes just wears the transmission out faster, swapping $200 brake jobs into a $5,000 transmission job is silly. The only way to save wear on both is to coast to stops with the car in neutral, which isn't safe (you would need miles to roll out stops, if you could ever fully stop). They're just put in to make the car feel exotic and to make sales.
Should I only use the paddle shifters after the engine and transmission have warmed up?
Probably the best idea. Don't drive any vehicle hard until it's fully warmed up. Delaying shifts will cause higher engine speeds, which will eventually wear the engine out if it's not fully warmed up and is at operating temperature. Tolerances are set at operating temperature, not cold.
Which is precisely why I won't ever own an automatic transmission vehicle. Manual transmissions forever!
I much preferred manual transmissions until arthritis and bad knees got bad enough to make them difficult for me to deal with, especially in traffic. 🙁
Automatics do take the fun out of driving. I don't think I'd enjoy a full size car with a stick, but I wish my Mustang was a stick. That comment about changing gears was more oriented at the automatic being changed like a standard. My step dad got over a quarter million miles on the original clutch. No real maintenance besides changing gear oil... automatics fuel the planned obsolescence.
I don't why paddle shifters are being put in normal everyday cars now. I understand why they put them in sports cars. Don't use the paddle shifters at all-leave them alone.
