Paddle Shifting
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 25,455
Likes: 3
From: Damn Connecticut Yankee
Originally Posted by rayainsw
And if / when I actually wanted to record absolute, ultimate 0 – 60 or quarter mile times, I would leave my automatic in “full auto.” mode.
2 – I can force an upshift at less than max. rpm when accelerating at (or close to) WOT.
The A6 is smooth as butter, so you might as well pass on this:
1 – You can pick and hold second gear.
3 – On the highway, at typical freeway speeds of 65 – 80, I will be able to ‘lock’ the trans in fourth gear, or fifth or sixth – depending on conditions & my mood.
3 – On the highway, at typical freeway speeds of 65 – 80, I will be able to ‘lock’ the trans in fourth gear, or fifth or sixth – depending on conditions & my mood.
and just do this!:
one can leave the trans. in either D or in S and forget about it completely while slogging home in heavy traffic
Racer
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 328
Likes: 0
From: Duluth ( near Atlanta ) Georgia
“The A6 is smooth as butter, so you might as well pass on this:
Quote:
1 – You can pick and hold second gear. “
I understand – what holding second gear does under these circumstances is provide ( I expect ) some measure of immediate engine braking as soon as the throttle is closed, or reduced, and before you can ( or need to ) touch the brake.
In the “cut & thrust” of heavy traffic, that immediate braking – as opposed to the typical ‘free wheeling’ of an automatic in a higher gear, can be handy.
We’ll see . .
- Ray
Preferring the thrusting part, generally . .
Quote:
1 – You can pick and hold second gear. “
I understand – what holding second gear does under these circumstances is provide ( I expect ) some measure of immediate engine braking as soon as the throttle is closed, or reduced, and before you can ( or need to ) touch the brake.
In the “cut & thrust” of heavy traffic, that immediate braking – as opposed to the typical ‘free wheeling’ of an automatic in a higher gear, can be handy.
We’ll see . .
- Ray
Preferring the thrusting part, generally . .
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,130
Likes: 54
From: Granbury, Pecan Plantation TX
Originally Posted by robotpedlr
Slightly off topic...but not too far. If you shift with the paddles and come to a stop, we all know it only shifts down to 2nd (on its own). Does the A6 shift down to first if you are in S without the paddles engaged or is it also only to 2nd?
Pro
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 711
Likes: 3
From: San Diego, CA California
Originally Posted by knkali
I have the paddles and agree with Torchredfc. I have driven an exotic with paddles. The dif is night and day.
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
From: Tacoma WA
Originally Posted by Julie06
Just took a road trip this weekend, had to, the weather was great! Thought I would try the paddle shifting feature but was chicken!
Any suggestions on where and how to practice? Guess I could pick up the manual but figured there would be some great stories shared by all you experts out there!
julie06
Any suggestions on where and how to practice? Guess I could pick up the manual but figured there would be some great stories shared by all you experts out there!
julie06
I'm up in Tacoma. Nice avatar of....... is that Capital lake?
I see you posted awhile ago so you may already have tried the paddle shift. It's simpler than learning a manual, just different. If you accelerate hard, you need to shift earlier than with a manual. But the rev-limiter keeps anything bad from happening. You can be lazy when slowing back down as the tranny will go down 6-5-4-3-2nd when you come to a stop. If you try to up-shift too soon, you'll hear a chime and see a x in the gear you are too slow for yet. The fun, and childish, thing to do is stay in a lower gear than necessary. Second gear for around town driving is real snappy. Oh, that's some power we got there!