How often do you use the Paddle Shift on FD2

[sirdistik]

Hey all,

Just wondering how often do FD2 owners use their paddle shifts? and do you find it beneficial in anyway? fuel economy via gear control? better performance?
As impressive as it looks, i admit that i never use it, only if i'm bored i'll use it on short drives home..other than that i find it more than just a gimmick.

[jeffreymui]

i have a jazz VTIS 08 version...i onyl use it when im doing high speed cornering and uphill for a gear change....better den stepping on the gas during uphil

[ktvin09]

A dumb queston, does the peddal shift mean that it's a manual inside or is it still an auto with torque converter? What's the difference between the peddal shift and the 3/2/1 gear in an auto? Cheers...

[iLlusion10]

Its an auto with a torque converter, the only ones that have a manual inside are the double clutch sequential manuals which honda doesn't offer, they have difference names according to different manufacturers. Bmw - SMG, VW - DSG etc.

[tmy]

Very rarely use mine. Really isn't much point. I do like to use it on the freeway when theres a good looking incline. Makes for a bit of fun.

[black8thgen]

yea.. there is no point using it on normal urban roads for me.. but just when theres a hill i have to climb ill use it lol, or even going down a steep hill..

[liquid23]

doesn't the paddle shift give a better repsonse to the throttle? cause it is in sports mode so all senses are more sensitive. mine feels that way anyway. i switch to sports when overtaking if i need it or trying to get places quick cause i'm late :p

it uses more fuel i found and to me it does have better performance than just normal Drive. Plus u can change gears yourself =)

[EuroAccord13]

Use the paddle shift when you want to imagine your car to be a Ferrari F360 Challenge Stradale! :D

There is no real benefit for using it, just a sporty feature that came with the car..

[black8thgen]

yea u do feel more responsiveness in S mode, but not by a great deal.

[ktvin09]

Thanks for the explanations... Though my understanding is that having the option to change gear yourself means you can rev higher at a given gear rit?

Correct me if I'm wrong, mine's a FD1 auto but I found that if I put the gear on 1 (there's D, D3, 2 and 1 gear) allows me to rev all the way to 6,000rpm and the gear stays there untill I put to gear 2, higher rev at a gear in oppose to the car automatically (forcefully) change to a higher gear for you means more power right? (do correct me)

[d@vid]

i use paddle shifts only when i try to launch from the lights :p

[liquid23]

Thanks for the explanations... Though my understanding is that having the option to change gear yourself means you can rev higher at a given gear rit?

Correct me if I'm wrong, mine's a FD1 auto but I found that if I put the gear on 1 (there's D, D3, 2 and 1 gear) allows me to rev all the way to 6,000rpm and the gear stays there untill I put to gear 2, higher rev at a gear in oppose to the car automatically (forcefully) change to a higher gear for you means more power right? (do correct me)

i guess you do, if you want more power you can step your foot down (while in D) and the gear change for 1st/2/3 gear will change at a higher rev.
if using paddle shift your car will automatically change gear when it hits the red line so you don't go past it, some protection thing from killing your engine honda put in. but yes you do get more power at higher revs...i think

[black8thgen]

i found in S mode the car doesnt let me go past like.. 4-5k revs.. wtf?!.. not even close to redline =/... anyone else found this?

[liquid23]

i found in S mode the car doesnt let me go past like.. 4-5k revs.. wtf?!.. not even close to redline =/... anyone else found this?

even if you put the pedal to the metal? it should go to redline on 1st gear to 2nd don't think 2nd - 3rd wil will let you reach unless you use paddle shift

[black8thgen]

hmmmm. its weird though, sometimes it will hit 5k and i'll change it myself, but otherwise it just automatically goes from 2-3 at like 4k and im like hey i didnt shift up... 1st - 2nd i think maybe if i push pedal a bit harder it could.. but yea the weird part is how it automaticaly changes gear even in paddle shift mode =.=

[sirdistik]

it states in the manual what the limits are and it will then change it automagically in 'S' mode. maybe it'll only redline in certain gears? I can't remember what the manual said and it's too cold to go out to grab it.. :o

so how does using the paddles help whether you're going up/down a hill?
DO any of you guys use it with Cruise Control?!

[black8thgen]

erm going up a hill it helps if u gear down, but be careful not to redline it i guess lol.

going downhill someone once told me its better to gear to a lower gear if its a steep hill, and also it releases some pressure off the brakes.

and if with cruise control i dont see the point? =/.. someone help =D

[liquid23]

hmmmm. its weird though, sometimes it will hit 5k and i'll change it myself, but otherwise it just automatically goes from 2-3 at like 4k and im like hey i didnt shift up... 1st - 2nd i think maybe if i push pedal a bit harder it could.. but yea the weird part is how it automaticaly changes gear even in paddle shift mode =.=

paddle shift mode will only change the gear for you when you slow down. if in paddle shift mode you should be able to change the gear at anytime. This is only when you hit the paddle shift to activate it and stay in it, NOT in S and when you want to change gear you tap the "+" button.
If your car is changing gears when your in the paddle shift mode should get it looked at. It should only change gear when u hit the red line and when your slowing down less than 2 gears (i.e at a red traffic light you slow down but don't downshift just using brakes it will change to 1st gear when you stop)
In paddle shift mode i have gone to 6000rpm in each gear so i know it shouldn't change itself. 6000rpm on 5th gear is 185km/hr i think. i've only reached it once.

[black8thgen]

hmm, maybe its because i took my foot off the pedal a bit? or should that still not do anything, it jumped from 2 - 3 somehow.. in S mode. I know if your in D and you just hit the paddle shift to change, it will still do it automatically for other gears, but in S mode its done it automatically for me.. shit.. lol.. ill test it out again tmrw, btw where the hell did u get a chance to hit 185? track it?

btw is it bad for the engine if you let it go from 3-1 automatically? always wondered that =/. and isn't redlining it also bad for the engine?

[liquid23]

i should clear up in S mode and using the paddle shifter ONLY not just in S mode if know what i mean. like just driving a manual constantly, so you have to always using the paddle shifter to change gears. if your just in S mode then it will change gears automatically of course.
erm i was down the freeway at 3am going home. i had to stop to exit so the highest i got was 185km.

what do you mean let it go from 3-1 automatically? like let the car change gear itself or while using the shifter your in 3rd gear you just downshift to 1.
YES redlining is bad for you car :D

[black8thgen]

uhm letting it go automatically from 3-1. oh ok then i think im just lazy on the paddles then haha =D.

thx for clearing it up hehe =]

[liquid23]

nw
if it does it automatically it shouldn't harm your car, if you downshift yourself from 3-1 which i don't think it will let you do unless your at low revs. a lot of safety stuff for honda.

[sirdistik]

Is it OK to shift to "S" mode in the middle of a drive from "D" ??? i was never too sure about this.. thinking that i should only switch between the two at a complete stop.

[liquid23]

it is perfectly fine. you can shift to S at anytime, any moment and to shift back to D while in S as well. does not harm your engine.

[Muzzy]

I don't use the paddle shifts too much either guys. I find it useful on highway driving with lots of hills tho. When I'm descending I use it to shift the gear down to control my speed rather than putting the strain on the breaks and wearing them out sooner. Love it when the engine is revving (engine break) when you're comin down a big hill :)

Other than that, I'll occasionally use it when going up hills to gear down in order to get more grunt. But like some others have mentioned I too hardly ever use it in the city or normal driving.

[FallenAngel]

erm going up a hill it helps if u gear down, but be careful not to redline it i guess lol.

going downhill someone once told me its better to gear to a lower gear if its a steep hill, and also it releases some pressure off the brakes.

and if with cruise control i dont see the point? =/.. someone help =D

Yes it is better to change to a lower gear when going down a hill. This is called "engine braking", it just helps slow down the car a bit therefore not needing to use the brakes as much...

With cruise control, you cannot touch anything other than the accelerator pedal otherwise it'll disengage. I.e. if you touch the brake pedal, shift up or down then the cruise control would disengage itself.


paddle shift mode will only change the gear for you when you slow down. if in paddle shift mode you should be able to change the gear at anytime. This is only when you hit the paddle shift to activate it and stay in it, NOT in S and when you want to change gear you tap the "+" button.
If your car is changing gears when your in the paddle shift mode should get it looked at. It should only change gear when u hit the red line and when your slowing down less than 2 gears (i.e at a red traffic light you slow down but don't downshift just using brakes it will change to 1st gear when you stop)
In paddle shift mode i have gone to 6000rpm in each gear so i know it shouldn't change itself. 6000rpm on 5th gear is 185km/hr i think. i've only reached it once.

I don't think thats right unless i'm mistaken, my 4th gear redline is @ 204km/h (proven on the dyno). Correct me if i'm wrong, normally auto's have a longer gear ratio than manuals.


Is it OK to shift to "S" mode in the middle of a drive from "D" ??? i was never too sure about this.. thinking that i should only switch between the two at a complete stop.

As liquid said its fine, u can shift anytime between N and S whilst driving

[liquid23]

I don't think thats right unless i'm mistaken, my 4th gear redline is @ 204km/h (proven on the dyno). Correct me if i'm wrong, normally auto's have a longer gear ratio than manuals.

i'm not quite sure either i did my test on the freeway in the wee hours of morning.
long story short i don't think i'll ever do it again cause i lost my license :thumbdwn:

[FallenAngel]

Learnt it the hard way eh...

Well you'd rather that then lose everything

[liquid23]

haha yeah. got my license back already though so its all good.
the policeman was like "OMG DID YOU KNOW HOW FAST YOU WERE GOING!!!" "WTH IS WRONG WITH YOU"... i was like erm i was doing 155?

[sirdistik]

Where were you doing the '155' ?? Freeway? I had a cop tailgate me on the kwinana freeway going south egging me to go faster, i swear the c*nt had his high beams on as well. luckily i could just make out the silohette of the lights on the top of his car. f*cking cops are @ssholes man

[liquid23]

i was going down freeway south exiting south street. they were inbetween leach exit and south st exit. i couldn't make out they were cops as i was going too fast haha. a big waste of money that was