Manual vs Flappy Paddles - Why not both?

  • Thread starter Wyvern_64
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Wyvern_64

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Wyvern_64
One of the biggest debates I've seen with new cars is the gearbox - should it be a good 'ol manual or a semi-automatic with the paddle shifters? I think there's a time and place for each kind of transmission - manual is good for when you just want to have a fun casual drive, automatic is for when you want to get from A to B without much effort, and the paddles are best suited for the track.

But I've never heard of any cars or even concepts that could be both manual and semi-auto. I mean a normal H-shifter with a clutch pedal as well as a double clutch gearbox with paddles and full auto. Have any companies tried (or even considered) making this? What problems might there be with this design? What kind of market do you think there would be for this? Is it something you'd even like in a car, or pay for as an optional extra?

I haven't seen any discussion about it anywhere bu I may just be missing something obvious. Thoughts?
 
I personally think it comes down to the specific car rather than the "time and a place." For example I would never buy any Subaru that has both options in an automatic because Subaru's autos aren't really that good. However if I was to buy an FG Ford Falcon I'd pick one with the ZF 6-speed automatic as that's a beautiful transmission.

But I wouldn't really want a car that has both to be frank. Either manual with just a clutch pedal and a H-shifter or an auto with paddles/sequential-style shifter.
 
Having a classic H pattern and clutch somehow work with a paddle operated box is an extremely complicated engineering pursuit. Even a "success" adds more weight, more failure points, more clutter in the cockpit, more parts to replace, more initial cost. It's just all bad.

I'm also for simplicity. Just pick a place and method do your gear selection. If nothing else it leaves room to put other stuff and cars are difficult to package as it is.
 
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There's not really any way for a normal human to mechanically operate a dual clutch gearbox without two left feet, unless you synchronize both clutches to the clutch pedal... which would be weird, since the whole point of a dual clutch is to eliminate torque interruption.

You can have sequential shift via paddles or a +/- gear stick with a clutch. Lots of racing cars do. You can also have an "H" pattern with a robotized clutch (there are conversions for people with disabilities). I don't know why you would want both, as all it does is cause confusion.
 
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