Do you manually change gears with your auto transmission?

[Reggie-rock]

A lot of us on here have auto transmission and also can manually change up/down but I rarely find a use for it, or is this just me?
Maybe some boy-racers use it to hold on to the lowest gear until the revs reach their limit which could have a use for rapid overtaking maybe.

 

[def90cars]

Useful to preselect gears for overtaking rather than waiting for kick down.

 

[paulshep69]

Most of the time I just leave it in auto and let the box decide what gear it wants to be in, but the throttle blip on the down change is addictive in a C63, you can make it happen when you want it to with the paddles.

That's about the only time I use them.

 

[BlueQuinn]

It's more necessary on an old school manual. On my W124 I use it to fool the transmission into starting in first at some junctions without having to mash my foot down. I also use it in motorway queues to prevent the car changing gear into 4th quite so often.
And on steep roads you need it for a bit of engine braking.

 

[Fudger]

useful to preselect gears for overtaking rather than waiting for kick down.

+1

 

[aquanaut]

Yes, use it quite often

 

[jotter22]

I tend to use it for playing!

Tony.

 

[Meldrew2]

Hill descents to avoid overheating brakes.

On approach to roundabouts to be able to pull away briskly if opportunity is there.

In preparation for overtaking manoeuvre.

On winding B road selecting a lower gear keeps auto from making too any changes and keeps revs in power band.

 

[scgfull]

Like Meldrew2, I use it for Hill descents and winding B roads.

Steve

 

[Wheelsnuts]

Hardly ever: but I am naturally lazy.

 

[Rashman]

I always use the paddles.
I only use auto mode until everything is up to temperature.

 

[Markjames]

It frustrates me on my 2012 c220 as it doesn't change quick enough and also (I'm sure it is for the best) it doesn't change if it doesn't want to.

 

[MicB]

All as Meldrew

Mic

 

[markjay]

....Maybe some boy-racers use it to hold on to the lowest gear until the revs reach their limit which could have a use for rapid overtaking maybe.

Pre-selecting before overtaking - as others said - will indeed help because it saves the time that it takes for the kickdown to shift down.

But - not sure this makes any difference to the revs - in either case, kickdown or manual low gear, the revs will go up to the red line - kickdown overrides the TCU programing anyway and simply shifts-up at the red line.

For this reason there is also no difference between C and S when in kickdown - and pressing S before kickdown (as some do) is in fact pointless.

 

[Reggie-rock]

The only paddles I use is when I go rowing in the boat, not have them in my CLK but could be useful for flooded roads!
(sorry)

 

[markjay]

This is my undestanding:

D with kickdown - down one gear (or more), rev to red line, then shift up one gear.

Low gear pre-select - rev to red line in current gear, then shift up one gear (note that even when a gear is preselected it will still shift up to higher gear at the red line).

Manual Mode (for those who have it) - rev to red line, then stay on the red line, i.e. will not shift up.

 

[renault12ts]

Unless it's a very steep hill where the car might accelerate even without foot on accelerator I see little reason to change down for hill descents. And even then I'd use the brakes.

Modern brakes will not fade as they may have done decades ago...and, as is often said, brake pads are cheaper than gearboxes.

 

[MicB]

Unless it's a very steep hill where the car might accelerate even without foot on accelerator I see little reason to change down for hill descents. And even then I'd use the brakes.

Modern brakes will not fade as they may have done decades ago...and, as is often said, brake pads are cheaper than gearboxes.

Ah but when driving Alpine Passes braking and accelerating hard (up or down hill) for the joy of driving it is probable that a chap will want to dictate the choice of gear.....usually 2nd or 3rd......sometimes 1st. Cars don't know everything.

Mic

 

[Dryce]

A lot of us on here have auto transmission and also can manually change up/down but I rarely find a use for it, or is this just me?

Depends on the car.

On my W211 petrol I would use the tip function by pushing the selector left and holding it to effectively pre-kickdown before overtaking.

On 'lesser' cars in the past when loaded it's been useful to manually overide preselect a lower gear before going uphill.

On my current diesel lump I used the paddles a few times just to see but haven't used them in months. I just put it in sport if I'm going to start eating a traffic queue and then put it back to comfort once cruising again. Preselecting isn't really an issue when the transmission changes quickly and the engine has plenty of grunt low down.

I'd happily dump the paddles. Had them on three cars and for most owners I suspect they're really a gimmick. What I would prefer is to them (or a steering mounted buttion) the same way the W211 tip operated - pull the paddle to either activate sport mode or to act as a preselect kick-down - with perhaps two actions to select a mild shft down or a full shift down for full bore acceleration.

 

[geraldrobins]

I sometimes tap down to 1st in slow moving stop start traffic, to reduce the amout of stopping.