Porsche 918 does a 6.57 Minute Nordschleife Lap

[scannon]

[MHKflyer52]

It is amazing to me that the driver of the car never moved his hands on the steering wheel and that you could hardly see the right hand move when flicking the paddle shiftier to change gears. Porsche has said the only reason that they are still producing a manual transmission is for the US market due to the popularity and the belief of the American buyer that a sports car has to have a manual transmission. This clip sure shows that the PDK trans in a professional drivers hands is very smooth and fast for sure.

:driving:

[sciff5]

Every time I see one of these new hybrid super cars the first thought that comes to my mind, no matter how impressive they are, is how much better they'd be if they just dropped all of that hybrid bs

Edited September 12, 2013 by sciff5

[Automoda]

I got to drive a Ferrari and an Audi A8 once, and they both had paddle shifters. I never could really get used to the idea. I expect shifting to take time and to always (unless I'm lucky) have some slight mismatch between trans and engine speed. I expect it and frankly I consider it feedback. These cars that can shift instantly and smoothly-- I felt like I may as well find the "automatic" button since in the end the human element becomes an imperfect link in the chain. (After that we can talk about getting rid of the steering wheel and the brake pedal etc in the future)

[scannon]

I had a similar experience in a Ferrari 360 Modena with the flappy paddles. I drove it on the track with no time on the road to get used to it. I had a hard time not easing up on the throttle when upshifting which really ruins the smooth flow of power during the shift.

 

Downshifting was great with the throttle blipping and the great sound from the intakes just behind your ears. The owner had me downshift at the apex while hard on the brakes and it didn't step out and made me sound and look like a far better driver than I was.

 

This was the first flappy paddle car for the owner and he sold it after 6 months and ordered a new one with the 6 speed manual transmission which he kept until he got a 458 Italia which only comes with the paddles.

[Mondo]

Sounds like Ferrari knows their customers...

[S1Steve]

My wife's BMW has the paddle shift option. It was fun for a few days, but I think

 

it shifts better if left in drive and let the ECU do the thinking.

 

Paddle shifting takes ALL the skill and fun of getting a downshift right..

 

I do like the 918.