When Would You Use Paddle Shifters?

When I want to change gears?

Although they are usually fitted to automatic cars, and you don't have to use them, you can just drive in auto mode and let the computer worry about the gears if you want. But transmission computers are very poor at predicting what you are going to do next.

For example...

Following a slow truck along the road @40 mph. The computer sees you are travelling slow, and quite sensibly puts the transmission into 6th gear, doing about 1200 rpm for max fuel economy. You come to a short passing bay and have the opportunity to pass. But when you put you foot down suddenly the car has to change down 3 or 4 gears, and build up the engine revs. Nothing happens for a second or so, then you accelerate to pass. BUT, if you had seen the passing bay coming up, you use the paddle shifters to drop to 3rd gear as you approach the spot. Now when you plant boot the acceleration is instant.

Another place is along hill. We have one on the way to the MIL's house. About a 1/4 mile straight down slope, with a turn onto a narrow bridge. You don't want to built up too much speed down the hill. You could ride the brakes down, or tap the transmission back to 4th and that holds your speed steady down the hill. When you are across the bridge, you are then in 4th gear to power up the winding hill on the other side.

Another place is along winding uphill, like the road up the local Mt. Several miles winding road mixed with short uphill straights. If you drive it in auto the transmission is chopping from 6th as you coast or brake into corners, then down to second as you build up speed again. Dozens of times. Easier to drive that in "manual" mode as you can see what's coming up and lock the transmission in 3rd as you go into the corners.

Now if you are just driving on a nice wide flat motorway, they are a gimmick. Let the computer handle the gears, it will do a better job. But once you get into some more interesting roads they let you get around some of the limitations that automatic gearboxes have. And you can usually still use the sequential shift of the stick, but with the paddles, your hands don't leave the wheel.