Benefits of using paddleshifts at the track?

[crash32]

Hey guys.... First time at the track with my M. I noticed via videos that most of you guys are using the paddles to shift as opposed to just letting the car take control. Obviously the car is pretty smart so I wanted to know what some of the benefits were and any suggestions on using the paddles.
Thanks guys

[ThunderMoose]

My experience was that in auto mode it would tend to want to be in to high a gear through corners.

[roastbeef]

i haven't used auto at the track. i think its a bigger benefit to know in your head which gear you are in. it could be the difference between a smooth roll into the throttle, or a violent jerk because you're in high rpm's.

[crash32]

The problem I had at the track today (partially because I was still learning the track) is that often I would have to look down to remember what gear I was in and sometimes I would forget to downshift and I would still be in 5th by the time I tracked out.
Also I found myself wondering/worrying if I should be in 3rd or 4th gear. This took my focus away a bit from braking, driving the line etc. I just gotta get used to it!!!

[roastbeef]

It takes a little bit. Learn it all at once and you won't have to learn it later. if you're new to tracking, this is normal. i'm still a novice, but i've been to four tracks now. tracking at a course you have never been to is a new experience. you'll always feel a little lost in the first few sessions- you'll be trying to figure out shift points and trying to figure out the corners.

[M3 Number 86]

If you shifted manually from the get go you would know because all you're doing with shifting is trying to be in optimal power band.

[redpriest]

Honestly I don't think I looked down and saw my speed all day at Sonoma. I mostly checked oil temp here and there. I mostly rely on ear to know when to upshift and downshift now. I can also sort of see the shift lights in my peripheral vision. Would rather be focused on the road and what's going on around me in the open passing groups now.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by crash32

The problem I had at the track today (partially because I was still learning the track) is that often I would have to look down to remember what gear I was in and sometimes I would forget to downshift and I would still be in 5th by the time I tracked out.
Also I found myself wondering/worrying if I should be in 3rd or 4th gear. This took my focus away a bit from braking, driving the line etc. I just gotta get used to it!!!

Nothing wrong with starting out in auto mode to focus on more important things, but eventually you'll develop a sense of what gear you want to be in at various points in the track and you'll know whether you're in that gear just by the sound of the engine and amount of torque available. Manual mode can be helpful because when instructing a student in a DCT M3 that he kept in auto, I found that the less aggressive modes didn't wait long enough to upshift, but the more aggressive modes would downshift in the middle of a corner as he started to add throttle, introducing a big burst of torque exactly where you don't want one. Manual control avoids these issues, but they weren't a huge deal for him as a novice since he wasn't going fast enough for the mid-corner downshifts to be a major problem (and he had DSC on), but as a person gets faster that can become a nuisance at best and dangerous at worst.

[bigjae1976]

I paddleshift. I just pull the downshift paddle until I was off the. brake. I never really kept track of what gear I was in.

And what's the point. At redline, upshift. In a turn, downshift until it won't downshift no mo'.

[crash32]

After a full day and half of working with the shifting.... Gotta say the car was a ton smoother. Accelerating the car was much smoother and didn't come as a burst of speed.
Only thing was there was a couple times I would come out of the apex after a straight and realize I was still in 5th, but overall it was a huge help!

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by crash32

After a full day and half of working with the shifting.... Gotta say the car was a ton smoother. Accelerating the car was much smoother and didn't come as a burst of speed.
Only thing was there was a couple times I would come out of the apex after a straight and realize I was still in 5th, but overall it was a huge help!

[IMG]http://m.quickmeme.com/img/14/1490ff...788ad98816.jpg[/IMG]

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I paddleshift. I just pull the downshift paddle until I was off the. brake. I never really kept track of what gear I was in.

And what's the point. At redline, upshift. In a turn, downshift until it won't downshift no mo'.

You want to blow it up?

[dparm]

Originally Posted by crash32

Hey guys.... First time at the track with my M. I noticed via videos that most of you guys are using the paddles to shift as opposed to just letting the car take control. Obviously the car is pretty smart so I wanted to know what some of the benefits were and any suggestions on using the paddles.
Thanks guys

Spend your time focusing on learning good technique the first few times. Take advantage of any in-car instruction they have available. Once you feel comfortable with the racing line and how the car behaves, start adding more speed, then start playing around with shifting.

My advice would be to leave it in automatic mode for now. You can still gun it down the straights.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

You want to blow it up?

My E90 hasn't blown up...yet. I might cry if it did.

[Richbot]

Jesus. Hope you never borrow somebody's car with a sequential dogbox. Poof

[dparm]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

My experience was that in auto mode it would tend to want to be in to high a gear through corners.

Depends on the DriveLogic mode. In higher-numbered modes, yes, it will hold gears much longer.

[Longboarder]

At a BMW CCA track event at SMMR the instructor made me drive in auto mode. It was bizarre. Even with the GTS DCT software in S5, RPMs would drop too low for my taste, and I usually drive one gear higher than most because of my power level. Auto mode at the track sux on the M3 DCT.

Now with my Porsche PDK I drive in Sport Plus auto mode and it's perfect at the track. RPMs do not drop below 4,000 ever. In the meat of the powerband all the time.

[1MOREMOD]

You always have another hand free for extracurricular activities

[surlynkid]

When my students have a PDK and use sport plus, I swear I am going to get whiplash. A 991 GT3 shifts so hard that it snaps my head back. I am the opposite of longboarder's instructor. I want you at least using the paddles yourself if you want to move up. Otherwise you are not doing much, especially with the nannies on.

I run mine in S4, DSC off, but with paddles.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by surlynkid

When my students have a PDK and use sport plus, I swear I am going to get whiplash. A 991 GT3 shifts so hard that it snaps my head back. I am the opposite of longboarder's instructor. I want you at least using the paddles yourself if you want to move up. Otherwise you are not doing much, especially with the nannies on.

I run mine in S4, DSC off, but with paddles.

I was instructing a guy today in his first ever track day. He brought an Aventador that he'd had for about a year and still didn't know very well. He even asked if I knew what all the differences were between Strada, Sport, and Corsa modes. He ran his first session in Sport and then started the second in Corsa but didn't realize that it no longer shifted automatically, and then when he did shift he said, "That was brutal! I'm switching it back." It really was -- reminded me of a ride I got in an E6x M6 where the shifts felt like they were going to destroy the driveline.

[Flying Ace]

I am a man, I drive a M3 with 3 pedals. I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

I am a man, I drive a M3 with 3 pedals. I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

I've seen him, this man talk is questionable