BLKCL55

2003 owners, what are your impressions on this feature? Would love to see some detailed pictures as to where and how this system works. Is it close to F1 having paddles?

Cheers

BLKCL55

Oops... did a search and found that this topic has been discussed... extensively.

Would still like to see some pics of these "buttons" on the back of the steering wheel... could someone post a few?

Thanks

BLKCL55

Could someone post pics of the speed shift "buttons" on the back of the steering wheel. Would love to see some.

awiner

Here you go (Downshift Button, left side):

awiner

AMG Leather Steering Wheel (Notice the chrome ' - ' and ' + ' buttons, indicating what button is used to downshift and what button is used to upshift. Also note thicker grip vs the wood wheel:

mbtech208

Yo Adam, what's the reddish hue on your wheel?

awiner

Bad lighting .. LOL..

BLKCL55

Adam, I truly appreciate your postings. Thanks you.

A question: The steering wheel on the 2003 actually looks smaller than my 2002. Is this correct, or is it the photos that make it appear smaller? I love those scalloped hand postions on the new wheel.

Cheers

awiner

I would actually have to measure the 2 wheels to know for sure. If the 2003 wheel is smaller it would only be slighty so.

BLKCL55

Adam,

Looking at the positions of those shift buttons, have you ever accidentally downshifted or up shifted while steering?

awiner

No. There are three seetings on the speed shift tranny. S, C and M. You need to place the tranny into M to use the buttons. So, when you do want to use them, you know what to watch out for. LOL. The buttons are placed well so that you would have to want to hit them. I find using my finger tip at a 9 - 3 position worked best.

AMG4life

kinda confused here. Do you use the shifting buttons on the steering wheel or the buttons behind it?? Or it works both ways?

awiner

You use the buttons behind the steering wheel. The ' - ' and ' + ' on the front of the steering wheel are indicators to what each buttons do only.

AMG4life

so do you use your middle fingers to shift??

Mach430

Adam,

I've only test driven the car, so I haven't had a chance to get used to it. Are you happy with the size/location of the buttons, or would you prefer paddles? Personally, I thought it required too much effort to shift gears using them, but that's based on only about 20 minutes of driving.

awiner

You get use to them. Paddles however would allow for a expanded use of hand positions, which may be good.

Mach430

Yeah, being used to my CLK, I gave up hunting for the switches while turning and just reached for the tap-tronic I think the salesman was more comfortable without me shifting manually anyways. You should have seen his face when I turned off the traction control