Have had our 2006 r500 for over a year-and-a-half and have never used the shift paddles. Are there any benefits to using them? Are there any downfalls to using them?

 

I have played around with them, but don't really see a point in such a big car.

 

I use them almost daily. It all depends the type of driving you do. If it is all highway then you won't have much of a need to use them. My daily commute is half highway and half hilly roads full of twists and turns. The use of the shifters is ideal in such roads if you do any spirited type of driving where you would need to keep your RPMs high.

 

I might play with them sometimes because they are there. Most of the time I hit them accidentally while backing out of a tight spot.

 

Z,

I use them when I autocross the car. I am a member of the Greater Washington Section of MBCA and autocross monthly in Winchester, VA (Go to www.gws-mbca.org and look at last year's race results).

While at the starting line, I turn off traction control to maximize torque to the pavement. I put the trannie in D2. This allows the car to start in 1st then shift to second. Generally the car will stay in 2nd through the course unless there is an opportunity to accelerate for a few seconds before slowing for a turn. If so, the trannie will shift into 3rd at or near redline. When that happens, I attempt to downshift back to 2nd while slowing for the next turn to retrieve the torque needed to accelerate out of the turn. Most of the time, the steering wheel is at such an angle that I have difficulty downshifting because the buttons are out of easy reach. When I am able to downshift, my times are better because I am on the torque curve for most of the run.

I recently completed a road trip from Woodbridge, VA, through ATL, to Tallahassee, FL. I came home via JAX so I spent most of my time on I-10 and I-95. My last day was spent driving from Florence, SC to Woodbridge. My stats showed an average speed of 68 MPH and an average mileage of 19.6 MPG. In order to maintain that speed, I traveled at around 80-85 for most of the time. I made relatively frequent stops at rest-em-ups to dispose of and take on fluids. I sometimes went as fast as 100 mph to facilitate movement through slow-moving traffic (e.g., while overaking someone in the left lane who was was slow to complete overtaking a slower vehicle in the right lane or while overaking a long line of cars lined up in the left lane when the leader was slow to complete a pass and move right). I've found that the key to high MPG for me is to avoid using the brakes as much as possible. If I have to slow down when approaching a slower moving vehicle in the left lane, I let off the gas or turn off cruise control and let the car coast to a slower speed rather than braking. By maintaining at least a 2-3 second following distance, I usually have sufficient room to slow down without braking.

JR

 

I use it often during the mountain drives to stay in gear rather than having the transmission and brakes work so hard. During daily drives, there's generally no need to use it.

 

Also used them in mountains, especially with snow.

This works the transmission hard, but keeps you in control.

 

Passing with shifter is a must. 3.5 V6 need to rev pass 4-5k to get all the torque out.

 

My wife doesn't use them (It's her car) but when I drive I use them when passing or getting a hole shot from a traffic light. The trans response much faster when you manually downshift the car than using the kick down from the pedal.

I do agree it works but doesn't feel sporty as the R is more like a van than a sports car.

 

the wife accidentally used them while driving the other day...scared the beejeezus out of her.....