Are the paddles in real life race cars all set up the same way or does it vary? I mean, is the right paddle always for up shift or how are the paddles set up in cars in real life?

AFAIK, most are Left-Downshift, Right-Upshift yes...

But I could swear I've seen some other cars with paddles that are the other away around...

Just look at images of cars and notice the - & + on the paddles:
http://home.comcast.net/~paddle.shift/images/E46SSG_SMG.jpg
http://www.x5world.com/images/ ... MGIIWheelonX5DSC02942.jpg
http://www.motormagazinesha.co ... rrari/360m/img/inpane.jpg
http://www.kcchevy.org/EBayUti ... arPix/10734/paddle1.2.jpg (some are only for upshifting like this, but ehhh its a Corvette of course)
http://www.hondacarindia.com/c ... gy/tech_paddel_shift.html (scroll down)

Well, it's all a computer input so you can program it any way you want. When it comes to a race car, I suppose it'd be driver's preference. On a street car, it'd be how much the engineers drank during the engineering stage.

Thanks Tweaker The reason I asked is that I'm planning on driving a real racecar some day...

while were on the subject..

sequential shifters, with the momoblack i have always done up for downshift down for upshift, it just seems to come natural to me, and i swear thats how i saw it done in wrc..yet in our saab its just the opposite, and the same with most street "manumatics"

For some weird reason I first set up the DFP making it so when I pushed the shifter forward I up shifted, pulling back towards me down shifted. Though whenever I play GT4, it is the exact opposite and drives me crazy. Which way is the norm for this?

imho, pull back for next gear UP, push forward for downshift

Quote from Jakg :

imho, pull back for next gear UP, push forward for downshift

aren't airplane throttles are oriented that way too? (pull back to go faster)

Quote from evilgeek :

aren't airplane throttles are oriented that way too? (pull back to go faster)

I thought they were "pull back to slow down".

Quote from Dennisjr13 :

For some weird reason I first set up the DFP making it so when I pushed the shifter forward I up shifted, pulling back towards me down shifted. Though whenever I play GT4, it is the exact opposite and drives me crazy. Which way is the norm for this?

in the few cars ive been in with Tiptronic, its always been forward for up gear and backwards for lower gear..

I always set my sequential up that way too. Down=up gear, up=down gear. Feels natural to me. I know that the Lola Champ Cars the last several years were setup this way too. Not sure about any others though.

When I last drove my 300C 2 years ago, it was:

+: tap forward
-: tap rearward

but then, don't rant the american design, it's a E-class based car and Canadian design ( not much left from US of A )

The manual override on the auto box in my C4 has pull back for upshift, push up = downshift, same as the default on Logitech's sequential shifters.

Quote from DodgeRacer :

while were on the subject..

sequential shifters, with the momoblack i have always done up for downshift down for upshift, it just seems to come natural to me, and i swear thats how i saw it done in wrc..yet in our saab its just the opposite, and the same with most street "manumatics"

It's because street cars are not sequential shifters, they are automatic transmissions with a manual mode. PRNDL, the up/down goes in the same order at the PRNDL selection.

[quote=Tweaker;359767]
http://www.kcchevy.org/EBayUti ... arPix/10734/paddle1.2.jpg (some are only for upshifting like this, but ehhh its a Corvette of course)

Actualy, its a different type of paddle. There are two padelds on each side of the wheel. The top half of both left and right are used to upshift, and the bottom half is used to downshift. This doesnt feel natural to me at all, but its how they designed it.

Ive sat inside a few cars in the auto show with paddle shifters like this, and it was top up, bottom down.

The new Mazda RX8 is like this.


What the real shame is, is that true manual transmissions are starting to fade away. I imagine by the time i have kids that are old enough to drive (im only 15 now), there wont be such thing as a manual transmission anymore. Its sad, really.

The only real way you can get a car 2003 and up in a stick, is if you buy it new, and choose it as an option. Mabey with a car like a G35 (or skyline, for some of you), or a 350z, or EVO or STI, you can find plenty of used ones in stick, but other than that, unless you wanna go for a really expensive sports car, youl probably have really bad luck finding a newer used car in stick. Most freaking M3's that i see are automatics.

I always have friends that when they get a new car, i see its an automatic, and i give them shit about it not being a stick. Then they always come up with the bullshit excuse "oh but it has tiptronic (sequential)". I just want to slap them.

I seriously dont think they get that tiptronic is not the same as a true gated manual, with a clutch, and no torque converter, or any of that new electronic bullshit. *Sigh...*

[/ rant]

Most racing cars have you pull back the shifter to upshift and push forward to downshift. This makes sense to me as you're working with the G-forces instead of against them. That being said, the standard for street cars, and I believe it actually is an ISO standard, is forward for upshift and backward for downshift, and all street cars I've driven with a sequential option are like that, save for BMW and Mazda, which both have theirs going the "correct" way.
(I'm a valet at a fairly nice hotel, so I drive lots and lots of cars.) BTW, the 300C, at least all the ones I've ever seen, are right for upshift and left for downshift...

Quote from 96 GTS :

Most racing cars have you pull back the shifter to upshift and push forward to downshift. This makes sense to me as you're working with the G-forces instead of against them. That being said, the standard for street cars, and I believe it actually is an ISO standard, is forward for upshift and backward for downshift, and all street cars I've driven with a sequential option are like that, save for BMW and Mazda, which both have theirs going the "correct" way.
(I'm a valet at a fairly nice hotel, so I drive lots and lots of cars.) BTW, the 300C, at least all the ones I've ever seen, are right for upshift and left for downshift...

The subaru automatics have there sequentials the correct way too.