CHJ In Virginia

I had the opportunity to drive a Ferrari F430 Spyder recently for about 100 miles ofer a twisting mountain Road. I am in love with the paddle shifters !! However, there is no way that I can afford the 300+K cost or exhorbitant maintenance of that machine. What experience does anyone have with the C-6 auto paddle shift cars on track ?? How accurate and fast is the shifting ? Will it hold the selected gear to redline or does the computer override your gear selections at times ? Is an extra cooler required for the transmission ? Any and or all input from users would be appreciated as I contemplate a ride change.
Edit - can't edit the title - cant spell worth a damn !

LS3FORME

I have an MN6 for my track car I was interested in paddle shift but i was not too happy with the way it shifted on downshifts , with no throttle blip build in. You might be able to program it for track use, check with some tuners. I did run with one at homestead he overheated the tranny after 3 session it started slipping, a 2008 car. It could of used a coolier and probably not had a problem.

Aardwolf

Rode with an instructor that had one and I thought it worked very well.

sothpaw2

How did you manage the F430 ride? What maintenance do those require? (curious since the F430 is really my dream car

My instructor at Audi VIR in April had a paddle C6 and I rode a lot of sessions with him in it; I asked a lot of questions about it since I like Ferrari/Maserti too.

I think the shifting was accurate but he did have to blip the throttle just like I do with the C5Z manual. I don't recall him complaining about over ride of the gear selection or not running to redline. His car was all stock, no coolers and he went to many events per year so it had already seen a lot of use. His driving was a little slow for the instructor group (but then I think he never had an off w/ this car--drives conservative) but the shifts were quick and very, very smooth.

Hope that helps!

Rob Willis

The paddle shift system in the F430 and the C6 aren't even remotely the same.

fatbillybob

My expectations for the c6 paddle were so low that I was very surprised. I'd love to try one of these cars on the track. Tuners get the c6 paddle to shift about as fast as a 360 ferrari in normal mode I think IIRC 100ms. They can also get the paddle to hold gear to redline. Throttle blip is not an issue if you left foot brake right foot gas which is where the advantage is with a paddle box anyway.

fire_n_ice

I have a manual C6 Z06, but I've driven plenty of modern Ferraris with F1 paddle shift, including the 430 Scuderia extensively at Mont Tremblant racetrack. With the Scuderia, 599 GTB and Challenge Stradale before them, the technology is ONLY NOW at the point where I think a true track enthusiast will ultimately prefer it over a 3 pedal setup.

As I mentioned, I have not driven the Vette auto box with paddles, but given the above experience, I can imagine that it would be significantly less enjoyable on the track. I think we're talking apples and oranges, here.

fatbillybob

Owned 4 ferraris all non-F1 because they break not because they don't have advantages. I have driven plenty F1 ferraris and while not fast I am a wheel to wheel racer in a ferrari and now a C5Z. Even the crappy 1st gen 355F1 was light years ahead of the 3 pedal cars. By the time the 360 challenge had the F1 shifter they were awesome and without doubt an advantage. Take any 10 turn track and 0.1 sec not shifting is 1 second. This is a huge attainable advantage that a rookie can especially realize. Not being a pro I have experienced 3 major advantages with F1 over 3 pedal. 1) you can get extra shifts and keep the car in the power where you could not with 3 pedals because you were too busy 2) you could break the back end loose and downshift and get the rear end to tuck back in and straighten 3) you can have your foot planted left foot brake and right foot gas and modulate both pedals never moving your feet. As I see it as long as the tuners can do what members say they are doing with the C6 paddles such as locking the gearbox in a gear up to the rev limit and shifting at 100ms whether the box is a ferrari auto manual or a C6 slushbox who cares it should work and give you all the same advantages. If someone lends me their tuned C6 with paddles I'd love to race it and compare and report back here.

morris4608

I've been driving my C6 A6 Paddle Shift in HPDE for the last 2 years. The shifts are fast and accurate. You must go thru each gear up or down; can't skip a gear. No problem running a gear up to redline at which time the rev limiter will kick in. The computer will not override your gear selection unless you're going to fast for the selected downshift gear or to slow for the selected upshift gear.

I did have an extra cooler installed as a precaution.

I've had a few instructors ride along and they have been impressed with the paddle shift performance.

The 08 software upgrade was a big improvement over the 07 version.

I'm very happy with the paddle shift, it allows me to have lots of fun with the car on the track and when I'm driving the car on the street I simply put it in automatic mode and don't need to worry about shifting gears.

If you go with the paddle shift just be prepared for the 'old school' drivers to look at you funny when they discover you have an automatic!

rbl

Unfortunately the members saying these things don't have a clue what they are talking about. It is unfortunate that people seem to offer opinions and call it knowledge based on facts. It would be better if they would just keep quiet instead of promoting bad information.

morris4608 has offered the correct information and it is factual. I will also add that some of the very experienced drivers will have difficulty detecting the shifts because they are so smooth and the computer is RPM matching by itself between the first and second internal clutches. Only in a few corners will you feet the torque converter lockup after very hard braking.

You will sacrifice nothing with the automatic compared to the manual other than the PITA of daily driving. The automatic may in fact be faster on-track because it accommodates left foot braking nicely and it never mises a shift.

CHJ In Virginia

Thanks for all the opinions and info especially Morris4608! I'm going to go to the stealership and see what they have to offer. Got to at least try one out. Morris4608 - whose cooler did you use. I consider them absolutely necessary for longevity and cheap insurance.

Al77Vette

I will add that I have been driving an 07/C6/Auto this year at Summit (FATT) and and other events in the area. You will feel the lockup in turn 1 on the Summit main. But you will enjoy the smooth upshifts that are available in the corners.

I have a guy telling me about "heel/toe" technique in his 08/C6/Man. but my thumb/fingers are a lot faster and so was I.

anotherone

you have had a couple of replies here that are actually correct. Most are old school or go by what the rumor mill spouts. I have done about 10 hpde's with my 06 a6 and 08a6. The 08 does indeed blip the throttle on downshifts. Its exceptionally smooth and several instructors couldn't even tell I was shifting because of the wind noise.
If you do a street test you will think its slow on the down shift but not any slower than a stick. At sebring and Vir the need for micro second gear changes escapes me. Its not like they are tiny tracks!
I mostly used 3rd and 4th at sebring and depending on traffic once in awhile 2nd. By the time I got to the end of the long straight 5th was maybe if I was feeling frisky enough. Gotta love that blue wall!!!
Going DEC 14th with chin.
On the 08 the computer wont let you over rev on a downshift and wont let you shift too high on upshift going to slow. Trust me it kicks *** if you want it to! You can run it right to the rev limiter in any gear and stay there if your brain can handle that. At least that what my 08 a6 does!

fatbillybob

That's great to hear. In the early days of C6 paddles it took the tuners to get these results. It is nice to know the facotory has done a good job. I wonder if the tuners have taken the C6 paddles to then next level. I'd like to hear about that from real users.

dbratten

My A6 was bought on 11/25/06 when they first came out. The paddles always held in gear bouncing off the rev limit without any tuning. Later tuning did firm up the shifts a little but so does driving it aggressively it seems as well.

I haven't had it out on a road course but have enjoyed the paddles for 2.5 years autocrossing where it has proven to be very competitive with manual trans cars. Most autocrosses are 2nd gear courses anyway but occasionally we get onto a big site and get to run it out into 3rd.

I feel that left foot braking is a big plus also for track and street as I use mine as a daily driver too.

--Dan

V8 Juice

What he said all true, makes several good points, great for track, at least at my experience level. I ran an '06 for about 15 HPDE events and the only problem I had was the lower ratio rear end that made getting out of a corner slow. I put a 3.42 rear in and wow, what a difference! If you do this, you will suffer "drag" in normal driving, so think carefully about any conversion. I now have a '09 and the shifting is smoother and faster. Earlier this year I was driving a stick and "upshifted" from 3rd to 1st under throttle and learned how a Corvette handles off road. It is the rare driver who has NEVER missed a shift; in a paddle shift all that happens is an "X" in the HUD, a nanny ding ding and you feel foolish.

c5butch

I have a C5 auto and an 08C6 w/ paddles. Love them both. The C6 is awsome. All I have read about the paddle shifting from the knowledgeable is true. Upshifting is very quick and it blips on the way down. The only thing I wish I could do is change the direction of the shift pattern. That is, I would like to up-shift on the pull up (fingers) and down-shift on the push down (thumb). This may just be an odd preference, but does anyone know of a way to do that?

morris4608

CHJ In Virginia, sorry but I don't know the mfg of the cooler that I had installed. It was installed by RAFTRACER. He did a heck of a job getting the extra a/t cooler plus a Z06 oil cooler in the nose of my C6.

dbratten

Check out post #11 here -- http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...dle-shift.html -- where GMautotech talks about paddle operation and includes a schematic.

In the same thread in post #22 you'll find my link --http://web.mac.com/dbrat10/iWeb/C6-A6/index.html -- giving steps to convert to using the right paddle to upshift and the left to downshift when each side is pulled toward you. The thumbs are just the opposite on each side. I find it very intuitive but it did require some re-learning as I had driven my car for a year before making the change. I never liked the thumb buttons when racing.

You can also purchase a replacement paddle from forum vendors to skip the rewiring.

--Dan

c5butch

Dan, thanks for the info. I will see if I can pull it off - pun intended. Can you say more about getting a paddle from a Forum vendor and eliminate the need to re-wire. Are you happy about how the mod works?