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Buttons and Paddles first impressions

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portreathbeach

Silverstone
Joined
9 Aug 2015
Messages
105
I have always wanted a 911 and will be hopefully able to afford one in a couple of years. As I want PDK, it will have to be a 997.2. My wife doesn't understand my fascination with 911s as she said 'you haven't even driven one!'

So, a couple of weeks ago I visited Bristol Porsche garage for a test drive. They first leant me a Panamera with the PDK button shifts and then the 911S with the paddles.

WOW! Both cars were amazing, the 911 was better though ;)

Anyway, I've never driven a car with buttons or paddles so it was a good experience to see the difference.

I actually really liked the buttons, I didn't think I would. The paddles were also really good, it did feel, for some reason, more natural to change up on the right and down on the left. But I did feel that due to the space between the steering wheel and the indicator and wiper stalks, that the paddles didn't have much room. I occasionally knocked them when changing gears.

I know paddles vs buttons has been talked about on many forums before, but I haven't read anything regarding the space of the paddles and wiper stalks before.

Any thoughts?
 
:welcome: and good luck with getting the car you've always wanted.

Never driven a PDK myself (both my legs work just fine :wink: ) but till now I've not yet heard anyone say they prefer the buttons over the paddles.

But its your car so you should get what ever you're most comfortable with especially given you've had to wait so long.

Good luck :thumb:
 
portreathbeach said:
I have always wanted a 911 and will be hopefully able to afford one in a couple of years. As I want PDK, it will have to be a 997.2. My wife doesn't understand my fascination with 911s as she said 'you haven't even driven one!'

So, a couple of weeks ago I visited Bristol Porsche garage for a test drive. They first leant me a Panamera with the PDK button shifts and then the 911S with the paddles.

WOW! Both cars were amazing, the 911 was better though ;)

Anyway, I've never driven a car with buttons or paddles so it was a good experience to see the difference.

I actually really liked the buttons, I didn't think I would. The paddles were also really good, it did feel, for some reason, more natural to change up on the right and down on the left. But I did feel that due to the space between the steering wheel and the indicator and wiper stalks, that the paddles didn't have much room. I occasionally knocked them when changing gears.

I know paddles vs buttons has been talked about on many forums before, but i haven't read anything regarding the space of the paddles and wiper stalks before.
Click to expand...

I prefer the 997.2 buttons over the paddles ,I had paddles on my DB9 and struggled with them more than the buttons on the 911. I like the fact you can change up and down on the same side. The gen2 back and forth buttons are better than the gen1 up and down buttons, and as you say they are neatly tucked into the wheel much better for a road driven car.
I understand the track guys prefer the paddles as they don't accidentally change gear during aggressive driving which can happen with the buttons.
The PDK box is much more sophisticated than the gen1 tiptronic box and sport ,sport plus and launch are all great options to have or add.
Its good your getting up to speed on what you want in plenty of time ahead of the search starting. :thumb:
 
apollokre1d said:
Well I'm certainly in the minority here :oops:
Click to expand...

No your not mate, it's just the paddle guys haven't got back from the track yet .they will soon be on here giving their 2p worth. :grin: :thumb:
 
I have spent a long time researching the ins and outs of the various 911 models. I really like the old air cooled ones, but thought a newer version would be better for me. The 997.2 has everything I want, a much needed interior upgrade from the gen 1 cars and the lovely PDK gearbox, and no IMS bearing problems.

I do really like the interior of the 991, with its centre console layout, but I don't think I'll be able to afford that. I thought a decent 997.2 would be best. A C2S with chrono pack is a must, even though I will never need the extra power over a non S, I would always be wondering 'what if?' Oh, and the turbo wheels are a very good look in my opinion too ;)
 
I'm on my third 911 with buttons and whilst I won't go as far as having a conversion done I'd much prefer paddles.

With buttons I've always instinctively changed up with my right hand and down with my left so paddles are just an extension of that.
 
I thought originally that I would have to have paddles on my 911. Either buy one with paddles or buy an upgrade to a paddle wheel if I got one with buttons. There would be a compromise though as I see that the paddle wheels for the 997.2 don't have the function buttons for the radio etc. on them. The 991 I tested had paddles and multifunctional steering wheel.

I guess I need to test drive a few more times to get a better feel for both options.

I have to say that the PDK buttons looks a lot better than the old rocker switch style buttons on the tiptronic cars.
 
I'm a paddler and find it a natural and positive action to pull the nicely weighted and engineered aluminium paddles with my finger tips. I prefer the left down/right up config and the sport design wheel lifts the cabin IMO.

I've had a courtesy 991 PDK this week and loved it, the PDK is blindingly quick, but didn't like the standard wheel much, messed up a couple of times by pulling on the right button to change up and nearly over-revving :oops:

Obviously it's a personal preference thing, but I like being a paddler :thumb:
 
How often to people use the manual shift option. I found the 911 in auto seemed to change gear exactly when I would have changed. I tried it in auto and manual and the gear change on the PDK was so smooth.

Quick question. When in auto mode, if you change gear with the paddles or buttons it sets the car to manual. The only way I could get it back to auto was to push the gear stick over to manual and then back to drive. Is that the only way to do it?
 
I use manual mode fairly often, depends on traffic and mood, same as whether I use sport mode in auto or leave it in normal for the commute. If you go into manual by using the paddles, it returns to auto of its own accord if you don't shift gears after a little while. Obviously if you go into manual using the geat stick it stays in manual until you move the level back. I never use the gear stick to change gears :?
 
I did have a play shifting with the gear lever, but seems pointless when the paddles or buttons are on the wheel.
 
portreathbeach said:
I did have a play shifting with the gear lever, but seems pointless when the paddles or buttons are on the wheel.
Click to expand...

:? You don't shift using the lever. EDIT: Sorry just remembered the sequential function in PDK cars.

If you're in M you use the buttons/paddles.

If you're in D you can change gear using the buttons/paddles but after doing so the car will revert to what gear it wants to be in about 10 seconds after the last time you used the buttons/paddles.
 
I hardly every drive in auto, always push the lever to M and drive on the buttons, becomes a clutch free manual which for me is the best of both options. :thumb: I understand that with the sport wheel with paddles the multifunction is on a extra stalk attached to the column.
 
I've succumbed to the dark side and tend to just use auto in the 911. I to have the buttons with the multifunctional steering wheel. If I use manual I tend to use the stick. I find the shifts quicker especially going 6th to 2nd. Using the buttons I get lost which gear I'm in. Spirited driving left in automatic, it doesn't go from say 6th to 2nd quick enough after I've do all my breaking for a sharp bend and I'm ready to put the power back on.

Hence the reason I've succumbed to the dark side and drive like a grandad in it. I'm old school , it's hard to adopt a new driving style and intuition. Hence the Boxster for some ruddy good fun :grin:
 
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