I have wondered this for a while, do people who have a car with an automatic transmission with manual mode ever use it? I was talking with a work acquaintance who picked up a new Dodge Charger V6 with a manual mode auto a couple months ago. He has never driven a manual car, and other than checking it out once or twice he does not use it. Do you know anyone who has it and actually uses it?
It's all I ever use with my MCSa. I get better mileage with it, too, and the car is more responsive at the track when I use it.
Our family road car is a Dinan equipped BMW 335i with the 6 speed auto trans. I never use it in "D", always in M1 - M6. My wife, who drives it the most, is probably doing a mix of auto and manual.
It depends.......just driving to work on the hiway I rarely use it - maybe to downshift for an off ramp or something. At the track, it's always in manual mode, and if I'm driving in hilly and/or twisty areas I use it a lot. I like the option, but I wish it would access 6th gear in sport mode without me having to "force" it by going to full manual mode. I find the MINI setup to be very easy to use, but oddly enough, I only seem to shift with my right hand. Even tho the upshift and downshift paddles are available on the both sides, I never seem to use the left.
I beat the crap outta my auto in manual mode constantly... I only run it in automatic mode about 20% of the time. So probably 60,000 of the 75,000 miles on the car have been with me gleefully paddleshifting.
Most of the loaners we get from the dealer have been autos, I tend to use manual mode, in a rather spirited manner Mark
I press the sport button a lot but I rarely shift for myself. If I need to shift, I drive the MINI with the standard transmission
I used to not use manual that often. Then I got the JCW Stage I kit. Now I use manual all the time so I can keep that exhaust at its loudest!!