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View Full Version : Steering wheel paddles - standard or not?



nealeb
03-11-2011, 09:25 AM
I have recently ordered a new A6 Avant 3.0TDI Quattro, so S Tronic gearbox. However, all three A6s in the dealer (2 demonstrators, one in the showroom) have no steering wheel paddles for gearchange although the brochure says that these are standard on all auto models. In fact, the salesman threw in a sports steering wheel to make sure that I had them in my car as he wasn't confident that the standard car would come with them (despite Audi's statements!).

Anyone have any info on this? Did your A6 auto come with paddles? Do you actually use them, or are they really just there for show and you leave it in D all the time?

I've never owned an auto in around 40 years of car driving, so looking forward to having the DSG box to play with. I'm particularly interested in the level of manual control as I do some work with the IAM and we're keen to make sure that drivers are in control of their gearboxes and not the other way round - a bit of personal experience would be useful!

man le-mans
11-11-2011, 07:46 PM
Hi yes the paddles are a nice thing to have and i do use them from time to time but it's only when im playing. To be fair its not a thing i would use all the time just nice to have

ianfarnham
12-11-2011, 06:50 PM
My 3.0 TDI with Multitronic came with paddles as standard. To be honest I rarely use them as the other controls enable you to do exactly the same.

Also if you are steering through a tight corner and you need to change with the paddles they are no longer to hand - I know you shouldn't change gear when cornering but sometimes, eg accelerating hard into a main road with a left or right turn, it is necessary to avoid high revs

nealeb
14-11-2011, 10:49 AM
I think that pretty well everyone I've spoken to says the same thing - "I stick in in Drive and leave it there until I stop!" Looking forward to playing with it, though.

I test drove the multitronic CVT and the S Tronic DSG and there was certainly a difference - the S Tronic changes were audible but the near-continuous drive through the dual box meant that you didn't really feel it, where you hardly noticed the CVT doing anything:)