SHIFTING PRIORITIES - To manual or not to manual, paddles versus levers

摘要

When you talk about the thrill of driving, its hard to ignore its active elements: feathering the throttle, trail braking, turning the steering wheel into a gentle bend or grabbing a clean heel-toe downshift, for example. But lately, it seems like these connections are being reduced or even eliminated. Cable throttle linkages are replaced with potentiometers and wires, steering is electronically boosted and transmissions shift for themselves. While these changes are supposed to increase driving enjoyment, we asked ourselves, which is better - pushing a clutch and manipulating a lever or pulling a paddle? To find out, we rowed through these transmissions back to back and went into analysis mode. The criteria would be simple: shift times, ease of operation and how well the system meets driver expectations over a short, but tight, autocross course. Our subjects would be a pair of 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions - the GSR features a 5-speed manual gearbox, while the MR sports a 6-speed twin-clutch sequential gearbox called TC-SST (Twin Clutch Sport Shift Transmission) that can be actuated via steering wheel paddles or a center console-mounted shifter. For the purpose of diversity, a pair of 2009 Porsche Cayman S models, with and without PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe), as well as a pair of 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo Balbonis, equipped with a gated 6-speed manual and 6-speed e.gear system, made cameos.