Paddle shifters

[HONDAJUNKIE]

Anyone who has a fit sport with the paddle shifter care to explane how it works or mainly what I want to know is how much of a delay between the push of the paddle's and the actual shift on the tranny is and is It a 4 speed or 5 speed auto, Cause i have a manual but I want to see what I can do about coming up with some sort of controler to speed it up to feel more like a manual but before I start bother people about what I need to do this cause Im looking to try and do something that more like a reflash or something the plugs in the OBD2 port or something so I would apreciate all info on sport models with paddles shifters

[HONDAJUNKIE]

Or better yet tell me some of you likes and dislike's about it

[billmus86]

its very quick to respond
its a five speed,
you can use two methods,.....
the first is just to press down- to shift one gear, while leaving the shifter in the d mode, the car will shift back up when it feels,

if you pop the shifter into S mode, usually it will down shift automatically right away, the S mode, will also hold shifts longer, .. once you touch the paddle in S mode, you enter the Manual S mode ,
the gear is displayed in the tach, and also a little M will be displayed
when the M is there the car WILL NOT shift up, until you tap the paddle up
(ive hit the limiter quite a few times- so i know this for a fact)

hope that helps

also i have NO complaints

i also like the fact that the downshift paddle is by the blinker, so i can signal a lane change as i drop a gear (or two), and blow by the slow pokes lol

edit:
ps, you can also shift up with the paddles in D mode, like if u are going down a hill slowly, and DONT want engine braking, so basically you can shift up or down at really anytime YOU want to,
unless you are going too fast for a lower gear, but 3rd is really as low as i would want to go at highway speeds, lol, and it hasnt let me go into 2nd on the HW, (for good measure)

[Hootie]

The paddle shifters for the sports are absolutely brilliant for spirited driving and for daily commuting they retain the use of all 5 gears in the transmission, allow you to override the selected gear if your in "D" but still keep the auto trans function, and in "S" using the paddles will make the trans go into manual mode. Meaning you have to shift up or down in order to go into a higher or lower gear; however the transmission will automatically down shift for you at certain speeds.

The gear shifts are practically instantaneous being around 15 tenths of a second, falling right near the Fit's peak torque out put. Over revving is prevented by having a gear lock out which the ECU ignores the downshift command if the engine will exceed 6k or more RPMS in the lower gear. Another genius feature for the sport autos is the ablity to skip gears upshifting or downshifting by simply double clicking the paddle and holding.

Some downfalls of having the shifters are that they are mounted to the steering wheel and not in a fixxed position. Causing the driver to search for the paddle which is distracting and sometimes annoying. Driving around town the occausional jolt from the 1-2 (and sometimes 2-3 ) shift is bothersome and the *underdrive's sensivitaty is very touchy for those aiming for high MPG marks.

*Note - I do not know what the techical term for this is but the transmission does not downshift; VTEC is engaged and the RPMs rise up and hold steadily. Example: in manual 5th gear 45 MPH at ~2k, exceed half throttle or more the describition above will happen.

[Fitcapo]

Originally Posted by billmus86

when the M is there the car WILL NOT shift up, until you tap the paddle up
(ive hit the limiter quite a few times- so i know this for a fact)

It will shift for you if you let it bounce too much. It has for me the first time I had it in S mode totally drew a blank and forgot that I was in S mode and I hit the rev limiter and kinda paniced a little so it was there for idk 3sec or so then it shifted for me.

Paddle shifter noob ftl.......

I am an expert now tho :P

[billmus86]

ya, lol i thought it would be cool to get on the highway in S mode, lol
well if u havent been to CT, you dont know, but the merritt pkwy.
FOR SOME GENIUS REASON, (NOT) they put stop signs on the the ends of the on ramps, so you have to pull up, and wait for a long clearing, and then floor it up to HW speeds

so ,... anyway, ya in S, and tapped to 1st to get the M up, and floor it up to speed.... and oooops forgot to shift up, i was at the stop for too long i guess lol
mine NEVER shifted for me wtf lol
the rev limiter bounced 4 times haha,
but then on another occasion i hit it again, bounced once, and shifted myself lol- i learned

but ya, NOW paddles are SOOO awesome, once you get the technique down

sometimes too, if you cant downshift, in S, and you realllly want to lol
pop back up into D,== and if that doesnt do it, pop into D, and then BACK into S
3rd never felt better

[Wuze]

I was truly delighted and glad I bought the automatic when I drove down Ortega Hwy. from Temecula. It is an absolute godsend to have paddle shifters through the canyons. Engine braking for the win.

But generally I suggest shifting before 3000 RPMs and going easy to extend your mileage. I really don't mind the fact that the paddle shifters are on the wheel anymore since unless I'm doing a U-turn, I can keep my hands on with the wheel. Either way I don't know how many of you have realized this, but the shift up paddle shifter has three or so grooves so you know that one is always the shift up one. You may have felt it before but never realized it was only on the upshift.

The car will automatically downshift as you slow down. In my opinion the shiftings of the Fit are very distinct and you can feel the entire car move on upshifts and downshifts and driving in semi-automatic lessens the amounts of downshifts (i.e. from fifth to third to first rather than going down each gear in D) and feels smoother to the stop.

I forgot the username of the fella, but there's an awesome poster on here who has some Porsches and an automatic Fit with Scan Gauge II who posts very informative shit. Read up on his findings from using SG2.

Oh yeah, he did point out that driving in second gear is very inefficient and to shift up to third if possible. Since reading this I always make sure to get up to third when I'm driving in parking lots (when possible, I'm not a dangerous driver) and my community. He also pointed out the driving in fifth is the most efficient so do it when possible (speed limits around here are 45 and I can always get up to fifth so should be no problem). Another thing he said is that to drive in D when you're on the freeway. This is good anyway since if you're on the freeway and want to pass up some slowpoke to just tap the downshift, zip by, and then it'll automatically go back into automatic. Plus D is more efficient on the freeway.

I live in a private community so if I want to get it into manual, when I get to the gate to get out and I'm waiting for the gate to (slowly) slide open, I'll slide it into S and then downshift to put the M on (rather than being stopped and upshifting and popping it into second).

But as it's been pointed out, the car will automatically shift up if you forgot. I've never had it shift up for me before, but I have forgotten and gotten it to 6000 RPMs or so.

To be honest I love music but a lot of the times I find myself driving with music and the radio turned off and I just listen to the car. I know what the car sounds like around 3000 RPMs now so I know when to shift during turns (steering wheel gets in the way and you can't see).

Have fun. :]

[Kyle is raaddd]

ahh
i learned something new about the AT
so it actually lets you hit the rev limiter for around 3 seconds?
that's not bad
my friends old rx-8 that was AT with the little paddle shifters/triptronic shifting thing would just go up to redline and then shift
it was dumb

[Fitcapo]

I hate to be the test dumby doing it to my car but I am about to leave so I will try it on my way to drop my car off to be aligned. But I am pretty sure it was like 2-4 seconds.

Will be back with more info

[henryd1981]

The paddle shifters are very reponsive. I let a friend of mine drive it, and he said they were quicker to respond than if here were to manually shift his AT in his 04 Accord.

[Fitcapo]

The paddle shifters don't shift for you if you hit the rev limiter too long. I thought it did but it doesn't. I let it bounce 8 times and didn't shift up so I figured it probably isn't going to do it.

[Kyle is raaddd]

oh well then that's good!
if you ever want to do a burnout you can atleast do a good one haha

[TOOL]

Yeah i heart my paddles. After im done with my engine mods and im putting down decent HP i think they will be even more fun.
I was Effing around with S mode over the weekend, found that you can start from a dead stop in 2nd haha. Pretty cool, i never though that was possible.

Tyler

[Kyle is raaddd]

haha really tyler?
that's crazy

[gofastredfit]

Yep I've started in 2nd, it makes it start out even slower!!

[Kyle is raaddd]

haha i wouldn't think that was possible!

[Hootie]

It is and starting 2nd helps a lot when the road is extremely wet. Especially when coming out of 4-way intersection in a down pour. Open end diffs suck.

[Wuze]

Originally Posted by Hootie

It is and starting 2nd helps a lot when the road is extremely wet. Especially when coming out of 4-way intersection in a down pour. Open end diffs suck.

Or when you're blasting out of somewhere onto the main road. ;D

[tiddlermx23]

quick question, do you have to take your foot off the gas to shift like a manual or keep it pinned then shift. first time paddle shift user so i dont wanna screw the tranny up. just lost the one in my accord so im a little nervouse about transmissions at the moment. thanks

[Hootie]

You have your foot throught the floor board and shift. It wouldn't do any harm.