So one thing I've observed in moving from a manual to an auto is the difference in experience in passing.

The manual felt quicker to accelerate, but it's a trick. You'd downshift and then accelerate. With the auto, you accelerate and then it downshifts. There's a lag between intent and action. It's no slower really, it's just that the lag is when you are downshifting. And it's the nature of an automatic. Little stuff like this will take getting used to.

Realized today I could downshift on the paddle and then accelerate and it's all one smooth action.

Same with accelerating on a curve. My brain wants me to downshift so I hesitate and get a bit confused while my right hand can't figure out where to be on the wheel, as it used it have to do something else.

I am glad I got the paddles, it'll be a while before I can use them without thinking.

 

Got to retrain that brain...sure it will come.

 

It'll be an adjustment for me as well. I went for the paddles on my F56 order from a manual on my R56 because I can no longer drive a manual on a regular basis. We'll see how that adjustment works.

 

As my own car, my paddle-shifter is the first automatic I've had since the '60s. Shifting gears, even in heavy traffic, had never been a nuisance to me, but quicker acceleration was enticing.

Do long-time users use the paddles most of the time?

 

I was a manual die hard, the paddle shifters are great. Just pre downshift to get on the power band like a manual and go.

The nice thing about the MINI set-up is it's a push pull on both sides....