I'm interested in getting paddle shifters and I was wondering if any of you with an automatic would comment on your experiences with them in the Clubman, especially as opposed to a manual transmission. I've had manuals most of my life, and I see paddle shifters a lot in racing. How practical are they for everyday driving? Are they useful or did they turn out to be more of a novelty that got old?

Also, I see lots of complaints about the wind noise generated by a sunroof, especially a closed sunroof and I would love to get your take on that as well. I like to listen to music when driving, and a quiet cabin would be great. Having said that, I have no problem listening to the motor, like I said, I like to listen to music when I drive. Thanks to all.

 

ok I came from manual pickups and a manual Boxster. we got the auto with the paddles because my wife has had 6 knee surgery's and clutching was causing pain. on the highway its in drive, hard braking I'm down shifting with the paddles. in the hills and twisties, sport mode with tranny in manual shift and I'm working the paddles up and down the gears while staying on it. I don't think I could manually shift up and down as fast or clean keeping the power to the wheels as the auto does. acceleration in drive is not as fast a manual would be. If you want the auto to perform set it in the manual mode. I play with the paddles every day as we live at the top of a 6 mile 2 lane mountain road with tons of twists and turns and it's the only way into town.

Sunroof closed and there is no noise from it that I can tell

 

As I get bored in auto I'll start using the paddle shifters. They work fine but hard to use when making turns. I prefer using the shifter in manual mode with the sport button on. The shifts are quick and tight with the sport button on with either the paddles or the shifter.

 

Just remember this is a conventional automatic tranny not an auto-clutch manual.

 

Many that complain about noise from teh sun roof go and have it adjusted at the dealer. Mine make very very little noise but then again they will always be slightly noiser than a solid roof.

 

I usually drive in sport mode with the shifter. I tried the paddles, but I ended up going back to the shifter pretty quickly. It just feels more natural. Shifting manually barely requires any more thought than letting the car shift for you. It just makes it more fun to drive.

I haven't had a problem with sunroof noise at all.

 

I find that I use them more than I thought I would. Mostly I just leave it in "D" since my commute is 20 miles of hiway but I enjoy playing with them in the twisites, just remember to set the lever in the manual mode or it may not hold the gear like you want it to on light throttle.

One interesting thing I've found is that I only shift the paddles with my right hand, I guess old habits die hard!

I have trouble using the lever to shift but only because our Audi tiptronic works the opposite way, so I get confused. Using the paddles is different enough that I never have a problem jumping back and forth between them.

One other small issue, once you get used to the MINI automatic, you might find yourself forgetting to put the clutch in at stops in your sitckshift cars!

Sunroof noise is why my '09 Clubby does not have a sunroof.