Anyone know if you can make the paddle shifters on the steering wheel of the automatic only do one of the functions? meaning Make the left paddle Only shift down reguardless of pushed in or pulled back or Make the right paddle Only shift up reguardless of pushed in or pulled back? when i test drove the car it caught me off guard at first when i went to downshift and it went up a cog. its not really a problem but it kinda would like it like all the other F1 transmissions of the other cars that use the, ie Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Ferrari... personally i never liked these transmissions But when i drove the mini with it i thought it was wicked fun, plus going to be driving around Boston alot i didnt feel like dealing with a standard trans in the city for my first car. im glad the mini has a manual mode because i do like to go through the gears my self and the other cars i looked at didnt have them.
anyway anyone think thiers a software thing or something the dealers could change in the computer to switch it up?

 

yea i was hoping for the same thing. on the test drive i sent the rpms flying when i thought the shifters were F1 style. i asked the MA and he didnt know that both shifters were able to go UP and DOWN. How can a MA not know that, its one of the reasons i didnt get my car from Prestige Mini. That MA told me soo much wrong information that I didnt want to establish a relationship there.

 

Interesting question. I have an MCSa on order and actually own three the aforementioned F1 style shifters ( Ferrari 360 F1 Spider, Cayenne Turbo, and 997S Cab). The P-cars have have steering wheel rocker switches that both go up and down on each side. The biggest problem is not the combined function, but rather the fact tht the shifters in the P-cars, and the Mini rotate with the wheel, while the Ferrari is fixed to the steering column, and does not rotate with the wheel. The Ferrari style is 1000% Better ! It may seem that the rotating switches would be preferable, but it gets confusing when turning as the wheel becomes inverted, and therefore the witches are now inverted (ie down is now up! Thanks goodness for rev limiters! It is especially inconvenient when going from 1st -2nd gear at slow turns ...say a typical right hand turn in town. the shift from 1st to 2nd often wants to occur before the wheel is completely straightened out, and more focus is needed to check the position of the switches. At least the Cayenne allows you to bump-shift using the floor mounted shifter ( push forward for up-shift, and pull back for down-shift) , but the 997 does not have this feature. I don't know abut the Mini? My old M3 SMG BMW had bump shift as well, but the push/pull was backwards. Ya think the Germans would standardize a few things, but noooooo... Lets make each vehicle a new driving experience with different controls going opposite directions on different models. Arggghh.. Don't get me started.

After 30,000 mi in the Ferrari with F-1 including many track days, and over 50,000 mi in the P-cars, I can say that the Italians got it right, and the others are a distant 2nd. from an ergonomic standpoint and driving function.

 

After a week-and-a-half and a thousand+ miles of MCSa ownership, I think I can say with just a little authority (not much, but a little) that you'll find that having the paddles do what they're designed to do will not be a problem (with the exception of the Ferrari owner above - you're just gonna have to suck it up, mister.. ).

Seriously, I like using the paddles - not all the time, but often enough to know that "pulling" up-shifts, and "pushing" downshifts. I don't even think about it anymore - it just happens.

The car's computer won't let you downshift into an over-redline rpm situation.

You'll love the car.. trust me.

 

I originally thought they worked independently too BUT they do not.
I still use the floor mounted lever 95% of the time..too many years of rowing gears. I find it more intuitive to me. Great automatic IMHO. I posted some remarks the other day about my satisfaction with this setup.

 

I have no idea about the main question, but you get used to it real quick, largely negating the problem.

 

I don't think there's any way to change this - not yet, anyway.

I personally have NO problems with the way it works - including with the paddles turning with the wheel. Just takes getting used to. I drive HARD at the Dragon - and shift in all kinds of bizzare orientations which wouldn't be recommended in HPDE... and have no problems regardless of wheel orientation. Just have to get used to it - but I find that my hands are MORE likely to be near the paddles on the wheel as I'm turning, than they would be near the "fixed" locations on the column... And in hard twisty driving, I think the paddles are a signficant advantage vs. the stick and clutch... keeping two hands on the wheel is better...

And yes, you can bump shift with the lever - some people will think that this is backwards - others will be OK with it the way it is...

 

Yea, it certainly is possible; not to say that I've tried. I have taken apart the paddle shifter assembly and taken a look at the circuit boards inside them. If you have a bit of circuit board knowledge, it looked like it would be pretty simple to do this.

 

OK - I'll revise my answer - no way of doing it without modifying the circuit boards for the shifters, which no one has actually successfuly accomplished yet to my knowledge.

 

thats cool, seems im not the only one who thought about it, altho rubino does make a good point that as you turn the wheel it can become
disorientating, anyway im sure that it will all become a reflex and i'll probably never think about it again. thanks anyway guys, altho i still have to indure the next two days before i get to pick it up. AHHH the wait is killing me! it has literaly been the only thing on my mind for the last two weeks. oh well the day of deliverance is almost upon me.