4 ms·

Saying they aren’t manual can be misleading. F1 and rally cars have automatic clutching but they certainly gear up and down manually.

• masklinn 4y ago
  There’s nothing misleading about it. Shift paddles are pretty standard on cars with automatic gearboxes. The only difference is that outside of sports cars “consumer” gearboxes will usually restrict the range they’ll let you use with semi-automatic shifting and will override that if you redline or bottom out.
  • hugh-avherald 4y ago
    F1 cars will not automatically shift gears though. That's the defining feature of automatic transmission.
    • masklinn 4y ago
      It’s completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand: whether the user or the computer initiates the gear change does not change the efficiency of the gearbox. When manuals are discussed on the internet, it’s the manual clutch which is the central difference, not what’s essentially a firmware feature or lack thereof. That’s what’s mentioned in pretty much every comment other than your nitpicks.
• djhworld 4y ago
  This feature is on ordinary cars too (sometimes called 'semi automatics') I actually have it on my car, there are paddles behind the steering wheel that can shift the gears up and down. It's a bit of a gimmick for ordinary driving as you can just let the car choose the appropriate gear, but I guess if you want to shunt down a few gears quickly on a hill to get some engine braking it can be useful
  • jacquesm 4y ago
    I use this for people that get easily carsick, it allows me to pull away in 2nd gear rather than first and that means fewer gearshifts and more smooth starting. It's not super good for the clutch but it certainly beats cleaning up...