Paddle shifting your 10 speed

[Theye77]

Does anyone here shift their 10 speed auto at all? Whats your experience in doing manual shifting With this transmission? When downshifting do you downshift all the way to 1st? I find when it is pushed and under throttle it shifts quite fast, downshifts are very clunky, especially when shifting from 3rd to 2nd. The car really seems to lunge forward. Just curious how you drive yours and what your experiences are.

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[23GreenGremlin]

I have played with it both while at the Track Attack event (had one of the few automatic cars) and here at home. I find that at least for me, it really doesn't work well. Too many gears to get what you want in terms of either engine braking or bringing up the revs right now by pulling the paddles accurately to the gear you want while simultaneously trying to drive the beast.

I did find that when in sport or track mode, if you want to get the trans to downshift for a corner, if you brake really firm, the transmission will wake up and downshift aggressively for you, but you have to give it a clear signal with your foot. Works just as well getting aggressive downshifts by putting the pedal to the floor. Just can't get the same fine level of control with the 10-speed as you can with the manual trans.

Maybe if I really practice using them a lot more it would get better, but I doubt it would get much better. Just seems like this trans works best when you let it do its thing without trying to awkwardly second guess with the paddles.

 

[CrazyHippie]

Yes, I use my paddle shifters in Sport mode (shifter "S" position). I found that it takes practice and learning how the car will respond to shifting under varying conditions. Shifting under hard acceleration and hard deceleration is very different from up and down shifting under more gentle conditions. When just putting around, you've got to pay attention to the tach and only shift at rpms that you know will produce a smooth shift. If you downshift and the car surges, it's likely due to auto rev matching - in this case try a different rpm for the shift. When shifting all the way to first when coming to a stop, wait in second until you are between 1000 and 1500 rpms and it will work smoothly. Pulling away in first is often tricky - you've got to upshift to second immediately and if the wheel is rotated cause you're turning, it can be tough to find the paddle.

My recommendation is to practice and pay attention to your rpms. 10 speeds are a handful to manage manually.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

Does anyone here shift their 10 speed auto at all? Whats your experience in doing manual shifting With this transmission? When downshifting do you downshift all the way to 1st? I find when it is pushed and under throttle it shifts quite fast, downshifts are very clunky, especially when shifting from 3rd to 2nd. The car really seems to lunge forward. Just curious how you drive yours and what your experiences are.

I paddle-shifted the A10 in a rental car because I was driving in the mountains, and the transmission computer couldn't find the right gear if you drew it a map.
That piece of wanted to keep the engine at about 2000rpm, even when I was going uphill. The poor engine felt like it was in a constant state of bogging down.

Once I started using the paddles it was very responsive, shifting up or down.

(I still decided I'd rather have a manual transmission, than have paddles and an utterly retarded computer.)

 

[Bob Lob Law]

I only use the paddles when on nice empty twisty back roads playing with it. But, in track mode it works great too! The more aggressive that you get with the brakes and the throttle the more aggressive the transmission gets and gets fairly decent.

 

[COYOTE_64S25FEF]

Upshifts are fine and on the right side of aggressive. Downshifts are ok -6-5-4. They’ve been terrible (like you describe) for -3-2-1.

I come from the ZF8 in the A90 Supra, and it would downshift smooth on demand all the way down to 1 no matter the scenario (minding RPM limits).

So far with the 10R80, I downshift with paddles only down to 3.

For the fastest upshifting, I let Drag mode do its thing.

The gearing is so close, downshifting doesn’t seem to give the super loud exhaust result that I’m used to on other autos and manuals, but I’m also stock (active) exhaust.

3-6 can be enjoyable up and down once you understand how the car responds at different rpms. And once you’re happy, just know there are lots of other great autos that have a more enjoyable paddle experience to move into in the future.

 

[The Demon]

My answer is no. Get a tune and use track mode. It knows what to do.

 

[MLO 351]

Use the paddles for the majority of the time I drive. A tune will help with the downshifts and with many other aspects of how this transmission behaves. I've had adaptive learning turned off, increased the min RPM threshold slightly so you can select a lower gear at a higher speed when downshifting and not be locked out by the ECU, had a soft rev limiter added via the tune, not that I hit the limiter often but if I do, I prefer not to be thrown through the windscreen and I'd recommend a pair of magnetic aftermarket shift paddles.
You can also select 2nd gear via the paddles for take offs after you have come to a complete stop, I find that handy at times.
The above makes a huge difference.

 

[S550HPP]

I do on high frequency Twisties in sport mode and works fine.

 

[skinnyb]

I use paddles on twisties as well, but only primarily 3-6 as a lot have mentioned. the 3-2 shift is clunky...

 

[ChitownStang]

I use the paddles quit often, once the trans is warmed up. 3.5 years of practice. As others have said the more you accelerate the faster the shifts due to the pressure I believe.
-start in 2nd from stoplight
-Don't be eager to down shift until going very slow, 3-2 at like 5mph
-basically I turn my car into an 8-speed when paddle shifting.
Takes alot of practice ad a good tune for it to be enjoyable

 

[Shepard]

Paddle shifting feels strange to me. Being an automatic there's that feeling that you're shifting through a bluetooth controller and for most drives, I wouldn't recommend it. On twisty roads in track mode, it can be fun using them to hold it in the right gears going in and out of the curves. I'll second what Chitown said, if the trans isn't warmed up properly, it will lag, clunk through gears, and protest.

When I was new to paddle shifting on this car, I used the general guideline of +/-10mph for each gear until 50 under moderate acceleration/deceleration. I really don't do it much anymore.

 

[Paddles]

I almost exclusively use the paddles because Ford's stock shift logic sucks for a "sports" car. It's clearly designed to function similar to a CVT and it annoyingly prioritizes MPG above anything else. As stated by another poster above, the clunky downshifting can be avoided by staying in 3rd until you're below 10 MPH. Once I see 9 MPH I rapidly double click the paddle from 3rd to 1st and it's a lot smoother. I only perform the 3-2 shift if I'm decelerating into a sharp turn so I can gun it coming out of the turn. I have also noticed that throttle position plays a big part in how clunky the shifts are. If you add or reduce throttle as almost any shift is occuring it almost always clunks. If you hold the throttle in the same spot as it shifts it becomes a lot smoother.

 

[Theye77]

Use the paddles for the majority of the time I drive. A tune will help with the downshifts and with many other aspects of how this transmission behaves. I've had adaptive learning turned off, increased the min RPM threshold slightly so you can select a lower gear at a higher speed when downshifting and not be locked out by the ECU, had a soft rev limiter added via the tune, not that I hit the limiter often but if I do, I prefer not to be thrown through the windscreen and I'd recommend a pair of magnetic aftermarket shift paddles.
You can also select 2nd gear via the paddles for take offs after you have come to a complete stop, I find that handy at times.
The above makes a huge difference.

Definitely planning a tune at some point. What tune did you go with? I find the downshifts in auto stock no matter drive mode I am in are crap and lazy when rolling up to a light. Sometimes the car will be in 6th gear as I am about to stop and it just doesn’t convey that v8 throaty exhaust note I was expecting. My 16GT premium with the ZF 6 speed in sport mode was so much and had great downshifts.

 

[Theye77]

Yes, I use my paddle shifters in Sport mode (shifter "S" position). I found that it takes practice and learning how the car will respond to shifting under varying conditions. Shifting under hard acceleration and hard deceleration is very different from up and down shifting under more gentle conditions. When just putting around, you've got to pay attention to the tach and only shift at rpms that you know will produce a smooth shift. If you downshift and the car surges, it's likely due to auto rev matching - in this case try a different rpm for the shift. When shifting all the way to first when coming to a stop, wait in second until you are between 1000 and 1500 rpms and it will work smoothly. Pulling away in first is often tricky - you've got to upshift to second immediately and if the wheel is rotated cause you're turning, it can be tough to find the paddle.

My recommendation is to practice and pay attention to your rpms. 10 speeds are a handful to manage manually.

Totally agree - 2nd shift after launch is a must. And in fairness I find it does upshift in manual mode quite well.

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