Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

Paddle Shifters - Hate 'em

53K views 101 replies 62 participants last post by  Bob Perry 
#1 ·
I have no use for them on my '14 Overland. I've bumped them accidentally on two occasions. Once, in heavy 4 lane traffic when I wanted to accelerate and was momentarily stuck in 8th gear, so there was no acceleration. The second time was pulling out into traffic from a stop and it was stuck in first and revved nearly to red line. Embarrassing.

Before you tell me to learn to drive, my other car is a supercharged manual 6-speed '04 GTO. I just have no use for paddle shifters on my Jeep.

Does anyone know of a way to disable the paddles? My wife is afraid of it happening to her. Can I pull a fuse?
 
#4 ·
Wait....if you tap one of the shift paddles, the trans will automatically go into manual shift mode? Okay, didn't know that. So if it happens by accident, what's the quickest way to get it out of manual shift mode? Tap the shifter?
 
#5 ·
Hold the "+" paddle down for ~2 seconds.
 
#10 ·
Not crazy about them either. Maybe Im just use to having the manual shifting on the actrual shifter of my old Audi A6, that was more fun to drive then using paddle shifters. I think the 8 speed with Sport mode is great, almost no need for manual shifter paddles....

Mac
 
#11 ·
I have not accidently hit them yet and don't use them all that often.

But you are right there should be a way to disable them.

I've turned them on and forgot once, slowed down to a light and then went to take off and it stayed in first for a very long time. WTF. But that was of course my fault.

I can see that happening accidently.
 
#16 ·
You don't need to permanently disable them.

Like perhaps if you pull on both paddles for 2 seconds it would shut off. And same to turn on. To avoid accidental hits.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Here is my opinion. On the 14 SRT the gears are so short and there is good power I feel like I am double and triple clicking a mouse all the time :(

The shifts are too frequent and I always hit the limiter on the 1-2. The tach in the SRT Is WAYYYYY too small to be able to pay attention to what rpm you are at and rip through the gears properly. I wish there was a shift light, a heads up display, or a big glowing "SRT" on the speedo when redline hit. Similiar to what the viper does.

Dissapointed with the manual shifting experience.
 
#20 ·
Seems to me that the best way to disable the shifters is to not touch them. Not to be particularly snarky here, but you gotta reach for the paddles in order to activate them. I have never come close to touching either shifter without making a defined effort to gear up or down.

But, there is one circumstance where the paddles don't function as I would want them to. Taking off on 1st from a stop sign with either an immediate right or left 90 degree turn; kinda hard to hit 2nd gear while the steering wheel is spinning.
 
#21 ·
Seems to me that the best way to disable the shifters is to not touch them. Not to be particularly snarky here, but you gotta reach for the paddles in order to activate them. I have never come close to touching either shifter without making a defined effort to gear up or down. But, there is one circumstance where the paddles don't function as I would want them to. Taking off on 1st from a stop sign with either an immediate right or left 90 degree turn; kinda hard to hit 2nd gear while the steering wheel is spinning.


i thought the same thing about turning and shifting.

when i first bought mine i hit it twice on accident and my wife has as well. but since then no more accidents. just wasn't use to the shifters.
 
#22 ·
I'm trying to imagine the size of hand it would take to accidentally bump the paddles.
Even more so to bump them into 8th, which is actually not that easy to get into on purpose unless you are at or near 7.

If you practice using them, when you want to speed up to pass, use the paddles to drop a gear or two and hold it until you want to upshift.

.... practice on a Ferrari?
 
#24 ·
Just average size hands. :lol: Autos ought to downshift on their own just fine.

Like I said, I was in heavy traffic (loop around Indianapolis), probably doing 55 mph. Going up an incline and trying to get around a slow truck, I did several head-checks before attempting to make a lane-change and accelerate around it. Somewhere in the process I bumped the paddle which put the Jeep in 8th gear. It seemed to actually slow down when I pushed down on the gas pedal.

Being new to the vehicle and not realizing what had happened for several seconds, I thought there was something wrong with it and began to contemplate where to pull off if it died.

I've been driving for about 45 years, have owned many manual transmission cars and done some competitive driving. Haven't had an accident in the last 40. I just don't like paddle shifters on an SUV. To me it's boy-racer "cool". Now, on an SRT, ...maybe. :thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
According to the online owner's manual, it looks like the paddle shifters can be disabled iin the uconnect settings.

Paddle Shifting
Selecting this feature enables the use of steering wheel
paddle switches for shifting in manual mode. To make
your selection, touch the Paddle Shifting soft-key, until a
check-mark appears next to setting, indicating that the
setting had been selected. Touch the back arrow soft-key
to return to the previous menu.
 
#28 ·
bumping paddle shifter just happened to me.geeeeez........50 miles on a new summit an wow what a sound. There was a guy in a g t o in front of me an I thought he was really working his first gear,but I tried to step on gas to speed up an wow what a sound.........it was me in first gear....geez, I hope I didn't do any damage to the new engine or trany.....It only lasted a few seconds but didn't have a clue how to get back in drive. I finally held the plus shifter forward an it went into drive..........Geez,shared hell out of me.....when in econ mode when jeep is in drive, is the gear number always located next to the "D" on the dash????.......Will it only go up to "7"?..............sonny:eek:
 
#30 ·
I agree.....not crazy about them, esp the location. At least when it was part of the shifter it made sense like you were shifting a manual transmission.

I hit it once when new and was like what the heck the car would't really move....got into left turn lane, turn off car and restarted. I know, I know, I shoulda done my homework on them in advance. Just haven't tried them out. Will do soon as I gotta know what to do if I accidentally hit them.

They should made them disablable and then only turn on if you hold for like 5 seconds or something. I'm not crazy about them and have no use for them.

So, by holding down the + for about 2 seconds automatic reengages and also by pulling back the electronic shifter the automatic also reengages?
 
#31 ·
So, by holding down the + for about 2 seconds automatic reengages and also by pulling back the electronic shifter the automatic also reengages?
Yeah, either way works. For me, pulling back on the shifter seems faster. No waiting, except for the time it takes for your hand to get their.
 
#32 ·
Paddle Shifters aren't for everyone.

Of course, IMHO, far too many "drivers" barely ARE Drivers. They are more like Passengers who happen to be sitting behind a steering wheel. :rolleyes:

Some folks don't really CONTROL their vehicle. They are far too busy texting, or putting on makeup, or doing anything other than what they Should be doing... which is Driving.

IMHO Paddle Shifters are for ACTIVE DRIVERS who want as much CONTROL of their Vehicle as possible.

So... if you know how many cup holders your vehicle has but don't its engine specs...

:slapfight:
 
#34 ·
Paddle Shifters aren't for everyone.

Of course, IMHO, far too many "drivers" barely ARE Drivers. They are more like Passengers who happen to be sitting behind a steering wheel. :rolleyes:

Some folks don't really CONTROL their vehicle. They are far too busy texting, or putting on makeup, or doing anything other than what they Should be doing... which is Driving.

IMHO Paddle Shifters are for ACTIVE DRIVERS who want as much CONTROL of their Vehicle as possible.

So... if you know how many cup holders your vehicle has but don't its engine specs...

:slapfight:
Being the OP, I'm not sure whether this was directed at me or not but imo, paddle shifters are strictly boy racer in a luxury SUV. Of course, if you do a lot of off-roading that would be an exception, but most are commuter/grocery getters.

As previously stated, I also drive a supercharged manual 6spd coupe that makes 470hp and 470ft/lb torque at the crank. (Kind of like and SRT8 but 1500lb. lighter.) I did the complete supercharger install myself.

Tell me, how does knowing engine specs make you an ACTIVE driver in CONTROL of a vehicle.
 
#33 ·
I have never had a problem accidentally bumping them and I have huge hands. I wear 3xl gloves for my motorcycle and have yet to find a pair of mechanics gloves that fit. In not sure how guys are accidentally bumping them when you have to pull them in. Shifting the car into neutral when resting your hand on the hear shifter though? That's an issue that both me and my wife have. That thing is a little to easy to move. Needs a bit firmer detent on it.


Sent from my iPhone using JeepGarage
 
#43 ·
I drive almost exclusively in sport mode. Eco mode is disabled when in sport, if that's an answer to the previous post.....

I like the paddle shifters. Comes in handy when spirited driving is called for. It's not for everyday driving, but every now again it's a nice change of pace. It's there if you want it and if you don't you're not forced to use them. Why all the "hate"?

To respond to an earlier post,

I know what I need to know to operate a car. Gas=go, brake=stop, oh, I also know how to run the heat/AC as well as the radio/nav. I pay people to maintain the vehicle. I think I know all I need to know to get from point a to point b safely. I'm almost 40 and have never had an accident=I'm a good driver, Numbers don't lie. I guess all of that means I really know the specs and all the nuances of my vehicle. I almost forgot, I know how to use the paddle shifters too.

The truth is I know very little about cars in general, yet somehow I'm still alive after years of driving. How is that possible?





Sent from my iPhone using JeepGarage
 
#44 ·
I drive almost exclusively in sport mode. Eco mode is disabled when in sport, if that's an answer to the previous post.....
There is actually the 3 non-manual modes. "eco", eco turned off, and "sport" (which also has eco turned off too).
 
#46 ·
I find the paddle shifters to be excellent when driving in the mountains, especially in bad weather when you need to keep both hands on the wheel instead of reaching for the shifter to downshift, etc. I do NOT use them in everyday driving (ECO mode), or even when driving "aggressively" (Sport mode), as the transmission calibrations seem to be very good there, but if you need to hold gears going up and down steep passes, the paddles are great. Even my wife likes them and has figured quite quickly how to properly operate them. We have both tapped them once or twice by accident, but it has never been an issue and once you know to be a bit careful it doesn't happen any more.

FWIW, we have six vehicles now (the rest are German, Italian and British cars), and this is the only car with an automatic and it is by far the best automatic transmission that I have ever driven. In my opinion, the paddles are a great feature that I didn't think that I would appreciate as much as I do.

YMMV.
 
#50 ·
I could not read through all of this pointless drivel so I don't know if this has already been posted; OP, you must have really long fingers... you know what they say about really long fingers, toes or big hands... count your blessings and move on.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top