OK, so I keep hearing on "Top Gear" how the host Jeremy hates flappy paddle shifters. Or is it floppy paddle shifters? I don't know, I've never had them before. The owner's manual calls them paddle shifters.
Anyway, our new Mitsubishi has them, so I had to try them.
My verdict? I guess I haven't played enough video games; I don't like them so much, either.
But to be honest, my biggest problem is I shift by sound, not by sight. The Mazda was somewhat noisey. In fact, that was the only complaint Consumer Reports had about the car: it had too much engine noise. That's bad?
The Misubishi is quiet. If I have the radio on at a very low volume (what fun is that?) I can't hear the engine at all. How am I supposed to know when to shift? Look at the tach? Aren't we supposed to keep our eyes on the road?
Well, it is an automatic, it just has a setting for manual, clutchless shifting. The problem is, going to that setting puts you in first gear, so I haven't figured how to go from automatic to manual on the fly so I can down shift on downhill grades. Maybe that's possible, maybe not.
Of course, the best answer would've been getting a manual transmission to begin with, but shifting gets old in daily city traffic. I like being able to do that just occasionally. So, I'll go to the Studebaker if I want real manual shifting.
In the meantime, I think I'll just keep the Ditsi Mitsi in automatic mode. At least for now. The time will come, though, that I'll just have to try that paddle shifting again, sooner or later.

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