Honestly, how many people actually use them? I'll admit, my Z is a little over a year old now with 11,644 miles and I have never used the paddle shifters and don't even get the point of having them. I never used them on my '09 TL Sh-AWD Tech either. When I traded that car in it had 49,000 miles. Never driven in Sports Mode and never used paddle shifters. When I purchased a 2012 Cadillac CTS Coupe, it took me a few months to even realize it had paddle shifters (because they were hidden behind the steering wheel instead of the pig's ears most cars have). Once again, I just don't see a need for them.

 

Amen.

 

Their really is no need for paddles on something like a ZDX or MDX. Acura is just doing this to have the same feature set as the competition, Lexus with F-Sport, and BMW cars, etc. Just like Acura is going to this complex dual screen user interface. Acura could easily make a more simple to use single screen interface with buttons, like they have been doing for many years. But they don't want to, they rather complicate things to 'keep up' with the likes of BMWs iDrive, and Audis MMI. No purpose, no thinking, the new cars with things like paddles and Dual Screen NAVI serve no purpose, other than to keep up with the competition.

 

Totally agree about the dual screen...another pointless feature. Acura used to be ahead of the crowd as far as tech and features. Now it just seems like they are always lagging behind. I can remember riding in my friend's '07 TSX and I was blown away by the nice touch screen nav. And this was right after I had purchased my '09 TL brand new and for the life of me I couldn't understand why they made the switch from the touch screen to that large hideous center knob. I have since grown to love the knob, but still seems like a step backwards when most luxury brands were offering touch screens and/or pop up navigation screens at that time. So what does Honda do...introduce the dual screens in the new Accord and then follow up every new Acura with it. Go figure. Hopefully this is just another phase.

 

Word

 

I use the paddles in sport mode in traffic to utilize engine braking, but once I get going it's back into D mode. At least the gear changes are faster than my '06 RL...never used the paddles in that, but did use the "tiptronic" shifter all the time for engine braking.

 

they are only useful in sport mode
in drive its pointless crap that doesnt really switch when you expect to

 

I've used the paddle shifters a couple of times in Sport mode. It does help sometimes for acceleration. I rarely use them, though.

 

Oh, and I HATE the new dual touch screens in the new Acuras!

 

I use the paddle shifters and the sport mode going over the mountain passes in Colorado. It's a kick.