I waited till break in period. After that I do it when passing or think I need a boost, by down shifting. I like it !

 

There is a practical problem with manual shifting which I do on my CLA45 all the time - say if you are in a full stop at an intersection and then the light changes and you make a left turn ( or right turn) using the normal hand over hand method, you will find your finger not be able to find the correct shift paddle until your steering wheel has re-centered. Try it and you will see what I meant. I have now acquired the ability to do it right almost all the time but it can be a pain. MB is using the CLA to work out all the bugs on this in house cheap dual clutch transmission. Notice even the new C-class retains a conventional auto gear box. BMW has stayed away from it also except for the M-cars. I really wish they had given us the regular MB 7-speed auto box instead.

 

Yeah, I watch a lot of F1 races, and I've already realized that using the paddle shifters while turning is going to be a challenge at best.

I'm not happy with the transmission, either. It rarely does what I want when I want it. And when it does up or downshift at the right time, I'm all surprised. Like: "Wow, it just did what it was supposed to do! Amazing!"

I wonder whether any of this is fixable by a mere ECU update? Probably not.

 

Take a picture of yourself paddle shifting then you will never do it again.

Personally the idea of having my hands at 10 and 2 to squeak out a small amount of extra power by being in a lower gear just isn't worth the trade-off

 

User it only when needed (it works E ), not full time. You will like it.

 

I've owned 3 mercs now, and their gear boxes have always been the worst thing about the cars. I test drove the A45 and CLA45 and found that the gear box and shifts were fast. Mind you, I was manual the whole time and only using the paddles. When mine arrives I'll be manual shifting I think. I like to drive my cars and hate automatics. When I did test drive the cars, I did notice that the downshifting a bit hesitant but I think that was due to the revs being too high when selecting a lower gear???

 

Armchair,
I disagree with your salesperson. I use manual almost exclusively for the break-in period to vary the rpm. However, I'm not doing any full throttle shifting, just gentle cruising.

 

Obey the manual please

 

Another reason to use the manual is holding the car, say in third around town, so the exhaust is audible but not offensive and you can hear the backfire pops. This works even in the CLA250.
There is absolutely NO reason to use the ECO mode. The stop-start and fast upshift is there to give the CAFE mileage number a boost. Even the Sport mode does that but the kickdown is a bit easier.
I drove my M3 and the 45 back to back yesterday in the long country road behind my town and the six-speed M3 put the CLA45 to shame even in manual mode. My son, who loves the CLA45 finally agrees
the CLA45 is in need of a manual six-speed and on a twisting narrow road through rolling hills, the ability to control your engine's RPM made the M3 much faster and far more joyous to drive. The roar of the V8 and
8400 rpm redline vs the 6250 on the Merc also allows you to concentrate on the road instead of keep trying to avoid hitting fuel cutoff at high speed. The CLA45 is plenty fast on a straight stretch and will probably
match the M3 in 0-60 and quarter mile but driving is not in a straight line...

 

Never used them, probably never will. They're a great novelty feature, but for me the automatic transmission copes just fine...

 

Try this, while you want to pass a car on highway, rather than pressing hard on gas, just use the paddle to down shift once (no need to change any modes). You will be amazed how easy the car will accelerate and pass. Up shift once done, or don't do anything at all, it will go back to prior mode after few seconds.

Please note, it won't go back to prior mode if you come to a stop immediately. Use the MSE switch to change it back if you wish.

 

I was so excited when I saw this car had a dual clutch when it was first announced... unfortunately it seems like the DCT in this car is a lot crappier than BMW's regular automatic transmissions.. OH well.. I'm not racing anyways just hope the shifts aren't all over the place which according to some it is.. which has me worried a bit

 

Most of the time for me. I've only driven manuals for over 20 years now, and I find anything automatic to be boring. Took some getting to used to, but i much prefer it over the wonky auto modes

 

My plan is to use the paddle shifters all the time. The key (as you've noted) is that making the transition takes time and patience.

If the F1 guys can do it going 300 KPH with hairpin turns, I'm sure I can do it in the neighborhoods and on the interstate!

 

I tend to use the paddles about 80% of the time in town and getting up to speed on the highway. But on the highway, long drives I just keep it in sport mode.

 

I love when people revive old threads like this and I truly mean that in a good way. lol It just goes to show how many great threads are already on the board and worth continuing.

I find that Manual mode on the 45 (at least on the '14 models) is the closest I can come to getting a smooth, predictable ride out of the transmission. In Sport, especially from a cold start, it's all wonky. In Comfort it's...well...who wants to drive it in Comfort? lol

Unfortunately, I find that even when I leave it in Sport, I instinctively flick the paddles to change gears when I want it to change gears. Sometimes it's not a big deal. Other times, I'll end up with a double upshift or something else is timed poorly because the transmission was already about to shift and assumes I'm asking for an extra shift. I don't blame this on the transmission since I interfered with what it was supposed to be doing. I'm just used to driving a true manual daily so conceding control to an automatic (DCT, whatever. It could have 100 clutches. Without a 3rd pedal, any transmission that shifts itself is an automatic to me) is hard to do. When this happens, I have to either remind myself to leave the paddles alone or just put the transmission in Manual model.

-Eric

 

.....
Unfortunately, I find that even when I leave it in Sport, I instinctively flick the paddles to change gears when I want it to change gears
.....
-Eric

Having gotten used to the moods of our 7GDCT I do something similar ... my left fingers get restless!
But alas depending on the "exciting" situation those very same fingers dont always connect with those smallish plastic paddles.
So I plonked in those big metal ones! Now I have a much larger grip range ?

 

Totally agree with a number of posters here... Manual paddle shifting is not efficient for daily driving. Unless you plan to race, and hopefully not on the street, the manual paddle shifting is redundant and very cumbersome to use. I use the "M" mode only when I am coasting down a hill road, and I want to engine brake the car so as to limit the use of the brakes...

you can try it just to educate yourself with the system, but trust me, after a while of doing this in regular driving, you would not be too enthusiastic about it much more.

You want to feel a bit more oommph in the car, just use the "S" mode, it should be exciting enough to get your adrenaline going.

 

I disagree with you, for city driving the S Mode is too "aggressive", rev the engine way too much for not reason. Manual is the best for me.
I use manual 99% of the time.

Envoyé de mon Nexus 6 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

I use it to escape sh@#$ty situations or if someone pisses me off, or if i enter a corner too fast and i need higher traction (not engine braking)

there are also reports that DCT is much more durable than regular AUTO transmission.
but only TIME will tell! .

 

Yup, its always good to agree to disagree ... the world is full of diversity!

To be honest, when I said to use the "S" mode, I didn't propose to do that 24/7... I personally only use "S" mode when I need to do an aggressive passing maneuver. Otherwise you are right, DAVID170, the "S" mode is aggressive, it turns the CLA250 into a different "beast" altogether... but I can't do that "S" mode 24/7, the high revving would drive me nuts!

 

And chew up that gas mileage .....

 

I use the paddles almost exclusively now after installing PD. Starting the car, turning off the eco start/stop and switching to M mode has been a muscle memory. The E or S mode transmission logic and programming of a 2014 model leaves a great deal to be desired (seems to have been fixed on 2016's and above).

The paddles give a much more engaged driving experience and the pedal commander gives a quasi good'ol direct cable throttle response (vs a sloppy drive-by-wire on E).

 

It is no problem to use the paddles during the first 1500km engine run in time> Be careful not to exceed 4500RPM during this period. I have no problem with unusual gearshifts in automatic/sport or sport+.
The gearbox is working fine in all modes (model CLA45 AMG 2017). The best is to use all modes, incl paddles so the gearbox uses all gears during run in period. Do not push the car to itś limits in this period, brakes/gearbox/engine need this time to settle in.

 

I never use pedals it shifts for me when I want to redline

 

I use M mode + paddles 99% of the time. I like to control my snap, crackle, and pops.

 

Totally agree!

 

Paddle shifters oddly dissatisfying

I really expected to like the paddles. as I am a big fan of manual transmissions...
I just cannot warm up to the paddles.
First off, they are too slow for my taste.

With a stick, I can instantly shift from any gear to any other ( within reason) . I often go from 5 down to 2nd, or
skip a gear either up or down. Perhaps unrealistically, i expected to be able to tap-tap and go 2 gears lower (or higher)
nearly instantaneously. Maybe I watched the Transporter one too many times, but then again, Statham drives
a high end Beemer there.

With a stick, I can shift by ear, but with the Cla paddles, the audio feedback is sort of not quite there.
So I find that the automatic often takes over because I am in too low, or to high gear, because I forgot to shift.
The end result is frustrating, so after trying a few times now I just do not bother.

On a different topic:
I find the sport mode annoying. The car is overall a lot louder, and the sport logic delays upshifting, and tends to
rev the car in a lower gear for no discernible benefit. No amount of revving the engine in low gear will turn the CLA
into a Ferrari. It is a compromise, slightly underpowered 4 banger, with excellent highway fuel economy.
I do not want to pretend it is anything else but that.

I find if I need to quickly pick up speed and floor the gas
the ECO logic will downshift just fine. But during highway cruising, the car is just more civilized
and quieter in ECO mode.

 

I don't use the paddles too much, I guess I'm just lazy. On the highway it doesnt make a lot of sense and dunno why after a while it changes to automatic anyway. In the city manual shifting is a pain, so for me it's just a nice addition to play with from time to time and that's about it.

If I want to accelerate more effectively I use the Kickdown function which imo works like charm.

 

The kickdown function? Does that mean dropping a gear with the paddle shifters or what exactly? Maybe you mean kicking the car and chastising it to stay down!

 

Kickdown with the paddles works fine... hold it down and you'll shift down multiple gears depending on the speed and current gear selection...

 

I haven't tried your method with the paddles. Instead, I pull the paddles multiple times to get to the gear I want. The car then steps me down to the gear selected as quickly as it is safe to do. I think we are doing the same thing, with different techniques. I'm trying yours next time I'm out.

 

The pedal switch and holding the left paddle do the same thing.

 

Flappy Paddles

Paddles 99% of the time on my 45, then switch to E for grid lock/ stop and go driving.
A friend asked what transmission I would I have on my next car..........I kind of miss a stick shift, but I flip/flop as to which is preferable, maybe I would need to drive a PDK set up in a porsche, and see what it is like, cause our DCT does not get good reviews.

 

Paddles 99% of the time on my 45, then switch to E for grid lock/ stop and go driving.
A friend asked what transmission I would I have on my next car..........I kind of miss a stick shift, but I flip/flop as to which is preferable, maybe I would need to drive a PDK set up in a porsche, and see what it is like, cause our DCT does not get good reviews.

The next gen 9DCTs are right around the corner ... and supposedly hooked up to an updated M133 with >400hp right out of the factory ?

 

The pedal switch does the same thing, with the paddles you can manage the throttle.

 

Though gas pedal position is at max+ in order to hit the floor switch ... and as with other dyno run experiences posted
here that little floor button is not exactly the optimum way to get out of trouble quickly. Seems modulated gas pedal
position increase coupled with one or two "-" paddle shifts does the trick most of the time ...

 

I drive in M mode 90% of the time. I notice though that auto downshifts in M mode are very audible vs in E or S mode. Anybody else notice this?

Sent from mTalk

 

I use the sounds to up and down shift, rarely look at the tach. In S mode, my shifts are fairly audible. Haven't driven in E in so long, I don't remember.