Tytus

I just read that speedART is making a paddle shift steering wheel to replace the button type steering wheel that comes on cars equiped with tiptronic transmissions. I am dying to replace mine as the buttons are quite annoying at autocross events and not that great at the track, though less of an issue.

At autocross events you inadvertantly shift accidently when you have to cross your hands in a tight turn. I have been waiting for a fix for this and finnally I see someone has made it.

Does anyone have any experience with speedART or these steering wheels yet?

I can't find a price on line and have tried to get in touch with the US rep and still haven't heard back, any feed back would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tytus

Tytus

Well I got more info from speedART, the wheel costs $2,500 for the standard black model and goes up from there to $3,500 for carbon fiber, in case anyone is interested or curious.

Again, I have not heard much about this German company so I am just wondering if they are reputable. They basically to crazy tuning, body kits, wheels, etc. and this is one of their products.

Anyone have experience with them?

Thanks,

Tytus

Q

are they doing left paddle for down , right paddle for up ?

Tytus

Don't know, I have possed this queation and am awaiting a response.

Tytus

Yes I had that confirmed; right is up shift and left is down shift. The paddles ride with the wheel and are not fixed like on F-cars. The wheel is a smaller diameter and thicker, with three options, leather, silver or Carbon, leather being the base offering and the least expensive at $2,500.

They still haven't confirmed who actually makes the wheel, I would like to get a reliability read on this product before plunking down $2,500.

Tytus

jcb-memphis

Gert at Carnewal has wheels...a lot less pricey too....


He is in Belgium...do a google....


Best.

Jeff

LVDell

Stupid question, but can the 997 paddle shift wheel that was just released as a Tequipment option be made to work with the 996? Maybe that's a road you could venture down? I have seen several guys in the BMW forum convert their standard wheels to paddle wheels very easily.

Tytus

You are correct. Appears to be the same wheel at a much lower price. Apparently all the wheels are made by Raid and everybody just puts their logo on it.
I communicated with Gert, he offered very quick responses, first class operation by what I have noticed thus far. I have a couple of unanswered questions I posed late, hopefully he will answer by tomorrow am and I may be able to move ahead.

Thanks for the heads up.

Tytus

Tytus

Well I am about to place my order for the wheel. The Raid wheel through Carnewal comes with an air bag, smaller diameter wheel with paddles delivered for about $1,500. That's a lot less than the SpeedArt wheel. No logo on the Carnewal wheel and that suites me fine.

I will update once I receive the wheel, which they say should take about a week, we'll see.

Tytus

Tytus

Well I got the wheel and had it installed. The wheel is great, high quality and a vast improvement over stock due to the paddle function over the buttons. Shifts are much better, quicker and more possitive as well as more comfortable and no chance of iadvertantly shifting if your hands cross in a tight corner. The smaller diameter makes the wheel feel quicker and the thicker and sculptured aspect of the wheel really makes you feel locked into the wheel. I was worried that the smaller diameter may obscure the guages but that is not the case, you can see everything fine. The wheel came with an adapter which also spaced the wheel a little more forward and thus pulled it away from the stalks maybe an inch. This helps to avoid interference with the paddles. The wheel was a bit far before and now feels closer which for me is better as I was on the full extension of the adjustment as my legs are long, so this all worked out great.

Good thing I didn't try to mount the wheel myself as it required an adjustment to the alignment and resetting of the steering sensor because the wheel wouldn't center on the splines as it was off just between the splines. Not a big deal, about an additional $100 in labor to install.

All in all I am very happy with it and it should be much better for Autocross and tracking. A great deal for about $1,500 shipped including an air bag. This was the Raid 70188 Daytona Race with shift paddles, there are other models available but I wanted the bit of Alcantra on the bottom and the flat spot on the bottom of the race model.

Attached are some photos.

Tytus

ltc

I'm a bit confused.
The shift time for a PDK (DSG) should be MUCH faster than a Tiptronic (torque converter based) transmission.
So I don't see the advantage of the paddles vs the buttons with respect to shift time. Is it just driver comfort/hand position?

What am I missing?

BTW, ^ + 1 on Gert at Carnewal.

Tytus

Yes the advantage is comfort and hand position as well as locating the desired shift properly. You could pull down on the button or push in on the button to make either an up or down shift inadvertantly. The Porsche button shifters really suck. The buttons are basically a toggle you push either the top or bottom of the button to make an up or down shift; if you push "down" on the top of the button rather than "in" you can trigger the opposite shift than desired. Ask me how I know; and then decided to get this wheel.

The actual activation is marginally faster on the padle as the travel is shorter to activate the shift, but the feel is fantastic. This is not a substitute for a PDK as that is transmission dependant but the paddles make the tiptronic operate like the PDK with paddles.

Tytus

jcb-memphis

For a normal person, I bet these are more than fast enough for track work given the torque of our engines....

Nice photos....

BTW, Lefteris (? sp) had 3d stickers and one of them placed just right of the Porsche crest would really improve the OEM look.....just my 2c.


Jeff

(if I had a tip and was a driver, this wheel would be a must...)

Tytus

Jeff,

Not sure what you mean? There is no logo on the wheel, so not sure what you are referring to?

Tytus

jcb-memphis

To add a nice crest if you want one..that is all. Looks awesome!

Jeff