Oh also for those who don't know, you can still use the paddles to shift while the shifter is still in the "auto" position. The car will downshift to 5th and temporarily be in manual mode when you tap the down paddle and then return to auto after a few seconds if you don't use the paddles anymore.

wow...

oh and before i forget, lets say im in the rev matching mode, on the highway can i just switch it back to automatic without stopping the car or is that bad?

Lol, these are things that you generally ask the sales person, or try and figure out on your own. Its just a car, not rocket science - Have some fun and take it out for a spin. Downshift at different gears to feel the power change. Hear the car.

You cant really stall the automatic. So theres no need to slow down to change gears.

Good luck..:ugh2:

Yup, the car is smart enough to keep you from from doing anything stupid :tup:

yes you can go back and forth between M and auto mode anytime

Was there not a handy little book somewhere in the car when you bought it? Read it. Front to back.

No harm in playing around with it. The computer will prevent you from doing anything bad. Enjoy the new car!

I don't have that much experience driving automatics
 

What I do know is that to go forward I put it in D drive & give it gas. When I want to slow down, I ease off the gas & use the brake to control the slow down. I don't give it much thought because the car does all that automatically. OK not that funny:p

no real reason to use the paddles unless you are on a track. For daily driving, the car upshifts better than you do (if you don't want it to shift early, press the gas pedal further...), and downshifts as fast as it can when you press the gas.

So about the only time it is useful is when you want to be in a specific gear as you slow down your car. And just about the only reason you would be doing this is because you know a corner is coming up and you want to be in a specific gear and so you are able to gas smoothly as soon as you get off the brakes without waiting for the torque converter.

I find value in daily driving all the time. I can anticipate when I want to have more power response and downshift before I've even given the car a chance to see my inputs and switch.

I would actually argue that I can upshift better than the car. :) Am I more gas-efficient? Heck no. But I consider it "better." The Z is pretty dull and boring in full auto while daily driving 25-45mph. Of course, it still feels ok and looks sexxeh... :)

I downshift at about 2500-3000 RPM, I'd assume it would be the same in the 7AT in manual mode? It was on the F430... :p

Just practice, as others have said before, you'll get the hang of it and learn when to downshift and upshift and for which situations. Plus, if you ever get tired of it, you can switch back to auto mode. Me, I have to sit and shift through traffic... 1st - 2nd - N/stop - 1st -2nd - N/stop... god damn traffic!

And I'm not picking on the OP or anyone, just an observation I've seen amongst friends/friends of friends:

So many people say, "I wouldn't even know how to use a paddle shift!" Confuses me... have they never played a video game (it's exactly the same)? Or, it's just a blip of a paddle, that simple. It's not clutch in - shift - clutch out - gas.

I think the biggest concern (and it's one I had when I first ventured into using it on my Eclipse 11 years ago) is that you can break something by switching into it or doing it wrong. Just need a little encouragement that nothing bad will happen, and to start checking it out. :)