F1 2011 Gears: Auto VS Manual

[Georgios Apostolopoulos]

Hello everyone, as the topic says... What do you use when you play the F1 2011? Manual or Automatic gearbox and why? I usually play on Auto but trying to improve my laptime using manual gearbox i see my times being faster, furthermore it's more cool and funny playing with manual gears but i dislike DFGT''s small buttons because playing for about 20 minute my fingers hurt and it's difficult to touch the buttons while steering!

 

[Wojciech Grabowski]

With manual gears I can be more aggresive than with auto. I can also choose how fass fuel is burning (shifting on low revs vs high revs). I'm also signing gears to corner.

Now I have G27 so I have big paddle shifters, but before, with DFGT problem wasn't big. I was driving manual even with DFGT.

To be honest I can't drive with auto. It's harder for me, lol.

 

[taz1004]

Shifting is more than just... shifting. Downshifting works as engine brake to effectively slow the car. And early upshifting is a good way to prevent the car from spinning out. When I step on the gas a bit too hard and feel the rear end beginning to jump out, I upshift and that settles it back down. Manual shifting is also a good way to adapt to changing characteristic of the car handling throughout the race. Taking a fast corner at 4th gear would have more oversteer than taking it in 5th gear for example.

 

[Peter Hooper]

Pretty much agree with what has already been posted. Manual gears is much faster but also much more immersive. I have always used manual gears but a while back I tried out auto gears and couldn't believe how boring it felt lol I just felt I wasn't as involved in the game any more. I prefer being able to choose what gear I take a given corner in rather than have it forced on me.

 

[Jan Köhler]

As for the Shifter buttons: Take a look at http://granturgismo.com/ , I bought them together with my DFGT and they are great.

I also play with manual gears, it takes a little time to get used to it, but once you are you won't drive with auto gears again. It's just so nice in terms of short-shifting, saving fuel or as a braking help. I'm glad this site convinced me of using Manual gears

 

[Riley Preston]

I use Manual gears because that's what the real drivers use , also, if you cant reach the buttons on the DFGT, you must have short fingers!

 

[stevehaz_uk]

Thanks for the link to the button/paddle kit for the DFGT, but seems a lot for what is a pretty small bit of kit. Anybody know of a cheaper alternative preferably in the UK?

 

[Alex Bikazzan]

Well, "once you go manual you never go back" (I realise that didnt sound too good..)

 

[Georgios Apostolopoulos]

Thank you all for your answers, i try playing in manual the last time and is great as i said, i love it. @Riley, i have a bit short fingers but i get difficulties changing gears while i steer my wheel in the edge of the rotation, also my fingers heart after a some time so i ll try gran turgismo paddles, i hope they worth it!

 

[Riley Preston]

Thank you all for your answers, i try playing in manual the last time and is great as i said, i love it. @Riley, i have a bit short fingers but i get difficulties changing gears while i steer my wheel in the edge of the rotation, also my fingers heart after a some time so i ll try gran turgismo paddles, i hope they worth it!

Yeah I get that problem where you cant shift in a sharp turn

 

[Graham Laing]

I am like Jan above, I have the GrandTurgismo paddles fitted to my DFGT, and they make a difference ...

I don't have those stripy decals shown in the picture, but I have the 'smokey' coloured paddles rather than the 'clear' ones shown.

 

[Jan Köhler]

Oh, the carbon decals are new. Looks quite nice, but I don't like Carbon style that much And my fingers are long but they still hurt after ~30 minutes without the paddles. I got the wheel & the paddles in late August and in my opinion the paddles were absolutely worth the money. They removed the second "bad point" of the DFGT in my opinion (first are the pedals), I guess without them I still would use Auto gears...

 

[F1-JEP7]

The problem for me with auto gears was going through turns the gear would be too high and bogg down speed or too low and make me spin. Best thing I ever did was learning manual while the network was down. All my times have come down and now use very little brakes. Amazing how the game feels when paddle shifting with my G27. Hard at first but worth learning. Besides better to drive the game than play it!

 

[Karl Fuss]

I switched to Manual Gears a few weeks ago after getting tired of always being in the wrong gear while cornering.
Sometimes you will find yourself going through a corner in a higher gear but at super low revs and you know that you should be a gear lower to get more power out of the corner and more control of the car while going through the corner. With auto gears it is not possible to downshift to a lower gear. It simply compromises your lap time too much to use auto gears.

 

[Lewis Travis]

Well, "once you go manual you never go back" (I realise that didnt sound too good..)

I once used manual but didn't really enjoy it, my times were slacking dramatically and decided to switch back up to auto gears and saw my times improve. I'm going to move back onto manual shortly

 

[Michael Brown]

I prefer manual gears because you get to pick what gear you want before a corner, and you can short shift or enter the corner with a higher gear. In Suzuka, you can take the last chicane and the hairpin in first or second gear, it just depends how you're approaching it and stuff like that.