tiptronic or steptronic, and who cares?
I apologise in advance for the length of this answer
I never truly know the difference between steptronic and tiptronic, and I don't really care. But to answer this properly I have to say that I think the 'manual gear selection' in a BMW 325 auto is steptronic. Dont shout at me if I am wrong, as honestly, I really don't care what it is called, only that I appreciate it is an auto box with a manual override facility to select your own gears sequentially, rather than a true manual sequential box (did that make any sense, it did in my head anyway).
So for anyone still confused by all that, and before I answer the question:-
I have a 325 compact ti m sport auto. It does NOT have flappy paddles. It has a gear lever that can (when utilised for forward motion) be in 'D' for drive, or pushed accross to the left for 'sport mode' (basically it just revs out further and is generally that bit more exciting than normal'), but whilst in sport mode it also allows you to select gears sequentially up or down the box range by pushing forward or pulling back on the stick. I say all that to avoid and confusion.
Do I use the sequential option. Oh yes indeedy. More and more as I become more used to the car (and usually with the dsc light illuminated as I don't like the car to have too much control over things when I am doing the shifting).
Town driving and fuel economy wise, it is left in D. Arriving at traffic lights where I know the road narrows up ahead and a bit of extra oomph is needed usually entails a sneaky slip to the left into sport mode and in both modes, 90 percent of the time the box handles my needs fine, but occasionally on a roll on it is possible to find that it doesn't change gear exactly where I want it to. It is rare, but on occasion I felt the gearbox and engine weren't agreeing to what was asked of them at the time, but this rareness also makes it very obvious when it happens. It's probably happened less than 3 or 4 times in the 2 months (and around 2 thousand miles) I have had the car.
So, the sequential option has become ever more of an occurrence in my driving when I want to be 100 percent sure of things. Especially if the need to blow something away from the lights is involved.
I find that in curves and bends where you are driving hard, the only fun way to do it is in sequential, especially so when you want to keep the motor spooled up for that little bit faster response to throttle demands. The added bonus of engine braking is a welcome sideline. Effectively the whole experience of driving the car is totally transformed by the sequential approach and to my mind it gives a lot more feedback. I wouldn't say the car was slow in either of the automatic modes, but the additional input from getting involved with the shifts can make a journey that bit more enjoyable than just using auto, and when I hit slow traffic, it is put back into drive and normality returns (for normality, read lazyness).
Without any humour in this statement, the car comes alive when you are changing gears yourself. It may not be a true sequential box, but it is close enough for any auto driver to find out more about how well the car really handles. To my mind, an auto without the option is not a car I would want.
I have my reasons for owning automatics (the main one being that I ride motorbikes, and any injury to a leg doesn't leave me trapped in the house waiting for lifts). The sequential option of the box does a good enough job of satisfying my demands for more driver input without getting a manual and being bollo*ed if anything should happen. I learned that the hard way and stopped buying manuals a few years back.
I should say though, that the sequential route is both addictive and licence threatening in every way.
I need to add a ps. The car has 2 cupholders and my morning coffee cup is large. If the cup is in the cupholder it gets in the way and becomes annoying, so being a tw*t while it is in there is not an option. Otherwise, it gets used a lot now.
