by ih8ubarney on Thu, 11 Mar 2021 8:29 +0000
i have a hilux and my wife has a fortuner, initially i wasn't a fan of the paddles, but i do like them now.
I'm not saying its not bling or not a gimmick, but i have found times when they are useful. but for me, it's not "sports mode" is slow mode.
you can shift gears without moving the gear selector into "sports" mode so it's really handy to downshift and use the engine to slow the car down. While in normal "D" mode, if your come to a stop whilst using engine breaking (plus the brakes), so you come to a stop in 1st or 2nd gear on the dash. The gear selection on the dash changes back to "D" and everything is back to normal when you take off.
alternatively if your driving along in a slow moving traffic jam, ill typically use the paddles to keep the car in 1st or 2nd, when the jam clears you can just change up to 6th and the gear shown in the dash will change back to "D". If the jam is stop/start this wont work cause it will reset every time you stop so you stick it in "sports" mode to keep the car in 1st even if you stop (just like you would do in the hilux).