ZTEALTH

hmmmmm, try again. bmw, lexus, audi and acura just to name a few, all put the paddles on the wheel. why? 1. because people don't like the skin scraped off their knuckles when they make u-turns. 2. your hands don't leave the sweet 10 and 2 position on the wheel.
oh yeah, i have an 04' black touring

gregom

iTrader: (3)

Well I suppose everyone is different... i've driven a few of the German cars with paddles on the wheel and it just doesn't work for me. Now I haven't driven a Ferrari, but I have sat in a F430 with the F1 paddles attached to the column and I could just tell that would work better for me. And as long as the paddles James is making has the right distance between them and the wheel you wont scrape your knuckles. The only problem I see is our indicator stalks are quite close to the wheel and on a F430 they are pretty far back, behind the paddles.

I don't know if its possible but maybe James can make a set that attaches to the wheel as well. That way everyone can get what they want.

ec8931

iTrader: (4)

bump for an update on revised cost...

james840a

iTrader: (7)

Just an update,
My machinist flacked out on me so never got that qoute. And i read one comment about scraping the knuckle, i desided to let my dad try it out on my proto-type and his fingures rub on it. My dad is a big guy with big hands then i do, i have smaller, thinner fingures. Soo i am going to have to do a redesign again. This time it will be different and have more room for the fingures but still up high like on the Gallardo and Ferrari.

I know this is a dissapointment, i know it was for me. sorry guys, just dont want you guys with big hands to hurt yourself turning the wheel.
Im going to work on the new proto-type as soon as i can

reserved

iTrader: (18)

We all appreciate your efforts James. That was a complex project to take on!!!!
What about the AT shifter **** project? That might be a simpler product to bring to fruition.

aloh

iTrader: (26)

dang... well i hope something gets figured out. The thing is that that its a little difficult to get more room for people with larger hands. The wiper/signal stalks are too close to the wheel.

james840a

iTrader: (7)

Hi guys, got more bad news,
well bad news for me. I just got laid off from work
so i will have to put this project on hold tell i find another job.

turbocad6

iTrader: (1)

James, the 350z is no different from the others as far as stalk placement. it actually uses the same plastic casting for the switch holder as the g's, so placement is precisely the same as a stock G in relation to the stalks & steering wheel. actually all the nissan/infiniti's are the same as far as stalk to wheel, from the maximas to the g's m's z's & even the fx's. the stock paddles from a G are set in quite a bit & this may be the issue your having.... on the stock setup you have to extend your fingertips a bit to even touch a paddle, so normal driving you can not possibly scrape a knuckle, the circumference of the paddles should be too small to even make this possible.

I have finished my final positioning of the paddles I'm installing for Oleg. it sits like it would sit in a G, same reach & same clearances.... same feel & usability really... maybe you had yours sticking out to far? you should only reach them with your fingertips... positioning is very important since this is tight confines for controls to begin with, a few mm's the wrong way & they'll be annoying.... don't give up, just play with your positioning... there is just as much room external in the Z as there is in the G... if you can get your hands on a late G with paddles it'll help you see how they got this to work well... I'm not too sure about trying to get them up high though, to me they work really well in the stock position which is why I just copy that exactly...

good luck with it & don't give up, if you really want to pull it off you can I think... your advantage is that you are designing the paddles themselves from scratch so you can have them end up anywhere you need them to. I was a bit more restricted in that I'm using the oe magnezium paddles for my fabrication which ment less flexability on my end... actually I'm sticking out about 3mm further than a bone stock G with paddles, but there is no way I can shorten the oe paddles so I'll live with it, not much of a difference & not noticable or a problem really...

turbocad6

iTrader: (1)

damn, missed your last post before I posted my reply... sorry about your job man...

z-u-later

iTrader: (43)

Hey turbocad6, are you going to be marketing your paddle shifter? I just read about James' situation so his is not looking too good. I just saw your pictures and they really look OEM -- I like it! Let me know please, I'm very interested.

jgregory124

iTrader: (13)

^+2 very interested.......have money waiting

turbocad6

iTrader: (1)

mine look 100% OEM because they are 100% OEM externally. all of my fabrication is internal to the column. that hole where the paddle exits is only for prototype, the finished product will look perfect there too, these will look like they came there from nissan...

I did not come in here to steal James gig, believe me, I more want to show him how he can do this. I had the same situation with g35driver, a guy there was developing paddles for the G (easy compared to these) since I had already done it I wanted to help him & show him how he could get around the problems he was having. once I posted in his thread guys were contacting me but I refused to deal with anyone there because I didn't have any intentions of stealing the guys customers, was just looking to help him really. in the end that guy never got anything off the ground either, I never pursued anything further with the g's... I suppose I could now that the other guys project seems to just be abandoned, but never did...


here, this paddle setup in the Z is just really a lot of work, I had to completely re engineer the whole pivot/switch mechanisim & mounting, I have way too many hours into prototyping these to not at least build a few sets to re coupe some of the time I invested in this development, but on the other hand I have no intention of actually going into production with these really.

mine are each hand built & fabricated & will cost quite a bit more than many would want to pay, but not unreasonable either considering what your really getting. I think only a few guys will wind up with turbocad paddles, the only way I could bring costs down significantly would be if I did actually gear up for production, but I wouldn't do this as long as James has hope of producing his, again, I'm not here to steal anything from anybody... this isn't my business this is just a hobby for me. if James really throws in the towel & says that he is not going to pursue production, then I'll think about it... otherwise, I'd be happy to help him & just sell a few of my hand made sets like I have on the fx's & the few other cars I've done...

z-u-later

iTrader: (43)

Hey turbocad6, I understand your dilemma but I'm sure James will understand our situation. Since he has other priorities at the moment, his paddle shifter idea goes back in the backburner. We are not tied down to his product alone because several of us were also looking at the Works Bell product. IMO, your paddle shifter looks better than the Works Bell.

There are a few of us true Z A/T enthusiasts who have been following yours & James products. It looks like yours is now the only option. Please help us achieve our goal of installing a paddle shifter so we can "one up" the M/T guys for once.

Just PM the few of us who are interested on the cost & availability.

Oleg

iTrader: (1)

Oh crap, forgot to hide the Pikachu...

iamdigital

iTrader: (44)

James what a bummer on the job. PM me and lemme know what you do I can get you connected to some recruiters.

On the paddle shifters the Works Bell is now avail for stock wheels and there is another guy working on a setup. While I would like them connected to the shaft you may want to consider a set connected to the wheel in order to capture the alternative business rather than compete with available options.

Also, get on that shift **** man!

Take care,

JAA

JJ350

great concepts! I have very interested in one of these!

1sickveilsidez

iTrader: (23)

Wow James sorry to hear about you getting laid off... I know how that is, I was out of work for a while too.