Hi
Just asking if anyone has fitted or thought about fitting paddleshift to the new defender commercial??
Would it be a simple electrical system linked into the gearshift with the sport mode selected by moving the lever to the left?

 

Not sure on the programming side to get it to work but you would need to change your steering wheel to the alcantara one from the V8 model, only that steering wheel has the cut-outs for the paddles

 

Why do you want paddles? Especially in a Defender? I’ve had them on countless cars and only one car I’ve actually used them is on a Porsche PDK. I don’t quite get the paddle obsession for a regular car/SUV.

 

While personally I can't see the point in everyday driving they would be extremely useful off-road as you are able to change gear without taking your hands off the wheel. With my previous LR4's and Range Rovers off-road was the only time I used the paddles.

 

While I would never go to the trouble to modify the Defender, I’d sure use them if it had them. We have a place in the mountains, about 2.5 hours away and the last hour of that is mountain driving. As a lifetime sportscar guy I can’t help going at it pretty hard whatever car I’m in as the roads are magnificent, albeit relatively low speed. When the twisties get tight I find the ZF8 transmission shift logic, even in Sport, to be far too lazy and easily confused, such that it’s almost always a gear higher than the motor wants. So I drive most of it in manual mode. It would be nice to be able to control the shift selection with both hands on the wheel.

 

Discovery 5 MY'22 has a steering wheel almost identical to the Defender and is has paddle shifts. Dimensions wise I think is 99% exact if not 100 %. However, you will have to do a lot of mods in the software, and then think of the warranty (if you have left any). Doable, yes, but it will be expensive and cumbersome. Anyways, best of luck to you if you do it, and keep us posted.

 

I definitely am annoyed my X P400 doesn't have the paddle shifters. I've become accustomed on multiple cars (including v8 sc rovers) to using them for shifting ... in snow, off-road, on highway. I'm sure retrofit is coming.

 

@nashvegas - initially JLR deliberately refused to have paddle shifters on Defenders. I suppose now, that the Defender is a success, and that they can charge more, they are "back in style" ...