Cuzoe
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Los Angeles
So my car is a 6MT, with driving modes and some other miscellaneous retrofits and things, of import to this post is pending Tour-de-France horn install, detailed here by @Nuje. The driving mode switch provides a momentary ground to the BCM to cycle through modes (sequentially only, so in one direction then back around). The horns are relay controlled, via momentary ground (or momentary power, but will be momentary ground in my install).
I've picked up (more than one) steering wheel meant for a car with DSG. No paddles installed currently but that is going to change!
Picked up these magnetic type paddles on AliExpress, BF deal at about $60. They are the magnetic type and feel damn fantastic!!!
I've seen what I suspect are white label versions of these going for anywhere from $250-$350.




There is one part of this I'm not sure about yet (and why spending $250-350 was out of the question) and that is whether the paddles are typical momentary switches. I should also note I have an Mk8 steering wheel. On the Mk7 the paddles were illuminated, 3 wire type and appear to have a small circuit board in them. On the Mk8 these are not illuminated (so far as I have seen) and they only have 2 wires, which I think is a good sign for momentary action. I'll know with certainty when tested with a multimeter at work in the morning. If they are not actually momentary I don't see any issue finding a small contact switch to put in there.
Edit: Multimeter on the two pins... 8.2k ohms un-clicked, drops down to 1.7k ohms when clicked... strange but consistent on both paddles.
I'll open them and see what's going on in there. If there's a board of some type I'm sure it can be bypassed so I get a normal open/close type action.
Anyway, also picked these up on AliExpress. You're looking at fobs that operate a remote trigger/relay... receiver being the little circuit board with leads, the long one being an antenna. They can be used in several modes; momentary, latching, or press and hold, even to directly power low amp devices. I will be using the momentary mode to provide a ground whenever a paddle is pressed. The fobs look big but I've taken one apart (will add pictures later) and the board inside is quite small.

Plan is to wire the leads from the paddles to the fob board, which should easily fit within the steering wheel. I may (though I actually don't think it'll be necessary) need to carve out some of the foam in there, but it will be forward of (behind, if you will) the airbag as I obviously don't want my mods ejected into my face in a crash. The fobs use a coin battery that I think will last plenty long, and the Mk8 airbarg is quite easy to remove when the battery needs to be replaced.
One of the receivers will be placed in the center console to provide momentary ground (in parallel with, but diode protected) for driving mode switching. The other receiver will provide momentary ground for the Tour horns. The receivers operate on anything from 3-24V so no issue there. There is already ignition only 12V at the console switches and there will be ignition only 12V at the horn relay.
I think switching modes with a paddle will be pretty damn cool (and the factory mode button will still work). I also think having the Tour horn on it's own paddle (switch) is a good solution to keep the regular horn function un-changed.
I've picked up (more than one) steering wheel meant for a car with DSG. No paddles installed currently but that is going to change!
Picked up these magnetic type paddles on AliExpress, BF deal at about $60. They are the magnetic type and feel damn fantastic!!!
I've seen what I suspect are white label versions of these going for anywhere from $250-$350.




There is one part of this I'm not sure about yet (and why spending $250-350 was out of the question) and that is whether the paddles are typical momentary switches. I should also note I have an Mk8 steering wheel. On the Mk7 the paddles were illuminated, 3 wire type and appear to have a small circuit board in them. On the Mk8 these are not illuminated (so far as I have seen) and they only have 2 wires, which I think is a good sign for momentary action. I'll know with certainty when tested with a multimeter at work in the morning. If they are not actually momentary I don't see any issue finding a small contact switch to put in there.
Edit: Multimeter on the two pins... 8.2k ohms un-clicked, drops down to 1.7k ohms when clicked... strange but consistent on both paddles.
I'll open them and see what's going on in there. If there's a board of some type I'm sure it can be bypassed so I get a normal open/close type action.
Anyway, also picked these up on AliExpress. You're looking at fobs that operate a remote trigger/relay... receiver being the little circuit board with leads, the long one being an antenna. They can be used in several modes; momentary, latching, or press and hold, even to directly power low amp devices. I will be using the momentary mode to provide a ground whenever a paddle is pressed. The fobs look big but I've taken one apart (will add pictures later) and the board inside is quite small.

Plan is to wire the leads from the paddles to the fob board, which should easily fit within the steering wheel. I may (though I actually don't think it'll be necessary) need to carve out some of the foam in there, but it will be forward of (behind, if you will) the airbag as I obviously don't want my mods ejected into my face in a crash. The fobs use a coin battery that I think will last plenty long, and the Mk8 airbarg is quite easy to remove when the battery needs to be replaced.
One of the receivers will be placed in the center console to provide momentary ground (in parallel with, but diode protected) for driving mode switching. The other receiver will provide momentary ground for the Tour horns. The receivers operate on anything from 3-24V so no issue there. There is already ignition only 12V at the console switches and there will be ignition only 12V at the horn relay.
I think switching modes with a paddle will be pretty damn cool (and the factory mode button will still work). I also think having the Tour horn on it's own paddle (switch) is a good solution to keep the regular horn function un-changed.
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