Here's a sharper pic. Although the paddles are quite small, if you are driving at 'quarter-to-three' position, which is best and which the GTI's wheel encourages by design, the paddles are very tactile and grippy. Someone is working on a paddle extension in ali which extends both above and below but it's not available yet - Should solve that 'hard lock & shift from 1st' awkwardness, although floor stick is an alternative in that situation.
I wasn't too sure I liked the paddles at first but now I only use them and can't remember the last time I used S-mode.
