The Prius arrangement has had me scratching my head a few times. Some of the European setups are maddening too. The BMW X5's and a few others set park and park brake when you open the door too. They baulk violently when one axle is tested in roller brake testers too - at the testing station down the road an inspector put the rear axle in the rollers and when it started making expensive noises he opened the door to see what was going on. It locked up ( in park & park brake on) tore up the run flat tyres ( $1800 each @ the time ) & did about $5k damage to the trans/centre diff. We laugh about it but also use it as a cautionary tale when showing how we can manually isolate our rollers to turn one wheel at a time .
Driven one (an S) with ludicrous mode. Nice cars. Quick. The exterior door handles are my favorite part. Like to run into things apparently.....but I think all autonomous cars are going to do that for 10 more years.
Drove a Model 3 last week for the first time, if they can get them cranked out and in consumers hands they should do well. I missed the air suspension to some degree. I would love to have a Model X
From someone that has drove a rental car since April 2017 (many different ones also) these shifter designs are getting to be very odd and different. The Dodge shifter is nice but I know of a few people that accidently move the AC knob instead. The Buick I just rented about a month ago was difficult to figure out on how to shift. Also with all the extras on these new cars makes me enjoy the older models, heck even my 2008 GMC would seem old technology to people with new cars. I am currently renting a 2018 Jeep with lane change control (turned that off real quick) and with automatic brake for when reversing (I take some of these down gravel roads and turn around in fields and the tall grass makes the car stop) So if anyone wants a review on a new car just ask and I will see if I can rent it for the next few weeks or something for feedback lol
I think what I rented last week was a Ford Edge. Had the push/pull button gear shift, way down low on the dash, which seems like a truly poor location.. What I don't get is: -- You have to pull the drive button. -- You have to pull the reverse button. -- You push neutral and park. Okay -- I can see wanting to keep you from accidentally bumping D or R, and I imagine P has a lockout. But there is nothing to keep you from accidentally bumping N while cruising down the road? Maybe it was interlocked, dunno -- but at the minimum wouldn't you make them all pull type just for consistency/ appearance and desing simplicity / cost?
I know we are discussing various shifter designs here, but I'm still complaining about the dimmer switch being moved from the floor to the steering column. Bob H.
They're all trying to build the proverbial "Better mouse trap". No one should have to get in a car and "figure out" how to get the shifter from from "P" to "D" or vise versa. Millenial engineering is what I call it.
My model T still has the spark advance lever by the steering wheel. It works fine, but I think that the automatic spark advance is a good thing. I'll bet 90+ percent of the world's people couldn't figure it out. When I park the T I take the key with me, not because I'm worried about some sh--head stealing the car - I'm worried about some sh--head stealing the key.
My 2016 Challenger had a basic enough shifter but it also had paddles on the back of the steering wheel. the day I bought it and on the drive home in the rain and dark I accidentally bumped a paddle shifter and the car downshifted and stayed there. I couldn't figure out how to get it out of the manual mode and had to pull over and shut the car off and restart it to get it back into regular driving mode. that darn car has all kinds of buttons on the front and back of the steering wheel. in 2 years I never did learn what they all did.
Ya, the removal of the manual valve in the valve body of the trans, that was physically hooked to the shift linkage, has freed up engineers to go wild, with another way to justify their jobs. All those mechanical functions of re-directing fluid to put the car in the driver selected range, are now done by solenoids. Luckily, most designs up till now were smart enough to make the engagement of the parking pawl still a mechanical operation via the shift linkage, save for the aforementioned Dodge products... but I see from that Caddy that GM may be starting to go away from that now.. Caddy usually gets the first new design stuff in the car line products. Let's hope that is just a goofy shifter, and not another solenoid engaged parking pawl deal.
I have driven both Fords and Dodges with the "dial-a-gear". Pretty easy to get used to. The paddle shifters are a joke when on anything other than a sporty high performance vehicle. As for all the "Nannies", remember we all have to play down to accommodate the lowest common denominator, a.k.a. those who couldn't organize a one float parade. Too many people (I'd say idiots, but I don't want to offend them in case they read this) are all too eager to sue anyone, and everyone, for their own mistakes. Nothing's their fault.
It's planned obsolescence. In seven years when the switch, pcm, bcm, or the related wiring , solenoids and sensors that replaced a shift cable and shifter go bad, they will no longer be available and no aftermarket company will make a part for only one model vehicle. No matter how old your car is or what model it is, you could always make a shifter or a cable. Not any more.
The dial a shift on the new Fusion sport killed the car for me. I noticed on 2016 Regal the confusing non alignment of stalk and readout. I’m now having fun with the paddle shifters in ATS V - pretty fun
On my 2018 Colorado Z-71, the 4X4 drive selector knob is on the left side of the steering column on the lower panel of the dash. It’s also next to (inboard of) the headlight switch, which is an identical knob design. On more than one occasion, I’ve manually turned the lights on with my knee while getting out. I read on one of the Colorado/Canyon forums that someone bumped the drive knob into neutral (I’ve tested it in my driveway - it’s not difficult to do) while exiting the truck and watched as their vehicle rolled downhill into a tree. I’m using the parking brake in this truck more than all of my past vehicles combined.
As gearheads I think most of us are savvy enough to figure out how to use different transmission controls. I have a different perspective. Driving requires attention. Why would designers/engineers want to distract you from your primary function? I don't want to be "learning" the rental car I picked up at an unfamiliar airport/city on my way to a time-critical function. That creates unnecessary risk for me/others. This issue exists at all levels of our daily lives, from the simple annoyance of "learning" the interface for the particular ATM we're trying to use, to time-critical/life-and-death operating room scenarios where medical professionals are using drug vials that can randomly have labeling changes making them look like another. Ultimately, technological progress should simplify/facilitate our lives...not complicate it, especially with "cute." End of rant...
My Grandfather used to tell me about the trucks he used to drive during the depression. They did not have drive shafts, they were chain driven. The transmissions all had different shift patterns, so when you got in to an unfamiliar vehicle, you had to find 'em and grind'em until you learned the shift pattern. He called them "Slot Shifters" because the gear shift lever was in a slot, that was about all the help you got. It was not until later that the "STANDARD" transmission gear pattern was adopted where you could almost always find first gear, either up to the left (for a four speed) or down to the left (for a 3 speed gear box). He also told me that the old slot shift, gear driven trucks were under powered and had trouble climbing hills - but reverse gear was a lower ratio than first so many truck drivers would back their trucks up steep hills, that must have been a sight to see! Grandpa also said that he was driving deliveries for his fathers' (My Great Grandfather Adolph's) grocery store in Bayonne, NJ and that they sold a lot of sugar back then (think prohibition). In the 60's Grandpa had a HUGE 63 Imperial and he lived in NYC. Parking that boat was really something and one day I asked "Grandpa, how do you know how far back to go when you (parallel) park?" Grandpa said "Just go 'till you hear glass." And now we are challenged by little electronic shift levers. You would think this would all be STANDARDIZED by now too. : )
And the hand written note in the picture mentions the chain drive too! Thanks for posting the picture.
