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Which car is that with the L gear selector and the + and - above and below it? Talk about distracting if I’m trying to upshift or downshift and keep my eyes on the road. What a terrible design. Just put some paddles on it.
It's not necessarily a fad. The idea is to get the bulky shifter and its associated linkage off (or under) the console to free up room for other things. The same general line of thinking was used to remove the old pull-up levers for the parking brake and replace them with foot-pedals or electronic push-buttons (I prefer the buttons myself). Vehicles so-equipped not only have more free space on the console, but often, an added storage compartment underneath the console where the former shift-linkage would have gone....I use the added space in my Lacrosse to stick my Owners' Manual for quick reference.
Oh.....and also, so Bitkahuna won't have to look at any more of those leather shift-boots LOL
What space are you freeing up though if the buttons are in the same spot as the shifter, it is not like you can put things over the area where the buttons are. Shifters and a set of buttons take up pretty much the same amount of space and you can't really put anything on top of the buttons as they are not completely flat nor do I think there would be any reason to place some thing in that area. The only way a set of buttons would free up space is if they are not in the area of the shifter and are in the dash like the Lincoln. It is very rare for any vehicles to have a space under the shifter area. I would rather just have a nice shifter.
What space are you freeing up though if the buttons are in the same spot as the shifter, it is not like you can put things over the area where the buttons are. Shifters and a set of buttons take up pretty much the same amount of space and you can't really put anything on top of the buttons as they are not completely flat nor do I think there would be any reason to place some thing in that area. The only way a set of buttons would free up space is if they are not in the area of the shifter and are in the dash like the Lincoln. It is very rare for any vehicles to have a space under the shifter area. I would rather just have a nice shifter.
I do agree. I think if the plan is to free of space, just relocate it somewhere. Can you imagine Lexus relocating everything into the remote touch system? That would be crazy. The RAM is the best implementation so far I have seen.
By far the classiest and sexiest looking shift system is the new Navigator.
Honestly I'm a fan of a column shifter. The F-150 is available with either the column or console shifter and I specifically went for the column.
That's interesting....that there is a choice. I've never driven a manual on the column, yet another thing on the bucket list that will never be scratched off. How hard could it be....
Which car is that with the L gear selector and the + and - above and below it? Talk about distracting if I’m trying to upshift or downshift and keep my eyes on the road. What a terrible design. Just put some paddles on it.
interesting design. It appears all digital, non-mechanical dials. I wonder if they still put in the manual override button, to manually place the transmission in neutral or park
interesting design. It appears all digital, non-mechanical dials. I wonder if they still put in the manual override button, to manually place the transmission in neutral or park
from what I am reading so far they do, however all the procedures appear to be different, so kind of nightmare for a tow/wrecker driver.
Ford/Lincoln require removing the bottom plate of the center console with a special tool (though appears a small flat screwdriver will work), then plugging in a special dongle that provides 6.5 volts of power, pressing and holding the hidden over ride button while holding the N (Neutral) button. If the special dongle is not available (and there is no mention of where this dongle comes from) then they recommend disconnecting the shift cable under the vehicle for towing and reconnecting upon arrival of tow destination.
Honda/Acura have similar instructions though their instructions don't seem to indicate the need for a special dongle, but do indicate if there is not at least 9volts of power being supplied from the vehicles battery a manual disconnect of the shift cable is required.
The GMC mentioned above has a "service mode" pressing and holding the push button start button for 10 seconds while applying the brake, and pressing the N (neutral) button at the same time. Sounds like a game of twister to me. But no mention of what to do if there is no battery power, so I suspect again, getting under the car and disconnecting the shift cable is required.
info from all the owners manuals available online.
from what I am reading so far they do, however all the procedures appear to be different, so kind of nightmare for a tow/wrecker driver.
Ford/Lincoln require removing the bottom plate of the center console with a special tool (though appears a small flat screwdriver will work), then plugging in a special dongle that provides 6.5 volts of power, pressing and holding the hidden over ride button while holding the N (Neutral) button. If the special dongle is not available (and there is no mention of where this dongle comes from) then they recommend disconnecting the shift cable under the vehicle for towing and reconnecting upon arrival of tow destination.
Honda/Acura have similar instructions though their instructions don't seem to indicate the need for a special dongle, but do indicate if there is not at least 9volts of power being supplied from the vehicles battery a manual disconnect of the shift cable is required.
The GMC mentioned above has a "service mode" pressing and holding the push button start button for 10 seconds while applying the brake, and pressing the N (neutral) button at the same time. Sounds like a game of twister to me. But no mention of what to do if there is no battery power, so I suspect again, getting under the car and disconnecting the shift cable is required.
info from all the owners manuals available online.
good find! this gives some evidence that these buttons and dials are simply digital inputs (on/off, high or low) it's interesting that one make required a special dongle and another required at least 9 volts from the battery, but good to know they have these fail safes in place in the event of a complete power failure. I do remember my old fwd mazda6 5 speed having shifter cables, but dont recall what state the transmission is in when disconnected (i did disconnect them once to install a short throw shifter)
good find! this gives some evidence that these buttons and dials are simply digital inputs (on/off, high or low) it's interesting that one make required a special dongle and another required at least 9 volts from the battery, but good to know they have these fail safes in place in the event of a complete power failure. I do remember my old fwd mazda6 5 speed having shifter cables, but dont recall what state the transmission is in when disconnected (i did disconnect them once to install a short throw shifter)
sadly in most cases the wreckers will either throw a dolly under the rear wheels or simply flip the vehicle (if possible) and tow it on the free wheels (be it the front (RWD) or the rear (FWD)). I can't see any wrecker trying to figure out what buttons to push in what sequence to get the transmission free. and I have seen my fair share of flat bed tow drivers simply hook up the wench and drag the vehicle onto the flat bed.
my 2005 Chrysler 300 and my 2012 Camaro both had very clear and stern warnings in the owners manual about towing the vehicle with the transmission in neutral, it was NOT to be done EVER as it would destroy the transmission, you had to release the transmission with the service over ride but nontheless I've seen my fair share of threads on the forums from both vehicles about owners and tow drivers that either did not know or did not care and sure enough tanked the transmissions.
What space are you freeing up though if the buttons are in the same spot as the shifter, it is not like you can put things over the area where the buttons are. Shifters and a set of buttons take up pretty much the same amount of space and you can't really put anything on top of the buttons as they are not completely flat nor do I think there would be any reason to place some thing in that area. The only way a set of buttons would free up space is if they are not in the area of the shifter and are in the dash like the Lincoln. It is very rare for any vehicles to have a space under the shifter area. I would rather just have a nice shifter.
Usually (though not aways) the E-shift levers are smaller and less-conspicuous than a traditional console-mounted lever, though I agree that dash-buttons are, in most cases, a better set-up (the Lincoln MKC's buttons were an exception, because the buttons were too close to other dash-mounted buttons). Ether one, of course, frees up space under the console.
I do agree. I think if the plan is to free of space, just relocate it somewhere. Can you imagine Lexus relocating everything into the remote touch system? That would be crazy. The RAM is the best implementation so far I have seen.
The rotary-shifter, IMO, is too small and too close to the center of the dash. You and I would probably have no problem, but a lot of drivers could easily confuse it with the radio or climate ****. If the rotary-shifter **** were larger and further away it would be a better design.
By far the classiest and sexiest looking shift system is the new Navigator.
No arguments there. I'm surprised they didn't do that with the Continental.
Remember when Jaguar introduced that cool popup dial shifter on their cars? I thought that was really cool, if not gimmicky. You look at those and then look at Jalopnik guy's experience with his press car and wonder how the simplest of issues ends up becoming so complicated. Apparently that dial is on JLR vehicles.
When my 2GS was totalled and the insurance company's tow guy came to get it the car had no power. He knew immediately how to get that mechanical shifter into neutral for the flatbed. Simple little slot with a small standard screw driver. Took just a couple of seconds and bam, into neutral no problem
As can be seen from the following image, the gear selector is very low on the centre stack, at the bottom, just above the open bin. This is definitely a HEAD DOWN, hunt-and-peck feature. It looks like it could be quite a reach down also -- leaning forward and down? -- to shift gears.
12-12-17, 07:44 AM
