Why have a floor based shifter anyway? If control is electronic or by cable, it can easily be on the dash, like a 55 Plymouth or a 61 Corvair. That way you can have 3 across in big SUV’s or sedans. And you can slide across and get out on the right side in a tight parking space. A series of button works fine.
I hate cars that have a rotary shifter like it is the AC control knob. Not driving a manual is already a big backward step for me, now not even having a real shifter is really bizarre.
The complexity of this shifter is overwhelming, there must be some morons involved;
• To shift back into PARK from DRIVE,
bring the vehicle to a complete stop,
fully depress the brake pedal, press
the lock button on the shift lever, then
push and hold the shift lever fully forward until “P” is displayed in the EVIC.
I don’t like all this “drive-by-wire - throttle-by-wire” stuff either. Like @Bing , I’m thinking about the runaway Toyotas. What happens if the computer shorts out / goes haywire, you can’t shift out of gear, can’t turn the engine off. . . whew! At least with a manual transmission, I could shift the car out of gear, assuming THAT isn’t “by-wire” as well. I’m thinking about after the car has been exposed to the elements, hot n’ cold, wet n’ dry for 10 - 15+ years, chips and circuits get old and brittle. . .
Maybe the cars should have a “kill switch” like forklifts do. One big red button, you press it and everything shuts down. Of course, you’d have idiots causing accidents by hitting the button for no apparent reason in heavy traffic. . . heavy sigh. . .
When you build something to make it idiot proof they simply make bigger idiots.
What we do not know are the constraints, marching orders, or design decisions confronting the engineers who designed the shifters.
Maybe someday our electric cars will come with faux engine cranking sounds when you turn on the key just like they seem to insist on making digital cameras make faux shutter and motor drive noises when you take a picture.
My uncle was stranded a few days ago when the shifter knob failed to pop up on a new Jaguar he was driving. He just called the dealer and they sent out one of their rollbacks to fetch him. He was delivering the car to it’s new owner so the breakdown was a fortunate thing for the dealer. Not so fortunate for the new owner if it malfunctions again. I love new technology but I hate it when it’s applied in the wrong way.
“When you build something to make it idiot proof they simply make bigger idiots.”
Amen to that.
sgtrock21 wrote:
When I attempted to cancel with no detent the right hand signal would engage which is not big deal. When I returned to right hand lane and attempted to cancel left hand would engage. Back and forth. I found if I jerked the steering wheel a bit it would self cancel.
When the left-hand signal was on, did you try moving the lever for a left-hand signal again? I’ve seen cars where that’s how you cancel a signal that’s on.
Yeah, but you can do that and still have a selector switch that looks and acts like a lever selector.Ah, light dawns on marblehead. I see your point. I took the original query to mean cable operated conventional shifter. You're absolutely right, the input mechanism could retain the legacy form factor...
What if I wanna play the violin?
I’m a closet dyslexic!
Actually, it’s a reference from way back where someone famous made a joke out of actually pronouncing it as veeola instead of vuwalah! and it has been an inside joke for friends and family since. So I tend to do it that way without realizing others probably do not understand the reference… Kay sarah, kay sarah… 
I don't like all this "drive-by-wire - throttle-by-wire" stuff either.
Well, throttle by wire does have some advantages. With some modern variable valve timing engines, the power is not necessarily controlled simply by closing the throttle, the ECU may close the intake valves later instead so the engine just blows the excess back into the intake manifold cutting pumping losses at part throttle. This is particularly true in the Prius where the “throttle” simply commands how much power is delivered to the wheels and the ECU decides the most efficient way to generate that power, battery, engine, or both.
It’s not that I’m against progress, it’s that we too often mistake a more complicated Rube Goldberg contraption for progress. Any damn fool can build a more complex Rube Goldberg contraption. Good engineering is keeping it simple.
lion9car: I think 2003 was Opel’s first year of the “mystery” turn signal lever. The operator’s manual only addressed the location of it with instructions of “down left/up right”. I have only owned or driven one other vehicle that did not have normal up/down/neutral mechanical detents that just need an intentional bump to return to neutral including my current 2010 Kia Forte SX. That was the Austin Healey Sprite Mk1 which had a 3 position toggle switch on the dash. Left/right/neutral with very positive detents. Of course it had no automatic canceling feature.
TwinTurbo: I can suffer the occasional attack of “lisdexia”. I have heard viola used in place of the French voila (“I have found it”) as a joke.
B.L.E.: Thank you for explaining why my 2010 Kia Forte SX 6 speed M/T electronic throttle occasionally seems to have a mind of it’s own. When it happens it’s subtle but I notice it. If I drove an SX A/T I probably wouldn’t. I think the M/T exacerbates it. This month is my 50th anniversary of successfully operating a clutch. M/T operation is a “ballet” between left and right feet. Unlike a real ballet it does not take decades to become a prima ballerina. When my Father taught me at the age of 13 it took about 10 minutes. So the electronic throttle is essential to VVT operation which was explained to me by the dealer service department. Of course with M/T’s going the route of the dinosaur there is no incentive to have a special throttle computer program for them.
Another thing about throttle by wire is that the ECU can overrule your input if the engine RPM is too low for the throttle you want to give it, in other words, the ECU won’t let you lug the engine.
Yes, by not opening the throttle enough to lug the engine. It’s not simply about RPM, an idling engine is not being lugged, even though it is only turning around 650 rpm.
Sometimes, the implementation of moronic ideas just die of their own weight. The electronic pushbuttons to shift the transmission on the higher level 1958 Edsel Corsair and Citation were gone in the 1959 Edsel (as well as these upper trimlines). The early 1960s Imperial made by Chrysler put a three position toggle switch (Left, Off,Right)_on the dashboard to control the turning signals. The turning signals were not self-cancelling, which I thought was strange for a supposedly luxury car. On some Ford products manufactured in the early 1980s, you pushed in on the turning signal stalk to honk the horn. On the 1955 Plymouths, the oil pressure and temperature gauges were located on the right side of the dashboard. I guess you were always, supposed to have a,passenger in the car to keep tabs on the engine. Maybe the Jeep shifter will bite the dust as well.
Funny thing @B.L.E., VW/Porshe prevented lugging by not using a vacuum advance on the distributor as did all heavy duty engines with distributors back in the Good Ole Days.