Fiat Chrysler speeds up recall after death of Star Trek actor

Another example of a car maker saving a few bucks of cost and a few ounces of weight, just to save money and meet EPA gas mileage requirements. I’ve driven a few rental cars with this shifter and, as an experienced and careful driver, I think it is godawful. I am not surprised that people are having problems with it.

You would think that, before a major change in design to a fundamental system, FCA would have tested this shifter in the field. I think the unanimous feedback would have been negative.

What the heck does this shifter have to do with the EPA???

I think the theory is the new system weighs less than the old lever system, and less weight = lower fuel burn. But as a practical matter, I really highly doubt that the weight savings would mean anything. We are, after all, talking about a car here, not a rocket.

An interesting aspect of this issue is that, decades ago, we standardized the controls on motorcycles, including the shifters. You might find customized bikes with heel/toe shifters, but you won’t find any mass produced motorcycles with suicide shifters anymore. Yet the standardization of car and truck controls is much more basic.

It shouldn’t be difficult to drive a car you’re not familiar with and have never driven before. If I ride a motorcycle I’ve never ridden before, I might not be able to turn on the seat warmer or operate the cruise control, but I’d be able to shift the gears, use the high beam headlight, and activate the engine cut-off switch.

@shadowfax - unless the weight difference is 100 lbs then the gas mileage will be insignificant. Yea I know they try to cut as much weight as possible. But they have to measure that against safety.

The “suicide shift” motorcycles are horribly maligned and most likely by someone who has never ridden one. A little acclimation and they’re a piece of cake; not to mention beaucoup fun.

I vaguely remember the shifter standardization taking place in the mid 70s. As a stopgap measure Harley had a jury rigged linkage setup to move the shifter assembly to the left side of the bike and the brake to the right. This served for a few years until a total redesign was done and the pile of linkage eliminated.

With the heel/toe clutch pedals on the old Harleys one can depress the clutch pedal, shift into 1st gear, get off, and walk into a convenience store for some odds and ends while the bike is still sitting there idling in gear.

Why can’t we just get rid of the park paw and park position and replace them with a pneumatic parking brake system activated by a big bright yellow pull knob? Buses have had this set up for years and they don’t roll away and plow into a bunch of school children nearly as often. Transmission is for controlling how the power is transmitted from engine to wheels and vice versa, not for holding the vehicle in place. BTW, i test drove the European version of the smart fortwo before they were sold in the states. There was no park position. I don’t see why was added to the US version

CA,the vehicles that have these parking system usually have springs on the brakes that air pressure has to release.
Someone mentioned we live in a democracy,actually its a republic.We elect a few people who largely look out for their interests to vote for us.

Yeah, the vehicles with air brakes tend to be better maintained than ordinary cars, too. If you got rid of “park” and required the use of the parking brake, you’re relying on people to maintain their brakes well enough for it to be useful.

And then you run across something like this:

And you’re really thankful that the brake is not the only thing keeping cars from rolling into you…

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Like people who slam on their park paw as they let go of the brake on a steep hill is taking really good care of their cars. My point is that having separate controls for power(the shifter) and brake(the pneumatic parking brake pull knob, something with an indistinguishable air releasing sound) leads to less error as you have to perform different actions with different purposes and expect different results. As you move your hand from the shifter to the parking brake, you’re well aware that the brakes are off until you pull the knob. I’m sure that people with rolled away vehicles intended to shift to park, but simply shoving a lever or twisting a knob toward park as they have been doing since the first day they drive leads to complacency, which is the opposite of what a single multimode switch calls for.