Post-reveal thoughts

My biggest question about the shifter is why a shifter at all? Why not buttons?

Oh, and the big wooden rack things at the venue? They looked like pull out bleachers like in a gym.

 

Why a shifter?
Marketing, keeping it a little familar.

 

I also like the console and location of the shift lever as it gives the Prius interior a sportier appearance. Not sure what level of "cred" I enjoy.

My dad owned a 1957 Plymouth and a 1963 Plymouth Valiant, both equipped with pushbutton automatic transmissions. That seems to be a Chrysler Corp design feature, so Toyota probably would not be eager to follow suit.

 

Exactly. The next big market segment for the Prius is the ordinary family sedan market. I had a long conversation with the head of marketing an he acknowledged that direction. Early adopters and technology nuts have already bought into the concept of the Prius, which is good, but that is a limited market. For the Prius to have any significant impact on fuel consumption and emissions, the Prius needs to be driven by a lot more people. Most of these people drive normal cars with normal shifters. You have to make them comfortable during the transition, and the new shifter location is an example of that thinking.

If it was just for me, I would stay with the current shifter on the dash. I like it there. The problem with buttons is the lack of a repeatable gesture. Pressing the reverse button is exactly the same motion as pressing drive. It's too easy to make a mistake. Some automatic transmissions used to have pushbuttons, and more than one person was killed by that simple error.

Tom

 

If it was such a great idea (button shifting) Chrysler would have the most refined push-button Transmission shifter in the world by now.

 

New Jags have a pushbutton setup on the center console.

 

I have a really hard time believing that the general driving public would have a hard time 'grasping' the new shifter technology and location on the dash. People drive cars with notched shifters on the column, on the floor (notched or straight line), manuals in both places. How is a shifter that ALWAYS uses the same motion to get to the desired 'gear' instead of all sorts of machinations AND awareness of the current gear and motions needed to get from there to the desired gear hard to understand? And how is having it on the dash in easy reach with barely any movement of your hand and the 1 finger needed to move it (on the rare occasion) instead of the column or floor any more 'weird' than buying a car that has the shifter on the floor if you have only driven cars with shifters on the column?

Heck, if you have only driven Japanese cars and rent a Detroit car, you have to learn where the headlight and wiper switches are. I think part of the problem is that the Prius sold so well, Toyota never really had to market it. Even the sales people knew next to nothing about it. It might have been better if Toyota had needed to put out TV ads and could have shown the benefits of the 'ease of use' shifter:

1. The lack of need to even touch it to go into park
2. The single motion to go to your desired gear, with no thought as to what gear you are in 'now'
3. Not having to go through reverse and neutral to get to drive
4. Not having to make sure you don't slide past D into 2
5. Not having to go right, then down, then left, then down to get from Park to Drive

People would know why the NEW way is better than the OLD way and have no problem 'accepting' the new way. Anyone refuse to buy a car without a manual choke or without a crank instead of an electric starter lately??

EXACTLY! While the "don't need to know what gear you are in 'now'" issue is also solved with buttons, finding the RIGHT button is less ergonomic than the 'single motion' Prius shifter. And all the extra buttons just add to the clutter and confusion. Just like all the individual buttons under the radio for climate control rather than having the MFD climate panel.

 

No one is making this claim. What we are saying is that the marketing people *think* that it will be an easier sell with a conventional shifter location. This is a matter of perceptions, not facts.

Tom

 

I'm still thinking about the new middle console. If the Prius were a sports car with a manual transmission, I'd want the shifter in the middle, not on the dash. But it's an automatic, and always will be. I'm used to the dash location now, but I'm sure I could adapt back again.

I like the looks of the previous 'open space' console better, but the space isn't really all that useful. The new one looks like it would hold a purse or small bag better, which would be an improvement over having things flying around. Well, yeah, I could drive slower.

 

Hi All,

I think a shifter is OK, and even though its the old-way, it makes sense for operating the car as it is. You see, a shifter alows one to blindly control the mode of the drive train with high confidence. A pushbutton array does not. It the pattern of moving the shifter one can do blindly, that determines the mode. Not actual position of a button one has to hit.

For example ( and this happened to me) your driving through your work industrial park, and a big old 18 wheeler comes around a blind corner, and is head-on with you and schreeches to a dead stop. He can't back up because he is stradiling 2 lanes of the Tee intersection top bar, and you can't go forward to get around him. So, what does the Prius driver too, he just reaches for his handy shifter and puts the car in reverse, and quickly makes room for the 18 wheeler to finish the turn, reopen traffic on the other road, and make way for you.

With the shifter, after a while that is just an automatic reaction. No thought, just do. And you can do it very quickly in a Prius. No making sure you went to the right detent of a lever shifter, no waiting for the transmission to clunk into reverse. No moving your hand all the way down to the console, just a little to the right. And then reverse and go!!

 

Hi Hyosilver,

The space where the 2010 console is, is where my knee is when I drive my 2006. I had another guy who has longer legs but also husky in the front of the car the other day, in the front passenger seat. There were people in the back seat too. So, he did not want to run the seat all the way back. Guess what. His knee was right where that new console is too.

So, its not wasted space. Its very usable. Remember, the Prius is a narrow car. So, unless your going to make it a foot wider, its just right the way it is.

 

Ah. In that case, yes, the old layout would be much more comfortable. Not having enough legroom is definitely an issue.

 

I miss the push button shift on my '64 Dodge and the key in the middle of the dash.

 

I'm so used to the Saab way of putting the ignition/key in the center console. It will definitely take some adjustment to switch. But a happy adjustment, nonetheless. In 2010!

 

He needs the model with the moon roof.

Tom

 

Fix your legs.

 

Very good point. At 5' 7" I am considered freakishly tall in my family.

Almost all animal life goes through an evolutionary phase where it gets larger and larger until finally shrinking back to a sustainable size. Some of us are just more evolved that other others.

Tom