shifter, could have been, should have been.

Says who?

It is just a simplified 'Three on the Tree':

 

Sadly US law requires P, R, N, D in that order, so only B, (or L) can vary.

 

little brother c for the win:



It's got the shiftiest shifter of them all. Although it was not primary selection criteria when we got ours, we both really appreciate its old-school look, feel & operation.

 

too much valuable real estate

 

Old school look and feel as in R being toward the front and D toward the rear. Every automatic I've ever driven was like that, IIRC.

 

I guess I see it the other way around. The biggie Prius has that enormous console wall there, can't manspread properly.

 

you don't do a lot of shifting in a prius. back out and go. if it is too confusing, listen for the back up beep before plowing into the object in front of you

 

another wate of space, but its not the shifters fault. gen four is back on the dash

 

I spread corrected. I haven't been in a 4th yet.

 

It's not just the Prius that's confusing, apparently. Two from our area in just over a week:
March 30, this driver confused the gas & brake and backed out the driveway, across the street, and into a neighbor's house. Literally!


And yesterday, someone else got a little mixed up. Happens all the time.

 

probably claim u/a

 

Reality is that they probably should have had their driver's licenses taken away 10 years ago. I pray that when I get to slow to react safely that I'll have enough sense to think of the the drivers' safety more than my own pride and convenience.

 

"Honest, that floor mat was coming right at me.... and there were three of them.... and one had a knife!!"

 

I'm surprised they just don't put a couple of push buttons for the gear shifting.

 

Now that's funny, right there!!

 

buttons on the steering wheel would be perfect

 

This convention is based on the mechanical shifter that required levers or cables to shift the transmission.

According to Consumer Reports, a lot of shifters confuse uninitiated drivers. The GMC Terrain has the worst one, where the driver has to pull out a small lever at the center of the console to shift.

The Ford rotary dial, which was introduced with the Fusion is one of the best. It is currently found on the current model of the high end Ford GT sports car.

 

My 62 dodge had push buttons. Loved them!

 

I'm in a rented Fusion this week, getting me around Tampa. I hate that spinner shifter. Very similar to the Chrysler one that killed the star trek actor.

I'll admit though, it looks like you could glue a handle onto it so that you could work out which gear you were in without looking.

EDIT: CORRECTION:
Actor Anton Yelchin's Jeep had a monostable joystick shifter similar to the Prius. Not a rotary knob. I did encounter a rotary knob in another Chrysler product of that vintage and conflated it. Apologies.