Shift - Forward to Go Back

I understand - and see a lot of value in what you're saying.

But once again:

Imagine if Toyota decided to go against the grain and make the Prius 'logical' and reverse the order to D-N-R. Product liability lawyers would make a fortune. And body shops.

I'm absolutely certain that if a Toyota senior executive or Design Engineering VP was cornered to answer the question truthfully, this would be the core of their answer. Sometimes we're just stuck with "how it is". And if there's any question in what mode to move the stick...look down at the shifter or up to the MID screen. And BTW, Toyota would probably not have engineered the LED above the shifter for illumination at night if not to reinforce the shift pattern for the driver. And probably the reverse beep too.

And finally, I've heard that Gen II owners thought the up/down shift pattern was not intuitive for that design as well (down should be reverse etc.)

 

First, they have people who are used to it in the PRND21 order from every other automatic they have ever used, but I think that perhaps it could have been overcome, as you suggest. I know I was certainly confused the first time or two I drove the car. (The PRND21 pattern is technically there, but because of the snap-back feature and the fact that P is a button and not on the stick, it broke the relationship for me at first.)

BUT, they've also trained people for many years now on previous Prius generations. (At least I think Gen II and even Gen I had this shifting pattern.) So they no longer have the clean-break, we're a different car moment to do it. They're stuck with a legacy of users who are trained to do the opposite.

Personally, I'd like to see it work as you've diagrammed, but with Park added to the right and down. The Park button's relatively stupid since you can just as easily turn the car off to achieve the same thing if you really want to use a button.

 

Then why didn't they just use the linear shifter they (sorry) Stupidly put in the Hybrid Camry?

There isn't one in the 2004-2009. I think that light is a cutesy 'look at what we can do' thing more than a safety thing. How many other cars have lights shining on the shifter, auto or manual???

Oh yeah. My brain kind of visually moved the shifter to horizontal, as it is in the 2010 and it made NO SENSE AT ALL. Someone posted that one could visually rotate it to the ceiling instead, as if it were a cabin top control on an airplane. Then you would push it the right way for the direction you wanted to go.

 

They could have gone this route:

 

OK, but don't make them change my Prius. Technically, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to change it in the software set-up. Except, that would lead to more confusion when in different hands.

 

I disagree, and this is why (I read this on another post here several months ago, but could not locate the post)...

Imagine if you are sitting into a Prius for the first time. You reach for the start button, and put the car in Ready mode. Then you reach for the shifter, and and pull it back to go backwards. Only instead of inching backwards, you lunge backwards, as your body is propelled forward, you end up shifting the shifter forward and into 'Drive", then throwing you back into your seat (ok, I know that 'throwing you back into your seat' is not too likely on the Prius, but stay with me..), and with it, you are grabbing the shifter as you never let go yet, and you throw it back into reverse. What ends up happening is that the momentum of the movement of the car could cause you to throw the car back into another gear.

Now, the opposite is true as well. If you are going to backup, and push the shifter forward, and start rolling, you will be 'pushed' forward slightly as you reverse, ensuring that you remain in the gear that you selected. Finally, when you decide to pull back and go forward, you will slightly be pulled into your seat, again ensuring that you are pulling the shifter towards you, instead of making you pushing the shifter out of D.

To me, the current system makes more sense, and is more intuitive than it has been on other cars that I have owned.

 

Great! This is on a steering wheel, right?

Who would think about this! The shifter then becomes a moving target! :lol:

This is one of the dumbest design idea I've seen! :crazy:

Thanks!

 

Dumb??? An Edsel signature feature---I wonder why nobody copied it?

 

Better than the stupid Jaguar twist to shift knob! It IS "select the gear you want without thinking about the one you are in" which *I* think is a good thing. And I don't know about you, but I don't generally shift while turning the wheel. Though putting the buttons on the dash would be easier, always in the same place.

1958 Plymouth Belvedere:


and the 1964:


Hmm, and people managed to learn how to use those, and 3 speeds, and 4 speeds and 5 speeds etc, etc, etc.

 

What the heck are you talking about?
1) If you are hitting the accelerator hard enough to jerk you forward, you need driving lessons.
2) And WHY would you 'still' be gripping the shifter? You don't push and hold it in place. You push and let go, it returns to 'home'.
3) If you are gripping the shifter, get an 'un-grip'. There is no mechanical linkage, there is no reason to grip the knob. Just press against it with the inside of your palm. You don't need to do a 'hard 90' first left then forward or back, it will slide around the 'corner'. Heck, anyone could shift my wife's manual '86 Civic Si with 2 fingers or less and it DID have a mechanical linkage.
4) If people really COULD have such problems, it is yet another reason to put the shifter back on the dash, out of the way where it belongs. I can shift the Gen IIs without even taking all the fingers on my right hand off the wheel.

 

As I stated, this is not something that happens to me, it is something that I read on the PC forum (maybe in the Gen II section, I don't recall) several months ago, when I first learned of the site and the 2010 Prius. However, this was described for the Gen II prius, and not the Gen III.

 

One of the first cars I drove was my b/f's car with push button transmission.

I'd prefer that as I'm terrified that my dog is going to push the joystick into reverse when I'm in drive (he rides on the floor of the passenger side). From p176 in the manual, it looks like Toyota took care of this and it will just put me in N, but it scares me nonetheless. The stick moves so easily.

He used to ride with his head on the console next to the Jeep's shifter, and a couple of times the weight of his head did push me from D into N while at speed. Now it seems that both dogs like to sleep with their head in the cubby. If you see a Prius with a pillow in there, it's probably mine!

Robbin

 

Same response Sounds like someone looking for a problem rather than experiencing one or actually THINKING through the possibilities.