Kreb said:
Because of the column shift on my Ridgeline, everything else gets moved to the left side. Then I drive my wife's Mazda and thrash around like a blind man. Yeah, some things should be standardized. next thing you know, they'll put a bunch of buttons down by your right elbow.
There's one minivan, I think the Sienna, where there is a center console shift, but the lack of a floor shift always makes me think "column shift" and I damn near break the wiper stalk when I want to shift out of Park.
lnlogauge said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Imagine a group of people laughing about car quirks, comparing stupid things engineers come up with. Is there a need to remind them that their complaints are pretty? If the answer is yes, the problem is on you.
There's plenty of other forums where real world problems are discussed. That's how things are fixed you know. On internet forums.
I guess you don't consider your post being petty? Do feel better for reminding me that my complaining about their complaining was petty? If the answer is yes, the problem is on you. 
My early driving career was mid 2000s GM, mid 2000s Ford, 80s Dodge, and 90s Jeep with leftover AMC bits. I would drive sometimes more than one of these in the same day. Nothing was normal to me and I got used to guessing. Between auto lights, twist stalks, pull switches, pulling switches out for fogs vs a separate button, clicking back for high beam vs pushing forward, 2 or 3 different schemes of wiper controls...
The worst was trying to decipher the HVAC on the Crosstour though. I never did work out how the hell you were supposed to defog the windshield.
I've driven enough cars by now that I have zero expectation of anything being standardized. Procedure for driving a new car is to press or at least touch every control I expect to use while driving, before leaving the parking lot. I like non-standardization, it leaves room for innovation and variety to suit personal preference. I think it's kind of odd when people get in a new car and expect everything to be universal.
In reply to TopNoodles :
I hate non-standardization. Standardization is good. Accelerator is on the right, brake pedal is next to it, clutch if present is next to that, emergency brake if on the floor is on the far left. Steering wheel rotates clockwise (another standard!) to turn right and counterclockwise (or anticlockwise) to turn left. Shifter either progresses from park, to reverse, neutral, drive, and then lower gears in progressive detents as necessary, or for an H pattern manual, lower gears are forward in a given gate and the gates progress higher to the right. Reverse is not terribly standard but it's always at one end of the pattern or the other.
Someone once told me that to get checked out on a given aircraft type, you had to know where the controls are by memory and feel. Cars SHOULD be the same way. This is 100% why I hate touchscreens.
In reply to z31maniac :
I misread your post wrong apparently. My apologies for mistaking your reply as complaining. I love the discussion of this group. I do find it annoying when people need to complain about people enjoying a discussion. You weren't part of that I see.
lnlogauge said:
In reply to z31maniac :
I misread your post wrong apparently. My apologies for mistaking your reply as complaining. I love the discussion of this group. I do find it annoying when people need to complain about people enjoying a discussion. You weren't part of that I see.
No worries, it's hard to read intent and tone and playful sarcasm through just words without the actual intonation of the voice and facial expressions.
In reply to Knurled. :
Your H gate shifter comment made me think of the manual gate on automatic transmissions. They should all be forward to down shift and back to upshift just like an H gate. One of my cars is backwards and I couldn’t quit grasp why I hated it.
akylekoz said:
In reply to Knurled. :
Your H gate shifter comment made me think of the manual gate on automatic transmissions. They should all be forward to down shift and back to upshift just like an H gate. One of my cars is backwards and I couldn’t quit grasp why I hated it.
I can downshift both moving forward and back on my H pattern transmissions 
Do you drive a 2 speed manual?
akylekoz said:
In reply to Knurled. :
Your H gate shifter comment made me think of the manual gate on automatic transmissions. They should all be forward to down shift and back to upshift just like an H gate. One of my cars is backwards and I couldn’t quit grasp why I hated it.
The only cars with manumatics that are forward downshift and back upshift are Porsche, and Mazda. Everyone else has it backwards (or rather, oriented like a PRNDL) I consider this to be a praise of Porsche and Mazda engineers - even on pedestrian crap like Cayennes and Mazda5s, the intent is for sporting drivers.
This is a subject that I am vocal about. Even after close to 35k of owning my S60R, I have to devote brainspace to moving the shifter because the instinct is to smack it away from you for downshifts and pull towards you for upshifts. Like banging gears in a manual trans, or shifting a proper manual-valvebody automatic with a ratchet shifter (PRN123 pattern)
At least every side-side manumatic seems to get it correct - right is up, left is down, just like moving a manual trans' lever across its gates.
Knurled. said:
akylekoz said:
In reply to Knurled. :
Your H gate shifter comment made me think of the manual gate on automatic transmissions. They should all be forward to down shift and back to upshift just like an H gate. One of my cars is backwards and I couldn’t quit grasp why I hated it.
The only cars with manumatics that are forward downshift and back upshift are Porsche, and Mazda. Everyone else has it backwards (or rather, oriented like a PRNDL) I consider this to be a praise of Porsche and Mazda engineers - even on pedestrian crap like Cayennes and Mazda5s, the intent is for sporting drivers.
BMWs are pull back for upshift and forward downshift. All M cars are like that as well as auto transmissions.
The PDK Porsches that I have driven were backwards, as well as VWs and Audis ... except a GT3RS I saw in a magazine.
Carbon
UltraDork
7/19/19 9:47 p.m.
I prefer the separate wipe and spray function. Thanks Lexus.
Huh? Today I learned "pull to spray" isn't a universal thing.
TIL that Evo Xs have the correct shifter pattern.
Slippery said:
Knurled. said:
akylekoz said:
In reply to Knurled. :
Your H gate shifter comment made me think of the manual gate on automatic transmissions. They should all be forward to down shift and back to upshift just like an H gate. One of my cars is backwards and I couldn’t quit grasp why I hated it.
The only cars with manumatics that are forward downshift and back upshift are Porsche, and Mazda. Everyone else has it backwards (or rather, oriented like a PRNDL) I consider this to be a praise of Porsche and Mazda engineers - even on pedestrian crap like Cayennes and Mazda5s, the intent is for sporting drivers.
BMWs are pull back for upshift and forward downshift. All M cars are like that as well as auto transmissions.
The PDK Porsches that I have driven were backwards, as well as VWs and Audis ... except a GT3RS I saw in a magazine.
Ahhh, you're talking about the shifter?
In my 135i, the right paddle upshifted, the left paddle downshifted. They only moved in one direction, toward the driver.
For me, that's perfect. It's a much more natural motion to reach and grab with a finger than to push away on a paddle. Again, for me at least.
This is an H pattern. What you guys are talking about is your automatic transmission, which will shift quite nicely all by itself.
//troll//
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
To me a real H pattern is a dogleg
The pattern I selected has one too many gears, too.
Yours is a h pattern. Mine is an h pattern. Automatics don't use an h pattern.
Streetwiseguy said:
The pattern I selected has one too many gears, too.
Yours is a h pattern. Mine is an h pattern. Automatics don't use an h pattern.
New Vettes and Porsches are 7 speed manuals.
I was confused as heck until I realized y'all are probably talking about those zig-zag automatics. I've only ever driven cars where it's in a straight line and you push a button to shift it.
I thought we were talking about these:
In reply to Slippery :
Oh, maybe we were! My confusion grows ever larger.
If it's those things we're talking about, then I vote "push forward to shift up" and "pull back to shift down" because that's how I would set up my video game shifter.
In reply to Duke :
Push the stalk on the right for horn used to be common in 50s-60s & maybe 70s French & Italian (?) cars. The mechanical washer pump on the Trabant rings a bell but I don't remember what from- Fiat 850? Renault 4CV?. I don't remember the 2CV having washers but it was old then & that was in Morocco. Y'all remember vacuum powered wipers on 50s & earlier American cars? Having to lift while driving uphill so you could clear the windshield & see?
slowbird said:
In reply to Slippery :
Oh, maybe we were! My confusion grows ever larger.
If it's those things we're talking about, then I vote "push forward to shift up" and "pull back to shift down" because that's how I would set up my video game shifter.
You are allowed to have your wrong opinion. :)
In reply to z31maniac :
Thanks!
To be honest, I'd prefer paddles anyway. If I ever have the good fortune to afford a paddle shift car, it had better be "right paddle" for upshift and "left paddle" for downshift. Which I think most or all of them are.
