Anyone else interested in replacing the rotary shifter?

[Paper Mach-E]

I've been searching every couple weeks to see if anyone has successfully swapped the dial shifter for something else. Figured I'd post in case anyone has tried or has insight on how it might be done.

I'm annoyed at how easy it is to overshoot Reverse and wind up in Park (usually abruptly). The muscle memory will come, I'm sure. It's just frustratingly non-intuitive as compared to pretty much every other shifter design. The other day I needed to reverse in a hurry, and Parked instead . Thankfully I wasn't on a railroad crossing or anything, and the other driver stopped in time. But talk about embarrassing!

An R, N, D knob would do - fling it left for Reverse, Right for Drive; swap the L button for a P. Or maybe put that now-useless |P| button to work as the Park button. Or if there were a detent for Park, where the whole dial needed to be depressed or pulled.
Or that nifty F150 shifter ?

Anyway... I would assume that this knob is the same as the Explorer uses; a standard item from the Ford parts bin that the designers picked to compliment the volume knob. And that another electronic shifter would have worked too (maybe even the same wiring/connector)?

Anyone have any insights?

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[Maquis]

I’d trade the clunky shifter in my Lightning for your dial.

To each his own, I guess!

 

[generaltso]

My guess is that it would be cost prohibitive to retrofit a different style of shifter. Developing the muscle memory to effectively use the dial would be much cheaper.

 

[Pioneer74]

I’d trade the clunky shifter in my Lightning for your dial.

To each his own, I guess!

This x2.

 

[bdaughtry]

My wife had a minor mishap because of the shifter. What I don't like is you can turn the dial past park or drive. It should lock when it reaches the final position on each side. The speedometer prompts are great, but this conversation just points out how intuitive, shifting gears actually is. We are used to where things are positioned.

How often, in your prior vehicles have you visually checked the PRNDL gauge in the car? You intuitively know where the shifter is. Technical advancement has removed that option/feeling for us.

 

[phil]

How often, in your prior vehicles have you visually checked the PRNDL gauge in the car? You intuitively know where the shifter is. Technical advancement has removed that option/feeling for us.

That's "advancement".

Or aDVanCEmeNT.

 

[markboris]

I would assume that this knob is the same as the Explorer uses; a standard item from the Ford parts bin that the designers picked to compliment the volume knob. And that another electronic shifter would have worked too (maybe even the same wiring/connector)?

Anyone have any insights?

I think it's all what you get use to. I've been using them in Ford's for almost 6 years. My Shelby GT500 has one. Ford's $500K GT supercar has one. I can understand how it can be confusing after using a different type shifter for a long time but I personally find the dial very easy to use.

 

[markboris]

What I don't like is you can turn the dial past park or drive. It should lock when it reaches the final position on each side.

Agree with you. My current and past Ford ICE cars have/had shifter dials that stop at Park and Drive. Not sure why they changed this on the Mach-E.

 

[JoeDimwit]

This is going to sound either very stupid or mean, but neither of those are my intention here…

wait until the vehicle is completely stopped before shifting from drive to reverse (or the other way around for that matter) and you’ll never have a problem.

 

[JustBob]

I've only had it for 2 months, but I like it. After a week or 2 I haven't given it much thought. 1 click to reverse, then 2 clicks to drive. It's a convenient location and it's small enough to not be in the way of anything.

 

[AKgrampy]

I have no problem with it as my Expedition has a dial too. If you want confusion; though, the Expedition has a drive mode dial right under the shift dial which I have erroneously used a few times over my 4 rears of ownership!

 

[bamberge]

I've got another example of shifter anxiety. I had a Lincoln Nautilus before my Mach-E. The Nautilus had a push button gear selector on the left side of the center stack. I actually liked the push button design. However, speaking of "muscle memory", I once backed out of my driveway in my Mach-E and when I went to shift into drive, I inadvertently/automagically reached up and pushed the engine start/stop button and abruptly turned the vehicle off. After realizing my mistake, I quickly started the vehicle again and shifted into drive to proceed. Fortunately, there was no other traffic around me at the time. Talk about scary!!!

 

[JoeDimwit]

I will say this much.., before acquiring the Smurfmobile, I was very used to resting my wrist on the gear selector, and it felt very uncomfortable not having that there. It was probably a couple months before I quit noticing it.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I hate the dial, but we are stuck with it. It needs a reverse lock-out and a further lock-out for Park. Lift or push down on the knob to disable the lock-out. Plain stupid design and execution.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I will say this much.., before acquiring the Smurfmobile, I was very used to resting my wrist on the gear selector, and it felt very uncomfortable not having that there. It was probably a couple months before I quit noticing it.

LOL all of my other cars have manual trannies. I keep trying to use a clutch pedal and reaching for the shifter in some situations.

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