Anyone else interested in replacing the rotary shifter?

[JoeDimwit]

I agree that it is easy enough to use. My beef is with the location of the dial. Drive controls should be within easy reach of the driver, and not of the front-seat passenger who may be a child or an adult that is not careful, or is not expecting a shifter to be located at his or her left hand. Brakes, accelerator and steering are on the driver's side of the car for good reason.

A child young enough to mess with the car while you’re driving probably needs to be in a child seat in the back seat of the vehicle.

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[phil]

A child young enough to mess with the car while you’re driving probably needs to be in a child seat in the back seat of the vehicle.

Eight year old children are allowed in the front seat in California. Have you ever met an eight year old that could be trusted not to play with a shiny silver knob?

But you are right - if you're driving a Mach-E, better keep the kids in the back.

 

[MG101]

The Lexus RZ has a nice rotary shifter. Push down and turn right for drive, down and left for reverse and the knob returns to the middle when released. Neutral is hold the knob down and park is its own button. Works well enough.

 

[MrPeanut]

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.

Couldn't agree more about having a stop for shifter! Shouldn't have to look to see if the car is in Park or Drive

 

[HuntingPudel]

Couldn't agree more about having a stop for shifter! Shouldn't have to look to see if the car is in Park or Drive

Stops would be nice, but I still prefer a shift lever to a round knob. I can tell what gear I am in by feel. A well-designed lever is even better, like the one Pontiac used in the Gen2 Formula and Trans Am with automatics. ??

 

[BigMach-E]

I actually like the fact that I can spin the dial into park quickly with the hard left spin and don’t have to care where it lands. Right spin, drive. Need reverse in a hurry and don’t want to look down or at the screen? Hard left spin, click back right one notch, done. Need neutral in any position? Hard right spin, click left one notch, done.

I will bet that “blind” I can get it into any “gear” other than the L variants quicker than most folks can switch a gear in any other car.

 

[ChuckA]

I turn the dial while watching the dashboard. I never put my hand near the selector while driving.

 

[Garbone]

I actually like the fact that I can spin the dial into park quickly with the hard left spin and don’t have to care where it lands. Right spin, drive. Need reverse in a hurry and don’t want to look down or at the screen? Hard left spin, click back right one notch, done. Need neutral in any position? Hard right spin, click left one notch, done.

I will bet that “blind” I can get it into any “gear” other than the L variants quicker than most folks can switch a gear in any other car.

That is my mode of operation. Flick to drive, click once left for reverse, hit the power button when parked, never go to park using the shifter.

I have those metal shift knob that can be had from AOSK and others. Love it.

 

[AliRafiee]

Why not flick forward to go forward and back to go back?

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Eight year old children are allowed in the front seat in California.

Many states also allow motorcyclists to ride without a helmet. Doesn’t make it any less dumb. American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 13 years. I’d listen to them, not dumb state lawmakers.

 

[txaggies07]

Eight year old children are allowed in the front seat in California. Have you ever met an eight year old that could be trusted not to play with a shiny silver knob?

But you are right - if you're driving a Mach-E, better keep the kids in the back.

Just because it is legal doesn't mean it is wise. Most every source recommends kids 12 and under sit in the back. You do not want a child to be hit by the airbag.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

If there was an option to replace the dial with something better, I'd probably pony up for it, but I can't think of anything that could put in its place that would actually turn out to be better...except maybe a dial with better stops in it.

 

[Rt1AWD]

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.

It will be wearing off unevenly in this case

 

[Donna216]

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?

I had a CT5 before the MME and the volume dial was right where the shifter dial is. I like the dial but I would rather it be on the dash. It is just going to take some getting used to I guess. ?

 

[dgilles428]

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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