Swop Reverse and Drive Positions on the Stick Shift

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I agree. Just ditch the shifter and go with something else.
I've had several instances where I inadvertently shift into reverse intending to go forward and I don't like it.
There must be something better.

Zurc.
 
JustBobF said:
When I first got into the Leaf my first reaction was to push the shift lever to the right and forward to go forward. Pushing it back to go forward seemed counter-intuitive.

A friend had the same reaction.

I wonder how may others feel the same way?

(There are really only two positions in the leaf: forward and backward, unlike older cars that have many positions on that lever. So why not make forward and backward make sense?)
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feels pretty natural to me. if flooring it your momentum pulls you in the direction you want to shift. granted I am probably the only one who looks at it this way but there was no learning curve for me in the Prius (which has the same shifting pattern) so there was none in the LEAF.
 
When I drive my ICE, first gear is left and up, reverse is push down on the shifter and up. Some cars have reverse as over to the right and down, so I can understand where the OP is coming from in terms of confusion. Not everyone that has a Leaf has an automatic ;). Although your typical Toyota / Lexus automatic shifter is some weird gated pattern that goes left, down, right, down and kind of annoying.
 
If you hand is on the shifter and you accelerate fast in say reverse the force of you body should follow the direction of the shifter as a safety issue so it makes sense as it is.
 
your hand should not be on the shifter if your accelerating anyways.
I'd guess that the solution would be to set it up so that it can be turned either way to accommodate Individual preferences.
Now there's a good job for Nissan engineers to undertake.

zurc. :)
 
Zurc said:
your hand should not be on the shifter if your accelerating anyways.
I'd guess that the solution would be to set it up so that it can be turned either way to accommodate Individual preferences.
Now there's a good job for Nissan engineers to undertake.

zurc. :)
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that would be a tremendously bad idea.
 
SET IT….

set-it-and-forget-it-o.gif


AND FORGET IT!
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
that would be a tremendously bad idea.
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Agree. It would be very confusing for drivers used to the standard LEAF (and Prius) pattern to have it set in a strange way.

My ICE cars have had a variety of shift patterns for reverse. It wasn't that hard to learn the quirks of each car.

Of the various complaints about the LEAF, this one strikes me as one of the least substantive.
 
The only way to say this is quite blunt. Sorry. The main thing about being a driver is learning how to operate the machinery you are controlling. The way the shifter is configured was settled long ago, and it is going to continue to be built that way. You just need to get used to it. We could also debate on why you turn the steering wheel counterclockwise for left, and clockwise for right..
 
Completely disagree. While I personally do not care which way I have to move the stick. It is a machine. It is my property. It will operate how I decree within the confines of reality and reason. Period.

It would not be tok hard me thinks to revers the motion. It is pure electronic I would guess so simply dremelibg it out and spinning it 180 should not be overly difficult
 
It took me 2 min to figure mine out when I got the car. Never an issue after that, sounds like lots of people can't adapt easily or need quite a bit of deprogramming. If this is an obstacle I'll keep my distance on the road :lol: I find it mechanically logical based on car movement and it is a non-issue, in fact its super easy and fast to use. Sometimes people find minor change tough, like moving from an AOL email address :roll:
 
The mirrors are adjustable, the seat is adjustable, even the stearing wheel tilt is adjustable so there's no reason why the shifter cant be made adjustable as well. Further, just because there's a standard doesn't mean it cant be changed. I would prefer forward to the front and reverse to the rear and I'd also make the shifter move to the right instead of the left. One thing I really like though is that there is no mistaking the park position.

Zurc
 
Zurc said:
The mirrors are adjustable, the seat is adjustable, even the stearing wheel tilt is adjustable so there's no reason why the shifter cant be made adjustable as well. Further, just because there's a standard doesn't mean it cant be changed. I would prefer forward to the front and reverse to the rear and I'd also make the shifter move to the right instead of the left. One thing I really like though is that there is no mistaking the park position.

Zurc
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When you make those items adjustable, there isn't a chance you'll drive forward or reverse accidentally because you didn't remember what you adjusted it to. What you're asking for would require a display of some sort to always show the current configuration where the shifter is, essentially adding more complexity for something so simple. If it bugs you that much, go buy a Fiat 500e with clearly labeled push buttons.
 
Its the way cars have been built for years reverse is in front of forward. Like on a floor shift automatic. P,R,N,D,2,1. Why should they change now?
 
Because its an electric motor that's why.
There are no mechanical constraints on how the shift lever is set up as there has been in the past with ICE transmissions.
IF you want a standard shift pattern then go buy an ice Vehicle. I'm sure they will be using the same thing for years to come.

Zurc.
 
The one thing nice about cars is that you can do whatever you want with them once it's yours. Flip the shifter if thats the way you like it. All you probably need to do is swap two pinsbin a molex connector somewhere. I still think it's easier to just get used to the way it works.

they build this car so that the average joe can go back and forth between an ice car and a ev. Most of the people I see on here have a technical background of some kind and could easily adapt. But nissan needs to sell cars to more than us if they want to recover their investment. They need to build it to operate just like an ice car. Us techies are smart, we might not like it, but we will be able to operate whatever they throw at us grumbling about it the whole way.. The general publuc though would hurt themselves, generating many expensive recalls and class action lawsuits.
 
johnrhansen said:
The one thing nice about cars is that you can do whatever you want with them once it's yours. Flip the shifter if thats the way you like it. All you probably need to do is swap two pins in a molex connector somewhere. I still think it's easier to just get used to the way it works.

they build this car so that the average joe can go back and forth between an ice car and a ev. Most of the people I see on here have a technical background of some kind and could easily adapt. But nissan needs to sell cars to more than us if they want to recover their investment. They need to build it to operate just like an ice car. Us techies are smart, we might not like it, but we will be able to operate whatever they throw at us grumbling about it the whole way.. The general publuc though would hurt themselves, generating many expensive recalls and class action lawsuits.
Click to expand...
 
Making it user adjustable is probably a bad idea at least easily user adjustable

Remember let us be honest. Most drivers are through and through morons. Blunt plain simple and dead honest.

Now beside that you can never ever blame the shifter direction for an accident. It tells you in very large print what gear its in. In fact its 1000% superior to a normal shifter no matter which way you do it because our shifter is binary. On or off zero ambiguity. A normal shifter gives you very little actual physical feedback. Ie you really need to be looking at the indicator to know what gear position your in.

Alas as I said. Most drivers are morons. Driver error not shifter error. Make sure your clear in understanding that fact.

As I said. When I got in the car my first instinct never having driven one or a prius was to push forward to go forward. I was actually surprised to see the R when I did this because not being a moron I did not release the brake without positive confirmation.

Backwards for forward is dumb. Period. The fact that its always been done that way is irrelevant. Its always been dumb from a design perspective. If you think otherwise its really simple. Your wrong.

Now from a mechanical perspective it makes sense. Which is why we have "always done it that way"

And why it might make sense to keep doing it that way. Again most drivers are morons.

Before you think I am calling you a moron. Stop it. The fact that you have the brains to even be on these forums puts you in an entirely different league from average joe.

Also consider a manual transmission car. In every (every one I have driven) forward is always forward backwards is always reverse.

So when "I" switch between the leaf and my ice car I always have to "reverse" the process

In my ice forward is fotward backward is reverse but in the leaf its backwards forward is reverse backwards is forwards.

Guess how much it bothers me? Not at all. Took about 5 seconds to adapt the very first time only.

But thus thred may get me to seitch it for no other reason that just because I can :)
 
Oh I see. you are just venting. That's understandable. there's lots of other things I would like to complain about too.. like why is it that I have to feather the brake pedal to get some juice back into the battery when going down a hill. Why don't they just make an electric "jake brake" lever that works the regen without applying the friction brakes. Why does it creep? there's lots of things I don't like about the car, but at the end of the day, it's a Nissan, not a Hansen. And I bought it just the way it was!
 
nerys said:
...Also consider a manual transmission car. In every (every one I have driven) forward is always forward backwards is always reverse...
Click to expand...
You apparently haven't driven a very wide variety of manual transmissions, since they can vary considerably for reverse. My VW Golf, for example, used push down and then left and forward on the shifter for reverse.

Whatever car one is driving, a minute or two to familiarize oneself with the controls is time well spent. My cars over the years have varied considerably with the location and function of wipers, headlights, high beam dimmers, and parking brakes. I have a lot more trouble with those when switching between cars, than I do with shifters, because I use the shifters much more often, making them easy to remember.
 

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