Reverse lockout

[Boston Fit]

Glad to hear that the lockout ring is alive and well. Along with the push-down mechanism, the ring seems like it would be the most secure type of lockout.

Shadow: The MINI Cooper (second gen, anyway) does not have to be pushed down; you just need to pull the shifter over to the left of 1st, past a friction point. This makes it too easy to engage reverse by accident, I've found.

InlinePaul: Actually, the video you posted here illustrates the ultimate reverse lockout - a separate lever!

rml605 and bk7794, your Acura/Honda shifters are probably similar to mine. I've found that the path to reverse (in both my old Fit and my current Civic) is slightly diagonal, like so. Give it a try and see if it helps.

[ClutchFork]

InlinePaul: Actually, the video you posted here illustrates the ultimate reverse lockout - a separate lever!

I wondered about that until it struck me, what if some goofball yanks the lever while you are cruising down the road? ("What's this lever do, pull out the ash tray?" Yank. Crunch, grind, smash! ) It's nice, but weird, think I'd mount that lever on the left to keep curious hands off of it.

But I do like it for converting a tree shifter to 4 speed!

[Boston Fit]

Well, maybe that explains why it didn't catch on

[rei]

My Fit's reverse is just below 5th, I believe it's a friction lockout preventing you from going 5-R on a rushed downshift (I've 'tested' this by mistake) I think the lockout works by requiring the stick fully centred and might need a double clutch to engage, I'll play around with it with the engine off and see what does and doesn't work (I know the lockout works when it's off on some level - I have to depress the clutch to move to R when parked, which I do not in any other gear.

[Squint]

The Scion tC (and I think the FR-S is the same way... though haven't driven one as recently as tC) uses a pull-up-ring-on-shifter style.



In that pic, you pull up on the silver ring below the knob. Not the best picture, but quick google result.

[Rope-Pusher]

My Fit's reverse is just below 5th, I believe it's a friction lockout preventing you from going 5-R on a rushed downshift (I've 'tested' this by mistake) I think the lockout works by requiring the stick fully centred and might need a double clutch to engage, I'll play around with it with the engine off and see what does and doesn't work (I know the lockout works when it's off on some level - I have to depress the clutch to move to R when parked, which I do not in any other gear.

Sliding idler Reverse gear needs the input shaft to be free to rotate, but all your forward gears are synchromesh and don't - although engagement may be easier/smoother with the clutch pedal depressed as well.
It is very common that when Reverse is opposite of 5th gear position, there is a blocking device in the transmission that prevents 5>Reverse shifts. Once you shift forward from the Neutral gate into 5th, the blocker is set and you can't pull the shifter straight back into Reverse. At work, we called this "The Mitsubishi Method", but I don't know if Mitsubishi invented it.

I've also seen where, even when using the Mitsubishi Method, a blocker at the shifter with a lift-ring release is also included. This will prevent inadvertently shifting from 4th to Reverse. I once thought of this as a "Belt AND Suspenders" approach, but 4>6 is a common skip-shift for 6-speed drivers and someone may attempt this on a 5-speed car if they regularly drive 6-speeds.

[Tups]

Push-down in the Escort, friction(?) in the Focus.

[kamesama980]

Firebird (like the GTO mentioned earlier) has an electronic solenoid that blocks R when going over 5mph. since the solenoid is fail-safe (no power=gate closed) reverse is a pain to engage when the cars off too but you can. If I'm skipping gears I usually do 1-3-5-6. It's geared kinda long so 2nd is a stretch and 5-6 shift is as much of a rev-drop as any 2 other gears thanks to the .5:1 ratio of 6th in that T56.

My truck, like most older toyotas, uses what I found today is the mitsubishi method of a mechanical lockout from 5th but it's open otherwise.

[ashowofhands]

• I've seen old shifters with a ring right under the knob that you have to pull up as you're shifting into reverse.

My friend's '03 Saab 9-3 (5-speed) and my dad's '12 Subaru Outback (6-speed) both have this.

My '08 Outback locks you out if you're going more than a couple miles an hour, but there's no collar or ring or pushing down or pulling up of any sort. Not that it needs it, it's difficult enough to get that transmission into R even at a complete stop...

[zenfiz6]

• Modern BMW's and MINI's place "R" to the left of "1," separated by a friction point that is not always effective. With these shifters, it's possible to accidentally get into reverse when you want first.

I don't know about Mini, but the BMWs that I've owned require the shifter to be pushed down slight as it is moved left & up to engage reverse. My Audi is the same way...and I believe that's true with most German cars. It's basically impossible to engage reverse by accident, since you don't push down on the shifter to go into first gear.

Yep. 2011 A4 is the same: push-down to get into R (which is to the left of 1st gear).