MISC: What's on your Mind?

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ClutchFork
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ClutchFork »

Six months into this and still don't know anybody who has Covid.
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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potownrob
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by potownrob »

ClutchFork wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 8:35 pm Six months into this and still don't know anybody who has Covid.
I know at least one who had it bad back in the early spring and then recovered. People question him when he downtalks COVID, masks etc. but he feels that it is blown out of proportion despite him having gone through it. Have heard of people dying from it, like friends of friends and the like. I wear my mask when around people (other than sitting at a table or with close friends), but don’t think the masks help as much as people seem to think, especially when they’re dirty, cheap, fake (like my fake eBay KN95 masks) etc. Most people around here are either pro-mask or put up with wearing one when necessary, but we get people visiting the hotel here in upstate NY who come from places where they don’t wear masks or do as little as possible.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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ClutchFork
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ClutchFork »

potownrob wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:12 am
ClutchFork wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 8:35 pm Six months into this and still don't know anybody who has Covid.
I know at least one who had it bad back in the early spring and then recovered. People question him when he downtalks COVID, masks etc. but he feels that it is blown out of proportion despite him having gone through it. Have heard of people dying from it, like friends of friends and the like. I wear my mask when around people (other than sitting at a table or with close friends), but don’t think the masks help as much as people seem to think, especially when they’re dirty, cheap, fake (like my fake eBay KN95 masks) etc. Most people around here are either pro-mask or put up with wearing one when necessary, but we get people visiting the hotel here in upstate NY who come from places where they don’t wear masks or do as little as possible.
I like his attitude!
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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ClutchFork
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ClutchFork »

It occurred to me today that the gear selector pattern on many automatics is backward. By that, I mean reverse is forward of drive which is the true forward gear. So intuitively from neutral, one would throw it into reverse trying to go forward or drive trying to go backward. I know, they put reverse where they do so that if you have to force a downshift with the lever, you won't accidentally slam it into reverse. Or maybe it is like that so people backing out of parking spaces or driveways will find the needed selection right up front.

Also, what's up with the zig zag stuff? For decades every automatic I saw was a straight line. Is the zig zag gate supposed to make it look sporty (likewise the huge knob). Actually, my neighbor got a late model Fusion with automatic and his selector is a dial. I think that is much better suited than a huge lever that suggests you need a little muscle to throw it or that you might powershift.

Image
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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potownrob
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by potownrob »

ClutchFork wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:59 pm It occurred to me today that the gear selector pattern on many automatics is backward. By that, I mean reverse is forward of drive which is the true forward gear. So intuitively from neutral, one would throw it into reverse trying to go forward or drive trying to go backward. I know, they put reverse where they do so that if you have to force a downshift with the lever, you won't accidentally slam it into reverse. Or maybe it is like that so people backing out of parking spaces or driveways will find the needed selection right up front.

Also, what's up with the zig zag stuff? For decades every automatic I saw was a straight line. Is the zig zag gate supposed to make it look sporty (likewise the huge knob). Actually, my neighbor got a late model Fusion with automatic and his selector is a dial. I think that is much better suited than a huge lever that suggests you need a little muscle to throw it or that you might powershift.

Image
eye think you may have answered your own question about the location of reverse on a typical automatic shifter. also worth noting is that not all manual shifters/transmissions have reverse in the "back" position; my 6 speed '07 Altima (which eye still have but is currently dead, probably from not running enough) has reverse in the left-up position, same as 1st but you have to pinch a collar on the shifter stalk under the shifter. The zig-zag auto shifters didn't sit right with me until I owned one. I don't think it's really any better than a straight-line shifter, at least not a relatively modern one, but it works well wons you get used to it. I think it's important to have some tactile feeling to shifting to know where to move the shifter without looking at it, so a lot of these newer dial shifters and non-analog shifters, especially the ones where you don't even move a lever, don't sit well with me. I have kind of gotten used to the newer Honda button shifters (my sister has it in her '18 Accord Hybrid), but they apparently planned that design out well. It also frees up space above the shifter where you can put your cell phone or other things you want handy. Also worth noting is that not all automatic shifters were always set up in the typical PRNDL layout; mercedes used to have a backwards layout in their older models. This is from I believe a 1970 280 SL...:

Image
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
IMBoring25
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by IMBoring25 »

It's not about feeling sporty. It's about good user interface, much like a manual being sprung to the center gate so you have a set of gates accessed by left pressure, a set of gates accessed with no side pressure, and a set of gates accessed by right pressure. At the very least, familiarity lets you know by feel where the shifter is, and you may sometimes even have to apply specific pressure in a specific direction to get into a specific gate.

The standard quadrant allows the accessory forward gears to be adjacent to the normal forward gears without having a whole lot of extra, seldom-used gears between the driving gears that are usually used and the Park position. As for why to not flip the standard quadrant like that Benz...I grew up on column shifters. Park-up puts the shifter more out of the way while driving and provides a natural downward movement to get to the driving gears. What's mentally analogous to up on the horizontal plane? Forward.

It surprises me to see enthusiasm for dials. They and the monostable shifters are both user interface disasters. At least with the dials it would be possible to have differences in detents, push-to-access gates, and other distinguishing characteristics that you could feel, but in my experience that's seldom if ever done and at best you're taking a control that feels nothing like any of the other controls in the vehicle and making it feel more like other controls. Of course, dials for radio and HVAC are also going away (also bad for user interface and safety), so that argument may moot itself somewhat over time.

Forward reverse isn't unheard of either. It was very common in old three- and four-speeds. That's what you wind up with in a five-speed with a dogleg first like the old Benz E series. Mustang has had it since they went to six-speeds. The seven-speed in the new Bronco has it.
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ClutchFork
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ClutchFork »

My very first car ('64 Dodge Dart) had this setup which is pretty nice for if you get stuck with an automatic. The lever on the left is Park.
Image
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
ManualShifterMz3s
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ManualShifterMz3s »

potownrob wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:13 pm
ManualShifterMz3s wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:45 pm Alive and well...... how about you? :D :D :D :D
same. despite the COVID and other chaos and insanity. you still in nyc?? you know this isn’t the main misc. thread, right? :mrgreen:
Moved from NYC in 2018 to Long Island.

Yes, I know. I started this thread just for the sake of it. lol.

Merry Christmas, good people.
Enjoy the holiday season to the max.

I come back here (in this forum) to remember and show appreciation to all the users who helped me initially when I was learning how to drive stick-shift.

I am eternally thankful and grateful to one and all.

My joy of driving manual to this day [17 years later] just keeps increasing more and more. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
2017 Ford Mustang, Eco-Boost, Turbo 4, 6 speed Grabber Blue
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4X4, Red < wife's ride
2004 Mazda 3, 2.3s, stick, Solar Yellow
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ClutchFork
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by ClutchFork »

ManualShifterMz3s wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:39 pm My joy of driving manual to this day [17 years later] just keeps increasing more and more. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
Never give up the stick!

I started in 1977 and have always had a stick for my personal vehicle.

They can take my stick away when they pry it from my cold dead fingers! :lol:
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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potownrob
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Re: MISC: What's on your Mind?

Post by potownrob »

ManualShifterMz3s wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:39 pm
potownrob wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:13 pm
ManualShifterMz3s wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:45 pm Alive and well...... how about you? :D :D :D :D
same. despite the COVID and other chaos and insanity. you still in nyc?? you know this isn’t the main misc. thread, right? :mrgreen:
Moved from NYC in 2018 to Long Island.

Yes, I know. I started this thread just for the sake of it. lol.

Merry Christmas, good people.
Enjoy the holiday season to the max.

I come back here (in this forum) to remember and show appreciation to all the users who helped me initially when I was learning how to drive stick-shift.

I am eternally thankful and grateful to one and all.

My joy of driving manual to this day [17 years later] just keeps increasing more and more. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
knot shore how eye did dent re-ply to this post earlier, like when eye first red it weaks ago...whereabouts on strong island have you moved? eye halve college friends in nassau county, mostly from the bellmore area but now living in other parts of the county. a strong affinity toward farmingdale on behalf of them, fore sum reason. as eye stare at my abandoned six-speed altima whiff its fogged up/moldy windows and dog knows what waiting inside fore me when eye finally take another shot at getting the car started, eye consider my real shifting days behind me. eye no longer miss shifting when eye drive an automatic, and eye know longer hate driving automatics, for the most part. color me dead.
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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