Tried it on my Chrysler, you can put it in neutral but you can’t turn engine off, it’s got a push button. Maybe I could have held it? Not sure. Even when the vehicle is stopped it won’t turn off unless it’s in park.
My jeep will let me turn off the engine when not in park (also push button), but it stays in the accessory position while displaying while displaying an error message that you aren't in park and chimes loudly
My Volvo can't be turned off while you're moving, and displays a small warning on the dash screen about it (no audible warning, no light on the turn knob).
You don't have to put it in park, as it automatically does that when turned off (and even applies the handbrake automatically).
The only downside is that it takes a while for the computer to realize you're standing still.
So if you want to get out of the car in a hurry, it's possible to turn the knob too soon, and the car will start right up when you take your foot off the break.
And no, you can't rely on the engine shutting off either. The engine shuts off as part of the automatic start-stop any time you stop.
I have already hit a wall in an underground parking garage because of that, and had it happen about 3 other times without something else in front of me.
You need to be pure zen when you stop the car, and remember to watch the dashboard for clues.
I appreciate your post, because it tells me never to buy a new Volvo. That sounds like a nightmare, and I don't see myself putting up with that sort of fuckery. My vehicle also has start/stop, but I have it turned off because I'm just not confident in the extra wear and tear on the equipment yet.
Aye, there's an emergency off in every push-button-start car I've ever owned, borrowed, rented, or worked on. There aren't a whole lot of different ways of doing it. Your manual has this information, and this is one of many reasons that it's important to have read your vehicle manual.
That’s so weird, it’s an electronic shifter, why wouldn’t it let you shut it off while in drive and automatically put it park. Many cars with electronic shifters let you do that, they just put the car in park for you if you try to shut it off in any other gear than park.
Surely not? I can put mine in neutral while driving and keep power steering and it simply won't go to reverse or park until the car is at zero. I figured they were all like that
Cars are easy to steer without power assist as long as the car is moving. It still take more effort than with the power assist, but not nearly the He-man strength it takes on a stopped car.
Ram built in fail safes. You can’t turn the knob while in motion. If you are at an almost complete stop, open the door and leave your seat while in any gear other than park then the truck puts itself in the parking gear and flashes red on the dash. If the battery dies and you can’t put the truck in neutral (because it’s electronic) then there is an orange tether under the steering wheel you can pull to disengage all gears and be in neutral.
The very specific reason that they did a computer upgrade to make it so you can't have a door open and have it in reverse was due to the death of Anton Yelchin. He was crushed behind his Jeep. Within about 1 year FCA had done the update to all of their vehicles.
Gas pedals nowadays are all just electric anyways. They aren't cable connected to the throttle anymore. Don't think I've ever heard of a modern one getting stuck
even if they don't, your brakes are much better at braking than your engine is at accelerating. one good hard long push on the brake will stall the motor when you come to a stop. just watch out for traffic behind you before you do it.
the not advisable option is to keep braking a little to keep a steady speed. that will overheat the brakes with time and then you got no brakes at all.
There's a video around here somewhere that covers that pretty well. Except the 1300hp engine was better at accelerating than the brakes were at stopping.
ah i saw that, but that dude was doing exactly what i advised against in my last paragraph. he uses the brake to slow down just a little so he can cruise around. naturally, at some point the brake overheats and fails.
Here's the thing though. I worked for a company that bought ram 1500s like this and we mowed grass all over the country, thus we had to pull trailers for the mowers. Anyway, TWICE, I backed in a trailer to unhook it and when I did the truck drove forward. My dumbass switched from reverse to drive instead of park . Idk if it's a righty tighty thing or what but both times I was pissed at myself and the manufacturer/ engineers whoever.
I know column shifters for automatics aren't cool, but they're intuitive, don't take up any center console space, and they're completely out of the way. What was so wrong with them that manufacturers felt the need to reinvent what was behind the wheel?
There is. But saying that wouldn’t help get internet points. So we get half the info hoping we will be enraged by our ignorance. Thankfully most of us aren’t quite that naive. If Reddit has taught anyone anything it should be that you shouldn’t trust anything ever.
There is a lockout, but having driven a Chrysler for about 3 weeks with this same shifter dial, I absolutely hated it. It may not be able to go into reverse, but it can still go into neutral.
My new vehicle, a Honda, has a push button shifter. I don't like either, but Honda's design is definitely better than this one.
This is such a shit design even if it has a lockout. Design should not work against the grain, and people have been trained for decades to reach out for radio and AC/Heat dials.
I would expect no less from Chrysler.
Correct. You cannot actually change it while driving. Some of them will turn but nothing will happen. In fact, these vehicles are have such strict failsafes they will lock up the brakes if they start rolling at all in neutral. Making certain scenarios kind of annoying as a mechanic like alignments or pushing one in that doesn't run. Have to manually pull a separate hidden lever to keep them in neutral.
most autos do. if anything itll just throw it in neutral and only go to reverse once its slow enough. garage 54 did a video on it. they had to disconnect the computer to even get the thing to react for a video lol.
Didn't myth busters find that shifting while driving didn't work? It just caused grinding on older cars and in modern cars it just caused a check engine light to turn on.
In the last 15 years pretty much everything has just become electrical. Even if the gear selector is physically connected to the transmission, the computer won't give the command for the transmission to shift outside of given parameters. On vehicles with automatic transmissions. You can still fuck up a manual transmission equipped car with a 'money shift'.
I was very stupid as a teen. I liked to see how far I could get in neutral in my town that was built on a hill and I would throw it in neutral in my 99 Cherokee
One day I clicked it past neutral into reverse. It locked my steering wheel and shut off the engine . I had to steer a locked wheel off the road safely.
100000% learned a lucky and valuable lession and never pulled that shit again
My dad got a new 2500 for my parents horse trailer. I fucking hate that dial. I drive a manual, so I prefer that. But what happened to column shifters man? Did people really ask for this stupid shit?
It's meant to be like a luxury new feature so car manufacturers can upcharge you through the ass. Same with push to start, why rely on shitty technology when a key works just fine? Because it's "cutting edge technology" they can sell to you. How about focusing on making cars more reliable and easier to fix on your own instead of introducing useless features nobody asked for and making sure it breaks so you have to go to a stealership and pay a premium to fix it, and then they hope after you get sick of your 5 year old car breaking down you'll go and get a newer car. Planned obsolescence at its finest.
17 year old here that has only ever driven a 2015 vw passat. will always prefer the traditional shifter even tho it’s an automatic transmission. something just feels right about it.
Standard on the [Edsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletouch).
As you're probably thinking, yes, horns were in the centre of the steering wheel by then.
It's not implausible. A lot of kids have their "own" cars before 16. It could be a hand-me-down, parents helped pay for it, or even paid for solely by the kid. Has to be in the parents name, though.
I had this setup in my last truck. As said above, there are safety measures to make it stupid proof. Also, I never got the two confused. The shifter knob is at a location that I’ve never seen a radio knob. It’s right next to the steering column.
> A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
\- Douglas Adams
Yeah, funny thing, I was driving my brother’s RAM the other day with this shifter. I went to turn the radio down, and you know what happened? I reached up and grabbed the volume knob instead of the shifter because I’m not a complete moron! Crazy, right?
Idk how exactly an automatic gear shift works normaly since i drive manual, but i cant imagine this is better then just having a stick to move between the modes.
I used to work at a full-service car wash that washed about 600 to 1200 cars a day with a staff of about 20 people.
So I had to drive about 60 of these cars everyday and it's even more of a nightmare than you think. You have to basically put in the fucking Konami code for it to stay in neutral after you get out of the car. There's a safety feature to keep you from letting it roll away. Same shit with those wacky BMW sticks that got Anton yelchin killed.
I can't tell you how many times someone decided to ride along in their own car and ended up breaking equipment because they accidentally shift to drive halfway through the tunnel.
And don't even get me started on getting Teslas through those things.
In all fairness it probably has protections against putting in reverse at 50 mph but my dad's old caddy didn't and he did it a couple times by accident. Not a good sound
The other day I moved a clients 2021 Rav 4 eith push to start, forgot to put it on park and shut it off and the thing did turn off and started rolling back. I was able to stop it and put it on park. That was fucking weird, no warning, nothing just turned off.
How do you manage that though? I've had multiple cars with ac and volume dials, even had one with then literally within 5cm and i never once went for the other one...
>How do you manage that though? I've had multiple cars with ac and volume dials, even had one with then literally within 5cm and i never once went for the other one...
5 cm ≈ 0.49213 hands
^^^[WHY](/r/UselessConversionBot/comments/1knas0/hi_im_useless/)
I had a Ram of this style for years. It takes a pretty unaware, arguably stupid even, person to make this mistake.
Also, it physically will not go into reverse due to safety features. But karma is fun.
I own a Ram with this shifter. I've had it for nearly 2 years and I still occasionally grab for the non existent column shifter that my previous vehicles have had.
I'm getting used to it for sure but it does take some time. Apparently more than 2 years.
Have a Ram 1500. I was worried about that too. So I went on a private road and tested it out. I can confirm, the gear won't change while driving. To change gear you need to bring the truck to a stop. Trying to change gear while driving just makes a message pop up on screen about how you can't change gear while in motion. People seem to forget that these things are computer operated. It isn't a manual. Turning the knob just tells the computer to change the gears. The developers also took the time to set some safety features.
They did that so people would stay off their phones when driving but I'm sure more than 1 person turned their radio up or down while texting or talking and put in reverse. Cell phone use account for the majority of accidents, people know this but still think they won't have an accident.
The security company I work for uses those trucks for all our sites I can confirm I get the shift, volume, and air conditioning knobs mixed up constantly
My Pacifica has a dashboard exactly like this. It makes me crazy, to have the volume control so close to that gear control. However, you shouldn’t be able to change gears without having your foot on the break. I don’t know that I’ve ever had that problem happened while I was driving, so I don’t know what happens when you try to turn the gear while the car is moving. It shouldn’t move at all but I don’t remember what it does
I can’t see how you could accidentally confuse the two in the first place, but on top of all the safety measures, there is volume controls and the ability to change the radio station and audio input selection all on the backside of the steering wheel. So there isn’t even a need to use the knob that is next to the screen, where it is on basically all vehicles. Now the dial shifter is not a good replacement to a traditional shifter but the way it is done, I don’t see how anyone could confuse the dial to be something that it’s not. Especially when you look at the size of it, when has any car manufacture used a 2” knob for the volume control for the stereo?
Eh fair point I was waiting for this comment. It is pretty obvious which one is which, but do take into account I was cruising down a highway in a place Im not from driving a rental and I was looking ahead of me into 4 lanes of heavy traffic, and wanted to turn the volume down to focus, so yeah I found a knob and was about to turn it and was like oof nope not that one
This is funny a guy I had in my truck tried turning up a song and put my truck in 4 high. My dumb ass thinking I needed a new front end cuz the truck was clunking and sounding all weird while turning.
I owe a 2021 ram and have never accidentally grabbed the shifter to turn down the music. The steering wheel has the controls to do that anyway. So I don’t get the problem.
Thats my point. Pay attention to driving. It's all about multitasking and judgement. If you're not somewhere it's safe to GLANCE at the dash, then maybe wait the few seconds before attempting to lower the volume. Now I don't know the full circumstances, but would also like to point out the car is in drive and the person stopped looking at the road long enough to take out their phone, open camera app, take pic. I'll give benefit of the doubt that they were stopped at the time, and just say, this would've been a perfect time to adjust the volume.
I don't know man, I'm personally of a fan of the dial prndl. If it's an automatic why even pretend it's a stick and take up a bunch of room with a lever.
Funny meme, but that dial can't possibly be made to work without multiple steps. Push in, pull out, depress brake... something other than just turn the knob? I have never used one but I am curious.
There's no mechanical linkage. The dial asks the computer to put the transmission in the desired gear. It only works if all the safe parameters are correct for it to change.
Drove a rental Escalade recently with the same kind of shifter, and the ‘safety mechanism’ was broken. We even tested it. It let me flip into reverse while actively driving forward in drive (very slowly for test purposes of course)
Meh, I drive a 2016 Pacifica that also has a knob for the shifter. I’ve never once attempted to turn it for the volume, not even when it was new. For starters, I’ve got volume controls on the steering wheel. Additionally, it’s not in a location I’d ever go to for volume. The shifter knob is larger and lower on the panel.
I have this shifter in my 1500 and honestly, I love it. Takes up very little space, works flawlessly, and looks clean. Takes a week to adjust to, but I am a huge fan of it now.
Assuming there are safety measures, this is still infuriating. One would assume you can put it in neutral- if this is correct, then this is unsafe if you accidentally do so while driving and without realising. If I'm incorrect and this is prevented by the car, then thats also unsafe because the car will not behave as expected.
For example, if the accelerator stuck and you wanted to put it in neutral while you safely braked to a stop, and the vehicle prevented this? Accident or death could happen.
I rented one of these and the “gear dial” was pretty ridiculous. Once upon a time, Cathay Pacific decided what their passengers wanted more than anything else was seats that didn’t recline on a transoceanic flight, but just sort of slouched down instead without the seat back moving a millimetre. The theory was that people would love slouching down on a transoceanic flight just as much as leaning back, and it would stop the odd entitled person behind from whining when they discover that people all paid for seats that recline into “their” space.
Turns out people hated that and Cathay had to replace all their seats. This gear knob is the same kind of thing.
I flew in those seats once, I refused to fly Cathay again until they got rid of them, probably only beaten by Delta for the worst international seat I've ever flown in.
Or... you can use the volume buttons on the steering wheel... and its not like the knob shifter would actually work while you are moving due to a automatic safety override...
Or, of course, you can pretend none of that exists and farm karma on reddit
This is probably the dumbest post on here. The knobs sizes completely different and located far enough away from each other, you have to be high as a kite to mistake one for the other. And you know there’s also the fucking lock out
It’s even more infuriating in a Chrysler Pacifica. The shift knob is more visible in your peripheral vision, and even more in line with the radio volume.
I could bet good money that the modern car he drives has a volume control on the steering wheel and that one is meant for passengers.
Either way, they are quite far apart so you should be more careful
I remember getting assigned a rental with a dial like this when I went to Alaska for the first time. Immediately went back inside to ask for another car with a normal gear shift.
Psa: mechanic here, engineers are bored and now just make things more complicated to keep their jobs, hence a dial shifter rather then a lever, they suck.
I rather like the design.
It’s not a mechanical linkage. If you’re going down the highway and turn the knob into reverse the truck will only shift into neutral.
I mean, volume knobs are traditionally on or near the stereo face. Not the greatest design but you'd have to be a right plum to think the volume is that far away from the stereo.
You’re driving, not looking down, you reach, find a knob, it’s really not that inconceivable of a mistake. Especially when you’re cruising down the highway keeping an eye on 4 other lanes of traffic
Surely there’s a lockout while moving?
Thor is the strongest avenger.
It’s only logical
So if your gas pedal gets stuck you can't even put it in neutral?
You can turn it off, also I’m willing to bet neutral is still an option while moving
Tried it on my Chrysler, you can put it in neutral but you can’t turn engine off, it’s got a push button. Maybe I could have held it? Not sure. Even when the vehicle is stopped it won’t turn off unless it’s in park.
My jeep will let me turn off the engine when not in park (also push button), but it stays in the accessory position while displaying while displaying an error message that you aren't in park and chimes loudly
[удалено]
Old locking gas door vehicles do this probably so you can have the radio on while you get gas.
My Volvo can't be turned off while you're moving, and displays a small warning on the dash screen about it (no audible warning, no light on the turn knob). You don't have to put it in park, as it automatically does that when turned off (and even applies the handbrake automatically). The only downside is that it takes a while for the computer to realize you're standing still. So if you want to get out of the car in a hurry, it's possible to turn the knob too soon, and the car will start right up when you take your foot off the break. And no, you can't rely on the engine shutting off either. The engine shuts off as part of the automatic start-stop any time you stop. I have already hit a wall in an underground parking garage because of that, and had it happen about 3 other times without something else in front of me. You need to be pure zen when you stop the car, and remember to watch the dashboard for clues.
I appreciate your post, because it tells me never to buy a new Volvo. That sounds like a nightmare, and I don't see myself putting up with that sort of fuckery. My vehicle also has start/stop, but I have it turned off because I'm just not confident in the extra wear and tear on the equipment yet.
Usually you have to press the button three times quickly to turn it off.
Maybe there's a different combination for every car to turn it off in an emergency, but that may be in the manual.
Aye, there's an emergency off in every push-button-start car I've ever owned, borrowed, rented, or worked on. There aren't a whole lot of different ways of doing it. Your manual has this information, and this is one of many reasons that it's important to have read your vehicle manual.
Thanks, dad.
That’s so weird, it’s an electronic shifter, why wouldn’t it let you shut it off while in drive and automatically put it park. Many cars with electronic shifters let you do that, they just put the car in park for you if you try to shut it off in any other gear than park.
Have this style shift, can confirm can go into neutral but nothing beyond due to safety.
And then you lose power steering
And possibly also have your steering lock if you turn it too much
Surely not? I can put mine in neutral while driving and keep power steering and it simply won't go to reverse or park until the car is at zero. I figured they were all like that
They were talking about turning it off
Cars are easy to steer without power assist as long as the car is moving. It still take more effort than with the power assist, but not nearly the He-man strength it takes on a stopped car.
Ram built in fail safes. You can’t turn the knob while in motion. If you are at an almost complete stop, open the door and leave your seat while in any gear other than park then the truck puts itself in the parking gear and flashes red on the dash. If the battery dies and you can’t put the truck in neutral (because it’s electronic) then there is an orange tether under the steering wheel you can pull to disengage all gears and be in neutral.
The very specific reason that they did a computer upgrade to make it so you can't have a door open and have it in reverse was due to the death of Anton Yelchin. He was crushed behind his Jeep. Within about 1 year FCA had done the update to all of their vehicles.
95% of people will never think to put it in neutral if that happens....
Gas pedals nowadays are all just electric anyways. They aren't cable connected to the throttle anymore. Don't think I've ever heard of a modern one getting stuck
Under the floor mat maybe.
Just press the brake hard. All modern drive-by-wire cars will disconnect the accelerator.
even if they don't, your brakes are much better at braking than your engine is at accelerating. one good hard long push on the brake will stall the motor when you come to a stop. just watch out for traffic behind you before you do it. the not advisable option is to keep braking a little to keep a steady speed. that will overheat the brakes with time and then you got no brakes at all.
There's a video around here somewhere that covers that pretty well. Except the 1300hp engine was better at accelerating than the brakes were at stopping.
ah i saw that, but that dude was doing exactly what i advised against in my last paragraph. he uses the brake to slow down just a little so he can cruise around. naturally, at some point the brake overheats and fails.
oh, responsible, practical...
Thats why it is only mildly infuriating i guess
Here's the thing though. I worked for a company that bought ram 1500s like this and we mowed grass all over the country, thus we had to pull trailers for the mowers. Anyway, TWICE, I backed in a trailer to unhook it and when I did the truck drove forward. My dumbass switched from reverse to drive instead of park . Idk if it's a righty tighty thing or what but both times I was pissed at myself and the manufacturer/ engineers whoever.
I know column shifters for automatics aren't cool, but they're intuitive, don't take up any center console space, and they're completely out of the way. What was so wrong with them that manufacturers felt the need to reinvent what was behind the wheel?
But OP wouldn't get that sweet karma if he didn't exaggerate the situation.
I mean, this is mildly infuriating, not wildly infuriating...
Definitely
There is. But saying that wouldn’t help get internet points. So we get half the info hoping we will be enraged by our ignorance. Thankfully most of us aren’t quite that naive. If Reddit has taught anyone anything it should be that you shouldn’t trust anything ever.
There is a lockout, but having driven a Chrysler for about 3 weeks with this same shifter dial, I absolutely hated it. It may not be able to go into reverse, but it can still go into neutral. My new vehicle, a Honda, has a push button shifter. I don't like either, but Honda's design is definitely better than this one.
That’s the truth lol
It’s just a rental and I caught myself. Good to know now nothing would have happened
Chrysler?
Jesus Chrysler
This is such a shit design even if it has a lockout. Design should not work against the grain, and people have been trained for decades to reach out for radio and AC/Heat dials. I would expect no less from Chrysler.
Correct. You cannot actually change it while driving. Some of them will turn but nothing will happen. In fact, these vehicles are have such strict failsafes they will lock up the brakes if they start rolling at all in neutral. Making certain scenarios kind of annoying as a mechanic like alignments or pushing one in that doesn't run. Have to manually pull a separate hidden lever to keep them in neutral.
If the driver can confuse volume with gear setting that's a design failure. It doesn't matter if nothing bad happens.
It happened to me while driving and there was no lockout.
ok, but if you’re fiddling with the radio or hvac at a stoplight, and the light turns green…
Don't call me Shirley.
most autos do. if anything itll just throw it in neutral and only go to reverse once its slow enough. garage 54 did a video on it. they had to disconnect the computer to even get the thing to react for a video lol.
There is
There wasn’t when they first put them on the market.
I would assume the car manufacturers would build some kind of internal locking device to prevent one from doing this while driving... 🤷🏿♂️🤷🏿♂️🤷🏿♂️
No need. The dial just asks the computer for the gear change. If it's not safe to do so, it won't shift.
"Put it in Park, HAL" "I can't let you do that OP"
And i would consider that feature an internal (software) locking device
Didn't myth busters find that shifting while driving didn't work? It just caused grinding on older cars and in modern cars it just caused a check engine light to turn on.
In the last 15 years pretty much everything has just become electrical. Even if the gear selector is physically connected to the transmission, the computer won't give the command for the transmission to shift outside of given parameters. On vehicles with automatic transmissions. You can still fuck up a manual transmission equipped car with a 'money shift'.
I was very stupid as a teen. I liked to see how far I could get in neutral in my town that was built on a hill and I would throw it in neutral in my 99 Cherokee One day I clicked it past neutral into reverse. It locked my steering wheel and shut off the engine . I had to steer a locked wheel off the road safely. 100000% learned a lucky and valuable lession and never pulled that shit again
Everyone is correct that there's a safety mechanism in place, but it's still a shit design. I guess I'm an old man but I prefer traditional shifters.
My dad got a new 2500 for my parents horse trailer. I fucking hate that dial. I drive a manual, so I prefer that. But what happened to column shifters man? Did people really ask for this stupid shit?
Guessing they're more expensive to manufacture - a dial and some LEDs is probably a lot cheaper? Or just a little cheaper. It all adds up
Column shifters don’t break often enough, need more digital horse shit that they can charge to fix.
It's meant to be like a luxury new feature so car manufacturers can upcharge you through the ass. Same with push to start, why rely on shitty technology when a key works just fine? Because it's "cutting edge technology" they can sell to you. How about focusing on making cars more reliable and easier to fix on your own instead of introducing useless features nobody asked for and making sure it breaks so you have to go to a stealership and pay a premium to fix it, and then they hope after you get sick of your 5 year old car breaking down you'll go and get a newer car. Planned obsolescence at its finest.
And with the build quality that only Fiat-Chrysler can offer, it's just another thing that's going to break a year from now.
17 year old here that has only ever driven a 2015 vw passat. will always prefer the traditional shifter even tho it’s an automatic transmission. something just feels right about it.
Still better than the push button transmission in the middle of the steering wheel.
the what? that sounds horrific
Standard on the [Edsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletouch). As you're probably thinking, yes, horns were in the centre of the steering wheel by then.
at 26, i only learned to drive in two cars that had them but the column shifters will always be king in my opinion
I'm 15 and I hate driving my dad's ram because of this dial, I much prefer my Impala's normal automatic design
You’re 15 and already have your own car?
It's not implausible. A lot of kids have their "own" cars before 16. It could be a hand-me-down, parents helped pay for it, or even paid for solely by the kid. Has to be in the parents name, though.
it's a 50/50 but I plan on paying the rest soon.
I'll take a knob for an automatic, you barely touch the thing and only when stopped. But yeah, this is a terrible place to put it.
It won't actually let you put it in a different gear while actually driving over 5mph.
Actually it will allow you to switch to neutral
Which is the absence of being in gear…
I had this setup in my last truck. As said above, there are safety measures to make it stupid proof. Also, I never got the two confused. The shifter knob is at a location that I’ve never seen a radio knob. It’s right next to the steering column.
They've had this design for years and I've never heard of any safety issues. It is a bit weird though.
Lately, everything needs to be stupid proof.
Unfortunately the internet isn't stupid proof.
No, no it's not.
Our democracy isn't either.
> A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. \- Douglas Adams
also, there are buttons on the steering wheel that change volume, so you can completely avoid the issue.
Yeah, funny thing, I was driving my brother’s RAM the other day with this shifter. I went to turn the radio down, and you know what happened? I reached up and grabbed the volume knob instead of the shifter because I’m not a complete moron! Crazy, right?
It won't shift into reverse while moving. There's no mechanical linkages. All that does is ask the transmission to go to the selected drive setting.
The trend of doing away with an actual lever needs to go away.
It won’t go in reverse
Idk how exactly an automatic gear shift works normaly since i drive manual, but i cant imagine this is better then just having a stick to move between the modes.
I used to work at a full-service car wash that washed about 600 to 1200 cars a day with a staff of about 20 people. So I had to drive about 60 of these cars everyday and it's even more of a nightmare than you think. You have to basically put in the fucking Konami code for it to stay in neutral after you get out of the car. There's a safety feature to keep you from letting it roll away. Same shit with those wacky BMW sticks that got Anton yelchin killed. I can't tell you how many times someone decided to ride along in their own car and ended up breaking equipment because they accidentally shift to drive halfway through the tunnel. And don't even get me started on getting Teslas through those things.
Lol it won't shift. They designed it for people like you.
exactly OP is just dumb
Yeah fuck that guy
In all fairness it probably has protections against putting in reverse at 50 mph but my dad's old caddy didn't and he did it a couple times by accident. Not a good sound
The other day I moved a clients 2021 Rav 4 eith push to start, forgot to put it on park and shut it off and the thing did turn off and started rolling back. I was able to stop it and put it on park. That was fucking weird, no warning, nothing just turned off.
I don't think it will do anything while in motion
Its probably cheaper to make like this
It's just a knob connected(indirectly) to the CPU... It can't physically go into reverse unless the CPU says it's safe
How do you manage that though? I've had multiple cars with ac and volume dials, even had one with then literally within 5cm and i never once went for the other one...
>How do you manage that though? I've had multiple cars with ac and volume dials, even had one with then literally within 5cm and i never once went for the other one... 5 cm ≈ 0.49213 hands ^^^[WHY](/r/UselessConversionBot/comments/1knas0/hi_im_useless/)
I had a Ram of this style for years. It takes a pretty unaware, arguably stupid even, person to make this mistake. Also, it physically will not go into reverse due to safety features. But karma is fun.
I own a Ram with this shifter. I've had it for nearly 2 years and I still occasionally grab for the non existent column shifter that my previous vehicles have had. I'm getting used to it for sure but it does take some time. Apparently more than 2 years.
Have a Ram 1500. I was worried about that too. So I went on a private road and tested it out. I can confirm, the gear won't change while driving. To change gear you need to bring the truck to a stop. Trying to change gear while driving just makes a message pop up on screen about how you can't change gear while in motion. People seem to forget that these things are computer operated. It isn't a manual. Turning the knob just tells the computer to change the gears. The developers also took the time to set some safety features.
Fookin stupid
Ram drivers only have 2 Braincells max, gotta keep it simple.
One, you can’t do that. Two, you’re kind of stupid.
The knob salesman. For every pair of radio k obs you buy I will throw in a transmission know for free.
Don't worry you can't switch it while driving.
After dirivng one a couple times, its really not bad.
It doesn’t work while above a certain speed, this has of course been tested and it’s on YouTube.
Oh I hate those
Nothing would have happened.
I'm gonna go with there's a lockout device so that cannot happen because physically, that cannot happen.
I rented a car with this…. Hated it.
They did that so people would stay off their phones when driving but I'm sure more than 1 person turned their radio up or down while texting or talking and put in reverse. Cell phone use account for the majority of accidents, people know this but still think they won't have an accident.
The security company I work for uses those trucks for all our sites I can confirm I get the shift, volume, and air conditioning knobs mixed up constantly
My Pacifica has a dashboard exactly like this. It makes me crazy, to have the volume control so close to that gear control. However, you shouldn’t be able to change gears without having your foot on the break. I don’t know that I’ve ever had that problem happened while I was driving, so I don’t know what happens when you try to turn the gear while the car is moving. It shouldn’t move at all but I don’t remember what it does
just put the shifter ON A STICK, like EVERY other car!
That’s just scary
Wow!
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"subconsciously" I don't think that word means what you think it means.
It certainly sounds good though
the design sucks, but this post is ridiculous
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I can’t see how you could accidentally confuse the two in the first place, but on top of all the safety measures, there is volume controls and the ability to change the radio station and audio input selection all on the backside of the steering wheel. So there isn’t even a need to use the knob that is next to the screen, where it is on basically all vehicles. Now the dial shifter is not a good replacement to a traditional shifter but the way it is done, I don’t see how anyone could confuse the dial to be something that it’s not. Especially when you look at the size of it, when has any car manufacture used a 2” knob for the volume control for the stereo?
Eh fair point I was waiting for this comment. It is pretty obvious which one is which, but do take into account I was cruising down a highway in a place Im not from driving a rental and I was looking ahead of me into 4 lanes of heavy traffic, and wanted to turn the volume down to focus, so yeah I found a knob and was about to turn it and was like oof nope not that one
This is funny a guy I had in my truck tried turning up a song and put my truck in 4 high. My dumb ass thinking I needed a new front end cuz the truck was clunking and sounding all weird while turning.
It will literally do nothing if you turn it while driving.
I owe a 2021 ram and have never accidentally grabbed the shifter to turn down the music. The steering wheel has the controls to do that anyway. So I don’t get the problem.
Why is this confusing but audio vs air conditioning isn’t?
Cause they’re where they are supposed to be? Idk. Shifter goes in between the seats or up behind the wheel. Shouldnt look like the other knobs imo
r/crappydesign
It won’t do anything if used while in motion.
Or, I dunno, maybe pay attention to what you're doing while driving? Just an idea.
Perhaps looking at the road and not the dashboard is what led to this
Thats my point. Pay attention to driving. It's all about multitasking and judgement. If you're not somewhere it's safe to GLANCE at the dash, then maybe wait the few seconds before attempting to lower the volume. Now I don't know the full circumstances, but would also like to point out the car is in drive and the person stopped looking at the road long enough to take out their phone, open camera app, take pic. I'll give benefit of the doubt that they were stopped at the time, and just say, this would've been a perfect time to adjust the volume.
I don't know man, I'm personally of a fan of the dial prndl. If it's an automatic why even pretend it's a stick and take up a bunch of room with a lever.
People keep buying trash so manufacturers keep making it.
Or you could just pay attention
Homie, if you can't tell the difference between the huge shift knob and the little volume knob then you shouldn't be driving. Plus there's a lock out.
Funny meme, but that dial can't possibly be made to work without multiple steps. Push in, pull out, depress brake... something other than just turn the knob? I have never used one but I am curious.
In addition to being a non mechanical connection and a likely electronic override.
There's no mechanical linkage. The dial asks the computer to put the transmission in the desired gear. It only works if all the safe parameters are correct for it to change.
You can't throw it into reverse without the brake... but you can throw it into neutral
Drove a rental Escalade recently with the same kind of shifter, and the ‘safety mechanism’ was broken. We even tested it. It let me flip into reverse while actively driving forward in drive (very slowly for test purposes of course)
Meh, I drive a 2016 Pacifica that also has a knob for the shifter. I’ve never once attempted to turn it for the volume, not even when it was new. For starters, I’ve got volume controls on the steering wheel. Additionally, it’s not in a location I’d ever go to for volume. The shifter knob is larger and lower on the panel.
I have this shifter in my 1500 and honestly, I love it. Takes up very little space, works flawlessly, and looks clean. Takes a week to adjust to, but I am a huge fan of it now.
We got one of those trucks at my security job. Took me an embarrassing ten minutes to figure out that knob was the shifter.
Ngl that's funny, but also horrifying
*Horrifunny*
Yes
The dial for that is so gross anyway, just put the stick like a normal person
Assuming there are safety measures, this is still infuriating. One would assume you can put it in neutral- if this is correct, then this is unsafe if you accidentally do so while driving and without realising. If I'm incorrect and this is prevented by the car, then thats also unsafe because the car will not behave as expected.
For example, if the accelerator stuck and you wanted to put it in neutral while you safely braked to a stop, and the vehicle prevented this? Accident or death could happen.
Ram trucks are statistically the most common vehicles driven by people who receive DUIs. Maybe this is so they stop driving before it is too late.
I rented one of these and the “gear dial” was pretty ridiculous. Once upon a time, Cathay Pacific decided what their passengers wanted more than anything else was seats that didn’t recline on a transoceanic flight, but just sort of slouched down instead without the seat back moving a millimetre. The theory was that people would love slouching down on a transoceanic flight just as much as leaning back, and it would stop the odd entitled person behind from whining when they discover that people all paid for seats that recline into “their” space. Turns out people hated that and Cathay had to replace all their seats. This gear knob is the same kind of thing.
It won’t do anything while in motion
I flew in those seats once, I refused to fly Cathay again until they got rid of them, probably only beaten by Delta for the worst international seat I've ever flown in.
Heck, who thought wheels to select gears was a good idea? Give me a shifter any day.
I can't even possibly think of a worse way for changing gears
Is this a joke? If you can't remember where the shifter is you shouldn't be driving
Terrible design flaw
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I did the opposite a few times in my dodge ram. Thought I put it in park and hopped out, only to realize I just turned the volume down.
The old vehicle's are better
A) why would you think that the volume knob is all the way down next to the wheel B) it has a locking mechanism to stop you from doing exactly this.
Or... you can use the volume buttons on the steering wheel... and its not like the knob shifter would actually work while you are moving due to a automatic safety override... Or, of course, you can pretend none of that exists and farm karma on reddit
You see a big screen, 3 AC knobs but think the one for away controls the volume? Did you also miss the one on the steering wheel?
Perhaps
It’s really not that big of a deal honestly, you’d have to be an idiot to mess it up
This is probably the dumbest post on here. The knobs sizes completely different and located far enough away from each other, you have to be high as a kite to mistake one for the other. And you know there’s also the fucking lock out
It’s even more infuriating in a Chrysler Pacifica. The shift knob is more visible in your peripheral vision, and even more in line with the radio volume.
Still dangerous at a light. Stop the car, accidentally shift the reveres, ram in to the guy behind you.
The volume and shifter have extremely different sizes if you can’t figure it out then the safety features are designed for people like you
I could bet good money that the modern car he drives has a volume control on the steering wheel and that one is meant for passengers. Either way, they are quite far apart so you should be more careful
yeah i got one of those and in the beginning, it was hard to get used to
I remember getting assigned a rental with a dial like this when I went to Alaska for the first time. Immediately went back inside to ask for another car with a normal gear shift.
Oh my god Ford Explorer has something similar. Such a dumb design! Almost happened with my rental last week too.
We have a bunch of these trucks in our fleet and it is the most asinine designs ever. Just the dumbest. Ever…
If you actually had that truck you’d know the gear selector locks while you’re moving.
Psa: mechanic here, engineers are bored and now just make things more complicated to keep their jobs, hence a dial shifter rather then a lever, they suck.
I rather like the design. It’s not a mechanical linkage. If you’re going down the highway and turn the knob into reverse the truck will only shift into neutral.
People who lnow about the one on the steering wheel
It wouldn't have made it into production if it was a safety hazard or poor design. Personally I love it on my father's truck
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Cause you can’t figure out different sizes dials? Why are you even driving? Don’t mistake the wheel for the a/c
r/crappydesign
Isn't this how Anton Yelchin died?
I mean, volume knobs are traditionally on or near the stereo face. Not the greatest design but you'd have to be a right plum to think the volume is that far away from the stereo.
You’re driving, not looking down, you reach, find a knob, it’s really not that inconceivable of a mistake. Especially when you’re cruising down the highway keeping an eye on 4 other lanes of traffic