Changing gears: Cars ditch familiar shift levers

[Guest abjb]

It's about time!

 

Now when will they move it to Ford?

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/changing-gears-cars-ditch-familiar-shift-levers-2013-04-20

 

"Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln luxury brand has revived and updated the concept of push-button gear selection, last seen in the U.S. in the early 1960s. The Lincoln system is designed to give the interior of the brand’s 2013 MKZ midsize sedan a different look from its mechanical sibling, the Ford Fusion.

The Fusion driver changes gears using a conventional, console-mounted shift lever. The MKZ owner will punch buttons for park, reverse, neutral or drive that are aligned vertically on the dashboard to the driver’s right.

The push-button design “is earmarked for Lincoln only,” says Gary Braddock, interior chief designer for Ford and Lincoln vehicles. Using the buttons allowed the MKZ’s designers to put more storage space between the front seats."

[xgman]

The only thing I really don't like about it is that I have to remember to wear my seat belt when parking in my garage if I want to open the driver door to see how close I am to the wall. It slams the car into park when moving unless I have my seat belt on or unless I remember to stop, park and then set it back to drive. Can't be too good for the transmission.

[Guest abjb]

The only thing I really don't like about it is that I have to remember to wear my seat belt when parking in my garage if I want to open the driver door to see how close I am to the wall. It slams the car into park when moving unless I have my seat belt on or unless I remember to stop, park and then set it back to drive. Can't be too good for the transmission.

 

"It slams the car into park"

 

That's a deal killer for me!

 

Our 08 MKX had D and L, no way to pick any of the other gears.

I didn't like it but lived with it.

 

When a car decides to shift from D to P any time it wants to bad things are going to start happening, maybe from D to N, MAYBE!

[jschmitt3]

"It slams the car into park"

 

That's a deal killer for me!

 

Our 08 MKX had D and L, no way to pick any of the other gears.

I didn't like it but lived with it.

 

When a car decides to shift from D to P any time it wants to bad things are going to start happening, maybe from D to N, MAYBE!

 

This behavior is when you exit the car and you have left it in D ........ it switches to P upon exit of the driver .....

[NickF1011]

This behavior is when you exit the car and you have left it in D ........ it switches to P upon exit of the driver .....

Makes perfect sense to me. Prevents you from forgetting to put the vehicle in park when you exit it.

 

It sounds like 2 factors need to be met for it to ever automatically shift: you need to remove your seatbelt, and you need to open the door. From a safety perspective, you shouldn't be moving your vehicle anywhere at all if those two conditions have been met.

[chevys]

Dear God, this reminds me of the 62 Plymouth Valiant with push buttons. I absolutely despise push button shift. Seems to me its more of a gimmick than anything. Stuff like this just makes me shake my head and Lincoln wonders why they are struggling.

[twintornados]

I took an MKZ out for a test ride the other day....the push button shifting was "strange" but not in a bad way....just unusual...I had more problems starting the car until the salesman advised me that I had to put my foot on the brake for it to start..."Oh....ok" and viola...off we went.