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The only vehicles where a floor mounted shifter has any practical basis are those with a front engine rear drive longitudinally mounted engine and standard transmission. All others use either a cable (old) or electrical switches (new) to connect to the transmission.
The giant center console on front wheel drive vehicles doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, and I wish it would. It's absolutely ridiculous to have a foot-high, foot-wide hump in the middle of the car when there is nothing under there but a 1/2" fuel line, a 1/2" diameter wiring harness, and a 2" diameter exhaust pipe.
The only reason the floor console became so popular for automatic transmission was that it aped the floor shifter for manual transmission that was mounted to sports cars in the 1950s and 60s. Even though the floor mounted shifter simply moved a cable, rather than actually going down into the top of the transmission, it was sold as "sportier" along with the "bucket seats (that were just as flat and unsupportive as the bench seat) and other paraphernalia.
I am a big proponent of the old fashioned column shifter for automatic transmissions. Simple, intuitive, and it gets it up out of the way. Floor shifters and giant center consoles are silly and are driven by nothing more than styling and marketeering.
The only vehicles where a floor mounted shifter has any practical basis are those with a front engine rear drive longitudinally mounted engine and standard transmission. All others use either a cable (old) or electrical switches (new) to connect to the transmission.
The giant center console on front wheel drive vehicles doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, and I wish it would. It's absolutely ridiculous to have a foot-high, foot-wide hump in the middle of the car when there is nothing under there but a 1/2" fuel line, a 1/2" diameter wiring harness, and a 2" diameter exhaust pipe. Center console is never going away and bench seats are not coming back i wish bench seats were made again but they won’t.
The only reason the floor console became so popular for automatic transmission was that it aped the floor shifter for manual transmission that was mounted to sports cars in the 1950s and 60s. Even though the floor mounted shifter simply moved a cable, rather than actually going down into the top of the transmission, it was sold as "sportier" along with the "bucket seats (that were just as flat and unsupportive as the bench seat) and other paraphernalia.
I am a big proponent of the old fashioned column shifter for automatic transmissions. Simple, intuitive, and it gets it up out of the way. Floor shifters and giant center consoles are silly and are driven by nothing more than styling and marketeering.
The center console is a big selling point with the storage compartment along with the USB and 12 volt socket for your phone other electronics. Big selling point to soccer moms and newborn mothers and mobile office people.
I am not even talking about manual here. Every time I climb into my wife's C300 I miss the floor shifter. Instead, I have to play with an idiotic stalk on the steering wheel. Once on the road, I have nothing to grab with my right hand either (no jokes please.) So what's the trend? Are they getting rid of the shifter or is it just Mercedes?
I prefer the Mercedes stalk mounted shifter. It's not the same, but I've always preferred the shifter to be on the steering column. When I bought a '93 Taurus, you could get it either with a floor shifter and bench seats, or a bench seat and a column shifter. I liked the latter. Certainly no choice like that now.
I am not even talking about manual here. Every time I climb into my wife's C300 I miss the floor shifter. Instead, I have to play with an idiotic stalk on the steering wheel. Once on the road, I have nothing to grab with my right hand either (no jokes please.) So what's the trend? Are they getting rid of the shifter or is it just Mercedes?
I used to complain that manufacturers were moving away from column shifters, in favor of console shifters!
They're doing away with the <any kind of> traditional shifter in favor of push buttons, dials, or those weird dash-mounted half-size shifters that appear to be some sort of transitional/vestigial shifter that we're trying to evolve from.
That and electronic parking brakes. Can't get away from 'em unless you are also fine with manual door locks and windows.
Main article: GAZ-13
The GAZ M13, debuted in 1958 and exhibited internationally at the Brussels motor show.[1] It was produced from 1959 to 1981, with a total of 3,179 built.[2] The M13 was powered by a 195-hp SAE gross 5.5 L V8 and driven through a push-button automatic transmission of a similar design to the ChryslerPowerFlite unit.
We used to whimsically refer to them as "chlenovozka", for which the rough literal translation is "means of conveyance specifically for Party members"... but the "chlen" was a play on words, for which the translation is not suitable for this Forum (it being a "family" forum).
But back on topic... I much prefer a tall, broad transmission-tunnel. It is good for improving structural integrity of the unibody, and also enhances a feeling of cocooning the driver, especially if the seating position is low to the floor. I much prefer such a low, reclined position. Unfortunately that's the exact negation of what the modern consumer wants.
The only vehicles where a floor mounted shifter has any practical basis are those with a front engine rear drive longitudinally mounted engine and standard transmission. All others use either a cable (old) or electrical switches (new) to connect to the transmission.
The giant center console on front wheel drive vehicles doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, and I wish it would. It's absolutely ridiculous to have a foot-high, foot-wide hump in the middle of the car when there is nothing under there but a 1/2" fuel line, a 1/2" diameter wiring harness, and a 2" diameter exhaust pipe.
The only reason the floor console became so popular for automatic transmission was that it aped the floor shifter for manual transmission that was mounted to sports cars in the 1950s and 60s. Even though the floor mounted shifter simply moved a cable, rather than actually going down into the top of the transmission, it was sold as "sportier" along with the "bucket seats (that were just as flat and unsupportive as the bench seat) and other paraphernalia.
I am a big proponent of the old fashioned column shifter for automatic transmissions. Simple, intuitive, and it gets it up out of the way. Floor shifters and giant center consoles are silly and are driven by nothing more than styling and marketeering.
Cables to control manual or automatic transmissions??
Perhaps in a few models, but most were controlled by levers and push/pull rods. Except, of course, those transmissions which had the lever going into the top of the transmission and moving slider rails and forks to change gears ("top load" transmissions). Some of them didn't even have synchronizers. Shifting gears in a straight tooth unsynchroed tranny was lots of fun. An acquired skill, to be sure!
I wonder if I still remember how??
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