1. Offline

    StonePony9/1 New Member

    Member Since:
    Aug 8, 2009
    Message Count:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    NJ
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Any reason why they put the shifter the way they did? I mean you shift up towards the front of the car to go in reverse and you shift down or towards the rear of the car to go forward. I am very happy for the beep when backing up. It has saved me more than once usually when I want to go in reverse and realize there is no beeping.
  2. Offline

    claridiva New Member

    Member Since:
    May 24, 2009
    Message Count:
    109
    Likes Received:
    12
    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    You will get used to it very quickly, and then you will get in a standard automatic car and think how strange it is! It took me a day or two to adjust and yes, the beep saved me too! But now it is so quick and easy to shift, I love the way it is designed.
  3. Offline

    LRKingII New Member

    Member Since:
    May 31, 2009
    Message Count:
    680
    Likes Received:
    130
    Location:
    Idaho
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    When you are in a car with a auto tranny and the shifter is on the floor which way do you move the shifter to get into reverse from nuetral or drive? which way do you move it to get to drive from reverse or neutral?
  4. Offline

    wfolta New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 13, 2009
    Message Count:
    290
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    Washington DC
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Seemed backwards to me at first, but the settings are in the standard order that I've seen on all the automatics I've used: P R N D 2 1. It's different because P is a button and because it snaps back to the default position.
  5. Offline

    radiocycle New Member

    Member Since:
    May 10, 2007
    Message Count:
    473
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Morro Bay, CA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Well, what about the standard 'H' pattern? On a 'three speed' reverse is forward and low and high are back, on a stick shift.
    1 people like this.
  6. Online

    fuzzy1 New Member

    Member Since:
    Feb 26, 2009
    Message Count:
    4,363
    Likes Received:
    716
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    This is the one I remember best, but is not the only stick shift pattern I used where 'R' is forward.

    Having always had stick shifts in the collection of home and farm vehicles that I drive, and only stick shifts for the past quarter century, the Prius shift pattern seems natural, even though it doesn't match any of my recent cars.
  7. Offline

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

    Member Since:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Message Count:
    1,246
    Likes Received:
    138
    Location:
    Manassas, VA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Seems natural to me, and similar to the stick patterns I'm used to (except you don't have to push down first to go into reverse).
  8. Offline

    wfolta New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 13, 2009
    Message Count:
    290
    Likes Received:
    51
    Location:
    Washington DC
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    DELETED. (I misread the quote.)
  9. Offline

    jim256 New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 18, 2009
    Message Count:
    307
    Likes Received:
    67
    Location:
    Eastern NC
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I think this also comes into play, NHTSA Standard 102:
    "
    Standard No. 102: Transmission Shift
    Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and
    Transmission Braking Effect
    Scope and Purpose:
    This standard specifies the requirements for
    the transmission shift sequence, a starter interlock,
    and a braking effect of automatic transmissions,
    to reduce the likelihood of shifting
    errors and starter engagement with vehicle in
    drive position, and to provide supplemental
    braking at speeds below 40 km/h (25 mph)"
  10. Offline

    DaleR New Member

    Member Since:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Message Count:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Suwanne, GA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I agree. The shifter should be push forward to go forward and pull back to go back.
  11. Offline
    • Moderator

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

    Member Since:
    Oct 2, 2004
    Message Count:
    27,008
    Likes Received:
    1,175
    Location:
    Canada
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I dunno about you but I shift back (to D) to go forward and then up (to R) to go backwards on a regular automatic.
    1 people like this.
  12. Offline

    LoraJ New Member

    Member Since:
    Jul 4, 2009
    Message Count:
    482
    Likes Received:
    55
    Location:
    NJ
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    It will be an adjustment for me. With my stick shift 1st is up, reverse is down. Must focus. :)
  13. Offline

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Member Since:
    Jul 12, 2007
    Message Count:
    10,558
    Likes Received:
    430
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    It IS an automatic isn't it? Why compare it to a manual? Lots of mnuals have reverse to the right aand forward or to the left and forward. Nissan even had a 5 speed manual where first was to the left and back!
  14. Offline

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Member Since:
    Mar 2, 2006
    Message Count:
    17,752
    Likes Received:
    2,804
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Shifters follow this pattern for historical reasons. In early transmissions, it was easier to build the gearing this way. The pattern is now used because of familiarity. It's the same reason we use QWERTY keyboards: they don't make sense anymore, but it's what we are all used to.

    Tom
  15. Offline

    Politburo New Member

    Member Since:
    Feb 15, 2009
    Message Count:
    966
    Likes Received:
    206
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2009 Prius
    FMVSS 102 only specifies the direction of shifting for column-mounted automatic shifters (neutral->drive must be clockwise). It's otherwise silent on shift patterns, except to require that the shift pattern be in the view of the driver (except for standard "H" manual transmissions).
  16. Offline

    lesturner Taming the Dragon - Tennessee

    Member Since:
    May 17, 2007
    Message Count:
    63
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Bremen, IN, USA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2007 Prius
    All I ask is to not change it now.... I have finally gotten used to it....
  17. Offline

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

    Member Since:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Message Count:
    1,246
    Likes Received:
    138
    Location:
    Manassas, VA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Reading this thread has screwed with my head. Yesterday I threw it into reverse by mistake. :p
  18. Offline

    radiocycle New Member

    Member Since:
    May 10, 2007
    Message Count:
    473
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Morro Bay, CA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Good thing you had the constant BEEPING going on huh??;)
  19. Offline

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

    Member Since:
    Apr 13, 2009
    Message Count:
    986
    Likes Received:
    321
    Location:
    Leesburg Florida USA
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Me too - and looking around for the clutch with my left foot....


    Folks - the bottom line here. Standard practice for all automatic transmission floor-mounted shifter autos is P-R-N-D-L. From front to back.
    Not logical as noted before, but so be it. We're stuck with it. Same with the Prius.
    Imagine if Toyota decided to go against the grain and make the Prius 'logical' and reverse the order to D-N-R. Product liability lawyers would make a fortune. And body shops.
    1 people like this.
  20. Offline

    bruceha_2000 New Member

    Member Since:
    Jan 2, 2004
    Message Count:
    2,648
    Likes Received:
    37
    Location:
    South Burlington, VT
    Your Vehicle Year:
    2004 Prius
    Except:
    When you get in your 'normal' auto "stick on the floor" car, you pull it backward to hit ANY gear since Park is all the way forward. You pull it backward to reverse out of the driveway, then pull it backward AGAIN (twice) to go forward. ONLY when you want to back into a parking space do you push it forward to go in reverse.

    The BEAUTY of the Prius shifter is that you do not EVER think about what 'gear' the transmission is in - EVER. In other cars you HAVE to think "I'm in Drive, I have to pull it 1 back for 2nd, 2 back for 1st. Push it 1 stop forward for Neutral, 2 stops to get to Reverse, 3 stops for Park." Some automatics also force some right/left gating in the shifter. Yeah it becomes automatic, but your brain has to evaluate the whole process EVERY time you move the shifter. With the current Prius shifter pattern your brain HAS to think, "I want to go in reverse so I have to push it forward". "backward is backward" would require no analysis.

    People already have to 'get used' to the joystick shifter, same as they would have to get used to the gating in any 'normal' car. Any NEW driver is not going to think: "How does this relate to my old car".

    Since there IS no Park on the shifter, I say make it LOGICAL. Just like a boat throttle - Forward to go forward and backward to go backward. N and B are used rarely, *I* would make it (H is Home):

    F B
    H-N
    R

    Reminds me of the newlywed husband asking the wife:
    "Why did you cut the end off the roast before putting it in the pan?"
    W: "My mother always does"
    W: "Mom, why do you cut the end off the roast before putting it in the pan?"
    M: "My mother always does"
    W: "Grandma, why do you cut the end off the roast before putting it in the pan?"
    G: "Because my pan is too small for the roast."

    REALLY, there ARE reasons to NOT do it the 'same way it was always done before' !!!!

Share This Page