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How cool. This seems like such a good visual indicator of your gear status it's a mystery why it's not more common in manual cars.

by 2four2 3y ago

rahkiin 3y ago
When driving manual you already unconciously know the gear you’re in. The automatic cars aive driven did show d/r/n/p, because I guess it is in the control system anyway.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >When driving manual you already unconciously know the gear you’re in. You've never been fender bumped by a driver who forgot he was in first gear/reverse, thought he was in neutral, and just let go of the clutch without the brakes on? Happened to me twice. I often find myself checking I'm in neutral before letting go of the clutch during complex parking maneuvers, because I can't trust my memory on where I last left the gear stick. On my old 2003 Fiat Panda, the gear shifter was placed quite high up[1], closer to the side of the steering wheel rather than down in the console, so you could tell with your peripheral vision whether it's still in gear, and also easily flick it into neutral with just your pinkie finger without taking your hands of the wheel. I miss mechanical UX like that when a lot of though was put in stuff like this, instead of every car being a copy-paste of the same barren generic platform, void of mechanical interactions, and with just an iPad in the center, designed to be as cheap to manufacture as possible. [1] https://assets.adac.de/image/upload/ar_16:9,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto:eco,w_1256/v1/Autodatenbank/Fahrzeugbilder/im00923-4-fiat-panda.jpg https://assets.adac.de/image/upload/ar_16:9,c_fill,f_auto,g_...
  - gregoriol 3y ago
    On motorbikes, there is often (at least in older ones) a neutral indicator but no gear indicator: it prevents this exact situation I guess
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      I assume it's because on motorcycles dumping the clutch while in gear could have graver consequences for the rider than a fender bender.
    - sokoloff 3y ago
      It may also be that a neutral switch already exists to lock out the starter (as opposed to only being an indicator). Adding an indicator for a sensor that’s already present is cheaper/easier/higher RoI than sensing plus indicating.
    - guax 3y ago
      In my experience bikes have it because lots of them are a pain in the ass to put in neutral and is easier to see the light than to feel with the clutch. The neutral is also in between first and second, so its a bit finicky.
  - R0flcopt3r 3y ago
    I severely doubt adding a gear indicator would save people from these kinds of situations.
  - Already__Taken 3y ago
    In most countries where automatics aren't the default, no that generally never happens. you'd have to not know it's in gear, have the engine running, not be on the break and not have the handbrake on.
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      What are you talking about? All that can definitely happen. And it has happened to me.
landgenoot 3y ago
Such an indicator is mandatory in the European Union. > Vehicles of category M 1 with a reference mass not exceeding 2 610 kg and vehicles to which type-approval is extended in accordance with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 which are fitted with a manual gearbox shall be equipped with gear shift indicators in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation and its implementing measures. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:200:0001:0024:en:PDF https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:... It is mainly a fuel efficiency measure. It also tells the driver when to shift up or down. Example of the indicator: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kerry-Malone/publication/47548278/figure/fig3/AS:669434658185223@1536617068433/Example-of-a-gear-shift-indicator-on-a-vehicle-instrument-panel.ppm https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kerry-Malone/publicatio...
- rob74 3y ago
  Yeah... unfortunately, they just show you the gear you should switch to, not the gear you're currently in (although that information is obviously available). So much for keeping your eyes on the road as much as possible...
  - marceldegraaf 3y ago
    The photo shows the current gear (3) and an indicator that the driver could shift up (the arrow pointing upward).
    - closewith 3y ago
      Must be model dependent. All the cars I've owned with physical gear levers and gear shift indicators show the recommended gear, not current.
  - landgenoot 3y ago
    No, the number is the current gear. The arrow in front of it indicates whether you should shift up or down
shultays 3y ago
I was surprised that is a thing in some manual cars. In every car I see, the gear stick stays where it is after you switch gears. If you switch gears to 1 then it stays on 1, it does not go back to center/neutral position. If you want to move it to two, you first move it to neutral position and then move to 2. edit: I thought it was returning back to neutral state in the video, I was wrong
- stavros 3y ago
  It goes back to neutral in some cars? That sounds like a "shift by wire" thing, as usually the shift stick directly changes gears, and thus stays where it is. I've never seen it go back.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    Sorry, I read in your profile that you're an amateur F1 driver. Are you willing to give more info on that, as it sounds pretty interesting.
    - stavros 3y ago
      Ah, sorry, that's right before "liar" and lots of people miss the joke.
      - fragmede 3y ago
        Aw. Car racing is a lot of fun, and there are a lot of multimillionaires browsing this forum. You can get a used F1 car for less than a million, so it's not inconceivable that someone here could actually be one. It goes karting, Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, and then formula 1. Karting is relatively accessible, < $10k. Amateur formula one is then only a million to start and then a couple hundred grand a year upkeep.
        stavros 3y ago
        I'm sure a few are, but I drive a hatchback :P Badly.
lelanthran 3y ago
> This seems like such a good visual indicator of your gear status it's a mystery why it's not more common in manual cars. It's common in manual racing cars - one single, extremely large, 7-segment LED in direct view of driver.
- guax 3y ago
  isn't that only common because of the sequential shifter that is actually easy to miss what gear you're on? I don't remember seeing it on "normal" manuals

How cool. This seems like such a good visual indicator of your gear status it's a mystery why it's not more common in manual cars.

by 2four2 3y ago

How cool. This seems like such a good visual indicator of your gear status it's a mystery why it's not more common in manual cars.

rahkiin 3y ago

When driving manual you already unconciously know the gear you’re in. The automatic cars aive driven did show d/r/n/p, because I guess it is in the control system anyway.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>When driving manual you already unconciously know the gear you’re in. You've never been fender bumped by a driver who forgot he was in first gear/reverse, thought he was in neutral, and just let go of the clutch without the brakes on? Happened to me twice. I often find myself checking I'm in neutral before letting go of the clutch during complex parking maneuvers, because I can't trust my memory on where I last left the gear stick. On my old 2003 Fiat Panda, the gear shifter was placed quite high up[1], closer to the side of the steering wheel rather than down in the console, so you could tell with your peripheral vision whether it's still in gear, and also easily flick it into neutral with just your pinkie finger without taking your hands of the wheel. I miss mechanical UX like that when a lot of though was put in stuff like this, instead of every car being a copy-paste of the same barren generic platform, void of mechanical interactions, and with just an iPad in the center, designed to be as cheap to manufacture as possible. [1] https://assets.adac.de/image/upload/ar_16:9,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto:eco,w_1256/v1/Autodatenbank/Fahrzeugbilder/im00923-4-fiat-panda.jpg https://assets.adac.de/image/upload/ar_16:9,c_fill,f_auto,g_...
- gregoriol 3y ago
  On motorbikes, there is often (at least in older ones) a neutral indicator but no gear indicator: it prevents this exact situation I guess
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    I assume it's because on motorcycles dumping the clutch while in gear could have graver consequences for the rider than a fender bender.
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    It may also be that a neutral switch already exists to lock out the starter (as opposed to only being an indicator). Adding an indicator for a sensor that’s already present is cheaper/easier/higher RoI than sensing plus indicating.
  - guax 3y ago
    In my experience bikes have it because lots of them are a pain in the ass to put in neutral and is easier to see the light than to feel with the clutch. The neutral is also in between first and second, so its a bit finicky.
- R0flcopt3r 3y ago
  I severely doubt adding a gear indicator would save people from these kinds of situations.
- Already__Taken 3y ago
  In most countries where automatics aren't the default, no that generally never happens. you'd have to not know it's in gear, have the engine running, not be on the break and not have the handbrake on.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    What are you talking about? All that can definitely happen. And it has happened to me.

landgenoot 3y ago

Such an indicator is mandatory in the European Union. > Vehicles of category M 1 with a reference mass not exceeding 2 610 kg and vehicles to which type-approval is extended in accordance with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 which are fitted with a manual gearbox shall be equipped with gear shift indicators in accordance with the requirements of this Regulation and its implementing measures. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:200:0001:0024:en:PDF https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:... It is mainly a fuel efficiency measure. It also tells the driver when to shift up or down. Example of the indicator: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kerry-Malone/publication/47548278/figure/fig3/AS:669434658185223@1536617068433/Example-of-a-gear-shift-indicator-on-a-vehicle-instrument-panel.ppm https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kerry-Malone/publicatio...

rob74 3y ago
Yeah... unfortunately, they just show you the gear you should switch to, not the gear you're currently in (although that information is obviously available). So much for keeping your eyes on the road as much as possible...
- marceldegraaf 3y ago
  The photo shows the current gear (3) and an indicator that the driver could shift up (the arrow pointing upward).
  - closewith 3y ago
    Must be model dependent. All the cars I've owned with physical gear levers and gear shift indicators show the recommended gear, not current.
- landgenoot 3y ago
  No, the number is the current gear. The arrow in front of it indicates whether you should shift up or down

shultays 3y ago

I was surprised that is a thing in some manual cars. In every car I see, the gear stick stays where it is after you switch gears. If you switch gears to 1 then it stays on 1, it does not go back to center/neutral position. If you want to move it to two, you first move it to neutral position and then move to 2. edit: I thought it was returning back to neutral state in the video, I was wrong

stavros 3y ago
It goes back to neutral in some cars? That sounds like a "shift by wire" thing, as usually the shift stick directly changes gears, and thus stays where it is. I've never seen it go back.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  Sorry, I read in your profile that you're an amateur F1 driver. Are you willing to give more info on that, as it sounds pretty interesting.
  - stavros 3y ago
    Ah, sorry, that's right before "liar" and lots of people miss the joke.
    - fragmede 3y ago
      Aw. Car racing is a lot of fun, and there are a lot of multimillionaires browsing this forum. You can get a used F1 car for less than a million, so it's not inconceivable that someone here could actually be one. It goes karting, Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, and then formula 1. Karting is relatively accessible, < $10k. Amateur formula one is then only a million to start and then a couple hundred grand a year upkeep.
      - stavros 3y ago
        I'm sure a few are, but I drive a hatchback :P Badly.

lelanthran 3y ago

> This seems like such a good visual indicator of your gear status it's a mystery why it's not more common in manual cars. It's common in manual racing cars - one single, extremely large, 7-segment LED in direct view of driver.

guax 3y ago
isn't that only common because of the sequential shifter that is actually easy to miss what gear you're on? I don't remember seeing it on "normal" manuals