Two "I want to meet the engineer" foibles for my 2013 Leaf!

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JohnKuthe

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 15, 2017
Messages
119
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!

2. Cruise Control ON switch should be eliminated. Unnecessary!

John Kuthe....
 
I agree, when you think about it...... Personally though if not thinking about it, my natural inclination is to pull back, which is how the Leaf works. I think it's because that is how floor shift automatics work, you pull it backward to shift into drive. Another reason may be if your hand is holding the mouse and you step on the gas hard, your hand naturally goes back(inertia?)
Of course most/all?? floor shift stick cars you push the stick forward for 1st gear to go forward, so in that respect the Leaf is backward.
Again personally I didn't think twice about it until I was teaching my daughter to drive for the first time, in my Leaf. I told her to pull back on the mouse to go forward and to push forward on the mouse to go into reverse, to which she said "why not forward to go forward, backward to backward" :lol:
Don't have CC on my S so I can't comment on that quirk.
 
I've never been bothered by the shifter direction. All sorts of cars have shifters that move in directions that aren't related, so... :roll:
 
The Leaf is modeled after the Prius, shifter-wise, as many move from the latter to the former. It's not hard to adapt. As for eliminating "Cruise On" that would be illegal, and should be. What if all the accessories came on when the car was started?
 
JohnKuthe said:
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!

2. Cruise Control ON switch should be eliminated. Unnecessary!
Disagree with both.

The first has been discussed numerous times here on MNL and even more times on Priuschat.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=16370 - three of my responses at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=361419#p361419, http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=361422#p361422 and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=361397#p361397
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=348

https://priuschat.com/threads/shift-forward-to-go-back.66847/
https://priuschat.com/threads/gear-shifter-orientation-backwards.11306/
https://priuschat.com/threads/shifter-d-should-be-forward-motion-and-r-should-be-backward-motion.84047/

OP, I guess if you really want #1, you'd want to buy/lease a BMW i3. It has a stalk on the right that you twist forward to go into D and twist backwards for R.
 
JohnKuthe said:
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!
It's a relic from old manual transmissions.
For many of those, reverse gear was left-and-forward, while first gear was left-and-backward.
3-speed-2.jpg
 
JohnKuthe said:
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!

2. Cruise Control ON switch should be eliminated. Unnecessary!

John Kuthe....

This reminds me of my sister complaining that the tv guide screen is 'backwards' because the up arrow scrolls up through the channel list instead of moving toward the higher numbered channels (down through the list).

I find the Leaf shifting function to be natural and normal. It matches what I am used to on just about every vehicle I have driven.

Having a cruise control that is always on could be very dangerous. Accidentally engaging it could create a dangerous situation. I also like being able to turn it off when I exit the freeway without having to move my foot to hit the brake pedal.
 
We have a LEAF and a Prius Prime and both have the same gear orientation on the knob. The odd thing is that shifting the Prius comes naturally to me while the LEAF does not. I presume this is because the Prius stalk is orientated horizontally while the LEAF's is vertical.

<<shrug>> I don't think a manufacturer can win with the variety of ways different drivers are wired so I just make it a point to be careful in the LEAF and double-check what gear I am in.

I have noticed that OP is quick to assign blame to others to cover his own limitations. Unfortunate for him, as it makes it harder to learn and adapt. Thank goodness though for user environments on computers. My wife scrolls one way and I scroll the other. Now if only my Windoze garbage computer at work would let me set that particular preference.
 
garsh said:
JohnKuthe said:
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!
It's a relic from old manual transmissions.
For many of those, reverse gear was left-and-forward, while first gear was left-and-backward.
3-speed-2.jpg
Wow, what vehicle did that come off of? I must admit I've never driven/seen a 3 on the floor! Plenty of 3 on the tree's but the least I've driven on the floor would be a 4 speed in which forward has always been to the top.
Also coming from a Prius that might explain why the Leaf comes natural, personally I much like the Prius setup as it doesn't waste precious floor space. I'd much rather have the shifter out of the way on the dash and use the leave the armrest area for other things like more storage, JMO :)
Oh IMO an even worse shifter than the Leaf is the new Chrysler Pacifica PHEV, while on the dash it's a stupid big knob where you have to shift through reverse to get to drive :roll: oh and then to get to park you have to go through all the gears again, IOW no separate quick park button as on most EV.
 
Forklifts are the same, pull back to go forwards, push to go backwards. It makes sense to me.


I agree with you 100% on the steering wheel controls.
 
cwerdna said:
OP, I guess if you really want #1, you'd want to buy/lease a BMW i3. It has a stalk on the right that you twist forward to go into D and twist backwards for R.
The Model S has the same stalk.

After driving the S for a few days and going back to the LEAF, I inevitably turn on the wipers when I want to go forward.

And then when I switch back to the S, I inevitably put the car in N when I go to turn on the wipers.
 
jlv said:
cwerdna said:
OP, I guess if you really want #1, you'd want to buy/lease a BMW i3. It has a stalk on the right that you twist forward to go into D and twist backwards for R.
The Model S has the same stalk.

After driving the S for a few days and going back to the LEAF, I inevitably turn on the wipers when I want to go forward.

And then when I switch back to the S, I inevitably put the car in N when I go to turn on the wipers.

I have similar stalk confusion when I switch between my 2013 Nissan Leaf and my 2006 Grand Caravan!

John Kuthe...
 
jlv said:
cwerdna said:
OP, I guess if you really want #1, you'd want to buy/lease a BMW i3. It has a stalk on the right that you twist forward to go into D and twist backwards for R.
The Model S has the same stalk.
Huh? The Model S had a shifter from the Mercedes parts bin. Not sure about now. But, this is what's in https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/model_s_owners_manual_north_america_en_us.pdf that I just download on page 42:
model-s-shifter.png
Reverse
Push the lever all the way up and release.
...
Neutral
Push the lever up or down to the first position
and release to shift into Neutral. Neutral allows
Model S to roll freely.
...
Drive
Push the lever all the way down and release.


The Mercedes shifter and what I see in the manual are nothing like the i3's shifter. The i3's shifter conventions seem like what the OP would want. Skip to ~1:16 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GruPycVRFUM. I've never heard of the Model S at any point in time having a shifter like the aforementioned i3 shifter.

And, for kicks, compare to some other BMWs like at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gKb_E1q2Q.
 
garsh said:
JohnKuthe said:
1. The Forward "gear shiftie" thing should move forward for forward, etc. NOT Vice Versa like it is now, DUMB!!
It's a relic from old manual transmissions.
For many of those, reverse gear was left-and-forward, while first gear was left-and-backward.
3-speed-2.jpg

The LEAF shift pattern always seemed natural to me. If you were standing behind a pole and wanted to move yourself forward you'd pull your arm back and vice versa. That's the way I've always thought about it.

That image might be a GM Saginaw 3-speed shift knob from the late 60's. I had that shift pattern in a 1968 Camaro. I was used to driving a standard "H" pattern 4-speed previous. For days after I bought that Camaro I would stop a lights and throw the damn thing in reverse instead of 1st. People behind me would honk and flash their lights thinking I was going to pull an "American Graffiti" on them. :oops:
 
I agree the LEAF shifter could be more intuitive. While it meets the letter of the US FMVSS of position order, it is unusual enough to trip most people up at first (with the exception of Prius drivers). In a regular automatic, you sometimes pull back, and sometimes push forward to get to the R position. At least the LEAF is dead-nuts consistent with R always a push-forward movement, and D always a pull-back movement.

Having previously owned a 2004 Prius, the LEAF shifter feels no different to me. It is, however, easier to quickly access as it is always at hand, whereas the Prius shifter was more of a finger-stretch-from-the-steering-wheel.

If Nissan re-oriented the shift positions at this point, there could be confusion from LEAF drivers already accustomed to the current setup, especially two-LEAF households and valets. Really, it would need to be a re-imagining of the shifter altogether. I like the BMW i3's setup: roll forward to D, backwards for R. It's also different enough to not be confused with other stalks on the column. I test-drove an i3 for a few days and found the twist-grip shifter to be quite intuitive and satisfying. The only knock against it was the illuminated PRND position indicators could be hidden behind the steering wheel, and some people would find the momentary action confusing vs. if it physically stayed in the selected position.

As to the Cruise Control on/off switch, it's likely there for safety, so it's not "live" until you enable it. However, other cars I've driven remember that it is enabled between restarts.
 
gshepherd said:
...
As to the Cruise Control on/off switch, it's likely there for safety, so it's not "live" until you enable it. However, other cars I've driven remember that it is enabled between restarts.

Exactly! The cruise control circuitry should be ON anytime the motor/engine is ON, just in case the driver wants to use it! Many other motor/engine functions begin automatically, why not cruise control? It;s be pretty sad if the driver had to MANUALLY enable each and every one of the motor/engine's functions, ya THINK??!! I do! All the time!!

John Kuthe...
 
JohnKuthe said:
gshepherd said:
...
As to the Cruise Control on/off switch, it's likely there for safety, so it's not "live" until you enable it. However, other cars I've driven remember that it is enabled between restarts.

Exactly! The cruise control circuitry should be ON anytime the motor/engine is ON, just in case the driver wants to use it! Many other motor/engine functions begin automatically, why not cruise control? It;s be pretty sad if the driver had to MANUALLY enable each and every one of the motor/engine's functions, ya THINK??!! I do! All the time!!

John Kuthe...

He wrote that the cruise stayed on after a shutoff when "enabled" - NOT that it was always on. Big difference, and even that setup is dangerous if the car has more than one driver.
 
It's not the engineers as much as the lawyers that want the driver to intentionally turn on the cruise control every time the car is restarted.

This is the same issue with the Adaptive Cruise Control and the adjustable following distance setting. Its default is the furthest distance, and if you want it to be closer, the driver has to set it so.
 
OrientExpress said:
It's not the engineers as much as the lawyers that want the driver to intentionally turn on the cruise control every time the car is restarted.

This is the same issue with the Adaptive Cruise Control and the adjustable following distance setting. Its default is the furthest distance, and if you want it to be closer, the driver has to set it so.

If one wants a self-driving car, one can take a BUS! Or a cab. Or a train! THEY are existing NOW, are cheap and WORK exceedingly well!

John Kuthe...
 
Back
Top