I'd be leery of using this device, with all that complexity, as an input for video games. The latency makes me ugh. Certainly don't want that much "systems" stuff between me and the transmission of a car I'm piloting.
If it's a manual transmission or an ancient automatic, sure, but manual transmission trucks basically haven't existed for a decade or so and every automatic since the mid 90s has an electronic gear selector of some variety.
Somehow the world keeps working just fine. The biggest problem that's come up with them has been when manufacturers decide to screw with the physical interface and make it more likely to inadvertently miss Park, like the Chrysler design that killed Anton Yelchin.
> I'd be leery of using this device, with all that complexity, as an input for video games.
It's less complicated than a force feedback joystick or even a lot of modern gamepads.
> The latency makes me ugh.
The latency is coming from the transmission, not the shifter.
> Certainly don't want that much "systems" stuff between me and the transmission of a car I'm piloting.
Again, it has been this way for literally decades. My 1993 Crown Vic with an AODE transmission had a shift lever based on the computer interpreting ranges of resistance from a potentiometer. The lever was literally a joystick with notches. And as the name suggests, that was a classic AOD transmission with the mechanical valvebody replaced with solenoids and an IBM PC grade processor.
That said, I'm not railing against computers in the car, I'm mostly saying I like manually shifting my gears.
And you only got rid of 1 of the dozens of computerized components in your drive train. Your engine, transfer case, rear differential, and hubs are all computerized
Your 1993 Crown Vic may as well be a 1980s toaster over compared to the 2010+ cars being discussed. The only digital electronics are in the ECU and for the display on the radio. There is a huge difference between a 90s Ford style lever position sensor and the BMW stuff. If the computer doesn't do the right gear for what you want you just move it until it does. The BMW will spit error messages at you.
You have missed the point. Yes, in that one particular failure mode if the calibration is off on the shift lever itself you can usually fiddle with it to at least end up in a gear. The point was that the transmission doesn't work unless the computer thinks everything's OK. It's not like a mechanical automatic where you can climb under the car and fiddle some levers to force it in to gear. The computer controls everything, just like in the BMW and just like basically every other automatic transmission from the late '80s/early '90s and beyond.
The fact that the BMW shift lever separates the part deciding what gear you've selected from the part actually controlling the gearbox and connects the two over CAN doesn't seem like a significant difference to me from a functionality or reliability standpoint.
The Ford is more or less a classic "game port" joystick where the BMW is the equivalent of a USB HID joystick.
That might be true of pickup trucks, but commercial trucks are virtually all manual.
I don't have much experience with the big trucks, but my understanding is that most fleets are leaning towards automatic these days because it's easier to get drivers, they can enforce shifting policies for fuel economy, and there's less a bad/aggressive driver can screw up. I'd totally believe owner ops still stick with three pedals for the most part though.
In the medium size truck world it's been ages since I've seen a stick, everything has an Allison with that same janky '80s seven-segment LED control panel.
For reference purposes at the standard gaming benchmark of 60 FPS a single frame is 16.666_ ms, so you're looking at the equivalent of a frame or two of delay.
That could be critical for a CRT-era fighting game that requires frame-perfect inputs, but as a controller for a traditional automatic transmission it doesn't matter in the slightest.
Eh, yes and no. It's a lot worse than it could be, that's for sure, but there are a lot of major name game controllers that were sold for years and perform worse, yet a lot of players would never notice unless they did a side-by-side comparison against a good one.
For the use case, where the hardware it's controlling has an inherent latency measured in the many dozens to hundreds of milliseconds depending on which model and mode, it doesn't really matter. Likewise for the author's intended use case as a mode selector for an EV. A faster update rate is in all likelihood possible in the hardware, but when you're sharing a bus measured in kilobits per second with other potentially critical messages it seems reasonable to rate limit.
This is '80s technology, mind you, with a fairly simple computer grafted on to bring it up to the white heat of the mid-'90s.
> I appreciate where you’re coming from but experiencing the joy of dual clutch automatics and their shifts in BMWs and Audis that I had the joy to diving might change your mind.
Yeah, no thanks. A good manual transmission is a core part of the driving experience.
Which cars have those today or in the time-frame of the F-series BMWs from TFA?
Every fiat/chrysler gearbox is sloppy gooey junk thing, even their performance models have horrific manual gear shifts.
I'll cut to the chase instead of listing Ford, Peugeot, etc. etc.
The Porsche Cayman 982 manual shift feels awesome to use, it's a delight but that only opens up a new can of worms, the gear ratios are farrr too long (emissions targets i suppose), utterly ruining the experience. The PDK is the better choice (and it even has shorter ratios to boot!).
Edit:
Reflecting more on what I like about it. I saw a number of articles or videos, like that 80s Porsche, where the shifter is wiggly or won't go into gear because of long linkages, or falls out of gear. The Ford shifter is nothing like it. My favorite thing about it is that there seems to be (maybe) some torque-induced flex between the gearbox and shifter that makes it naturally slide and "fall" into the correct next gear; I absolutely love this feeling. You just push the stick and it falls from 2nd to 3rd, for example. But if you're slowing down it feels like it's harder to put into 3rd but more easy to push it back up into 1st. And then the way the reverse gear is protected with a hefty spring-loaded ring is very nice. Finally, overall the shifter works smoothly, never gets stuck, seems to "know" the gear I want to go into, never falls out of gear... just lovely :-)
I also have an ST. I highly suggest replacing the shifter with an aftermarket short throw shifter or the shifter bracket. I think you'll like it even more. I've owned several cars with manual transmissions, and one of my biggest complaints about the ST was the stock shifter. It doesn't struggle to get into gear, but it felt light, soft and mushy compared to my other cars. I replaced mine with a short throw from Steeda and it helped a lot, but still lacks the solid bolt-action rifle feeling I was used to.
The ST is a killer deal with serious performance for its price, but if you want a taste for what else is affordable out there and a step up try out a car with a Tremec TR6060 transmission[1]. They are one of the best manual transmissions on the market today and can take a beating. You should easily be able to find one on Turo if you live near any major city.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremec_TR-6060_transmission#Ap...
Yeah, no thanks. A good dual clutch automatic is my choice when it comes to actually driving in a sprited way.
But you know what? To each their own.
I don't think consumable is the right word, but I assume they meant in the sense that many cars are leased, so the drive never really owns a car -- they just "consume" cars as they move from lease to lease.
I learned to drive in manuals (because they're more common in the UK). I currently own two automatics and drive a variety of manuals, automatics and EVs that are kind of inherently "automatic".
I don't see any difference in "driving experience" between manual and automatic. What do *you* think the difference is?
Maybe if you're in the earning high-5 figures a year bracket in SF, but for regular people, a car is likely the most or second most expensive thing they own (second to a home). New cars is something for dual-earners and rich folk, for us regular people - and I am a high income earner - new cars, even on finance, is just not an option.
(I'm currently driving a used 2009 Ford Focus, <200K Km on the dial)
Lower class?