With the location of the pedals and the direction of rotation of the steering wheel, the designers do not dare to experiment. But they don’t feel such a reverence for the gearbox controls. Most clearly, all the variety of options can be seen in the example of automatic transmissions, CVTs and robotic transmissions. As part of this review, hardware is not important to us, so for simplicity, let me use the vernacular word "machine."
Seagull GAZ-13 - automatic transmission unit
From Soviet cars, the GAZ-13 Seagull flaunted the button block of an automatic box. From Soviet cars, the GAZ-13 Seagull flaunted the button block of an automatic box.
The rarest type of control is push-button. Connoisseurs of retrotechnics will recall, for example, the Soviet GAZ-13 Chaika limousine, where the four-button unit was located to the left of the steering wheel on the front panel. On cars, the scheme did not take root, and today it can be seen by rare lucky ones, for example, owners of supercars Ferrari and Aston Martin. But for buses, the mode selection keys are in the order of things. On the contrary, it is almost impossible for them to meet a different type of automatic transmission control.
Push-button control of the machine
Push-button control of the machine - a rarity on cars. In the photo - Aston Martin Rapide with mode selection buttons under the central ventilation deflectors. Push-button control of the machine - a rarity on cars. In the photo - Aston Martin Rapide with mode selection buttons under the central ventilation deflectors.
Another type of control of the machine has become widespread in recent history. This is a rotating washer that is simultaneously made recessed when inoperative - the solution is stylish and non-standard. In addiction to him, the British brands Jaguar and Land Rover were noticed. The entire range of two brands switched to pucks. Surprisingly, a brutal Ram pickup truck practices a similar approach. Oh, the automobile god himself ordered him to be faithful to American traditions!
Pickup RAM
Pickup RAM is hard to blame for infidelity to American values. But look at his machine control washer! Pickup RAM is hard to blame for infidelity to American values. But look at his machine control washer!
With the steering column "poker" the history of machines began. They came to the automotive world from the USA at the beginning of the last century, where the fashion for such an arrangement of the selector lasted for many decades. Now it is close to extinction. So, of the "big three" best-selling pickups, only the Chevrolet Silverado is faithful to her, and the Ford F-150 and Ram are renegades.
Cadillac escalade
Cadillac Escalade (pictured) and Chevrolet Tahoe soplatform to him are faithful to American traditions: a massive machine poker sticks out from under the steering wheel. Cadillac Escalade (pictured) and Chevrolet Tahoe soplatform to him are faithful to American traditions: a massive machine poker sticks out from under the steering wheel.
Of the other brands in the mass application of the scheme with a selector on the steering column, only Mercedes-Benz was noticed, which began to switch to it in the mid-2000s. BMW had only one attempt - on the seventh series in the 2001 E65 body. Even the two-door “six” related to her style remained true to the classics, as did the next generation of the flagship, introduced in 2008.
One could say that we also joined this trend. But, alas, in domestic cars for the mass consumer, the ACP debuted only at Lada Grant in 2012. Although the lever under the wheel of the Soviet drivers was well known, because he appeared immediately after the war at the "Victory".
Interior Lada and Bentley
The classic arrangement of the automatic transmission lever is from Lada to Bentley. The classic arrangement of the automatic transmission lever is from Lada to Bentley.
The most popular type of machine selector is located on a central tunnel between the front seats. The overwhelming majority of automobile brands with an annual total output of tens of millions of cars remain true to classics. Although in the premium segment, the lever mechanically connected to the box is a thing of the past, leaving a rudimentary electronic joystick in its place.
Here we come to another nuance of managing automatic transmissions. Until the 1990s, the mass consumer did not even think that, having paid extra when buying a car for an automatic transmission, he would suddenly need to click the gears manually. However, engineers came up with a new "chip", and marketers quickly explained its benefits. So there were all kinds of step-, type- and other “tronics”. In other words, the manual gear selection function for an automatic transmission.
Audi A4 steering wheel
One of the first implementations of manual gearbox control without the help of a selector was buttons on the steering wheel spokes on the Audi A4 of the late 1990s. One of the first implementations of manual gearbox control without the help of a selector was buttons on the steering wheel spokes on the Audi A4 of the late 1990s.
Even with the same classical arrangement of the selector on the central tunnel, manufacturers did not have unity in the implementation of the manual mode. For an example we will take models of the "big German three" from the second half of the 1990s. Audi demanded to shift the lever to the right from position D and change gears with movements back and forth. BMW used the same scheme, but the lever had to be moved to the left. And Mercedes was able to switch gears directly from D mode while swaying the selector left and right.
With the further spread of manual control of the automatic transmission, almost all cars were divided into two camps. The budget and the mass have left switching using the selector by translating it into a separate groove to the left or right of the main one. The exception is a number of Chevrolet, Opel and Ford models, which use an extremely uncomfortable key located on the lever under the thumb. Even the Koreans once applied a similar scheme to their SsangYong Actyon and, apparently, remained faithful to it on the new Tivoli model, with which they plan to return to the Russian market.
Automatic selectors
On the left is a machine selector with a large key on top. This can be seen in the interior of the Opel Mokka crossover. And to the right is the lever of Aktion. The Koreans placed an inconspicuous joystick on the side. On the left is a machine selector with a large key on top. This can be seen in the interior of the Opel Mokka crossover. And to the right is the lever of Aktion. The Koreans placed an inconspicuous joystick on the side.
And premium and sports cars settled on a solution with shift paddles. One is responsible for increasing gear, the other for downshifting. One of the pioneers in their implementation was Audi. True, in the late 1990s on the Quartet from Ingolstadt it was not the levers behind the steering wheel, but the keys “+” and “-” on its knitting needles.
Lada Vesta and Lada Ixrey with AMT
Lada Vesta and Lada Iksrey: one gearbox, control algorithms - different. Lada Vesta and Lada Iksrey: one gearbox, control algorithms - different.