It's only fair to FHI (to make a honorable mention of a precursor ofSX4)

[Body Roll]

Since I've been bashing and trashing the transmittion engagement on
the US 2005 OBS It's only fair to FHI
that I report that I did indeed find a 4WD 5SP car with the stick that
works far worse than 2005 OBS for US.
And that is the 2001 4WD 5SP Suzuki Boleno for the euro market. Not
only the switches are slow
but the 3rd gear is a bit offset against the 4th.
Surprisingly the 4WD action is not as bad as one would expect from a
normally FWD car
(I'm making an assumption 100% of power goes to front on boleno and
transfer occurs only
when slip is detected). I did not detect much if any wheel slip on
loose snow
with the UltraGrips (dedicated studless winter tire). The 9 year old
frame on boleno shows
signs of rust. How do US 2001 subarus fair in the rust department?

My question to the group is:
it is my understanding that the shift lever was directly engaging the
gears in the early-mid last century cars,
but at some point an onslaught of the rubbery shift linkages began
with the subsequent loss of the shift feel.
Could you enlighten me about the reasons for the switch.

 

[bugalugs]

Since I've been bashing and trashing the transmittion engagement on
the US 2005 OBS It's only fair to FHI
that I report that I did indeed find a 4WD 5SP car with the stick that
works far worse than 2005 OBS for US.
And that is the 2001 4WD 5SP Suzuki Boleno for the euro market. Not
only the switches are slow
but the 3rd gear is a bit offset against the 4th.
Surprisingly the 4WD action is not as bad as one would expect from a
normally FWD car
(I'm making an assumption 100% of power goes to front on boleno and
transfer occurs only
when slip is detected). I did not detect much if any wheel slip on
loose snow
with the UltraGrips (dedicated studless winter tire). The 9 year old
frame on boleno shows
signs of rust. How do US 2001 subarus fair in the rust department?

My question to the group is:
it is my understanding that the shift lever was directly engaging the
gears in the early-mid last century cars,
but at some point an onslaught of the rubbery shift linkages began
with the subsequent loss of the shift feel.
Could you enlighten me about the reasons for the switch.

The distance between the shift lever inside the car and the position of
the gearbox increased.


---

 

[John Varela]

My question to the group is:
it is my understanding that the shift lever was directly engaging the
gears in the early-mid last century cars,
but at some point an onslaught of the rubbery shift linkages began
with the subsequent loss of the shift feel.
Could you enlighten me about the reasons for the switch.

From about 1940 until about 1970 it was common to have the shift
lever mounted on the steering column. Only sports cars and trucks
had floor-mounted shifters. Along with the column shifter, bench
front seats that seated three were usual. Safety requirements for
shoulder belts and then air bags forced the change to only two seats
in front. This led to today's center consoles and movement of the
shifter from the column to the console.

 

[Body Roll]

The distance between the shift lever inside the car and the position of
the gearbox increased.

and that increase was the result of switching from the classic rwd
scheme
to fwd/awd layouts or what?
do you know what has nessessitated the distance increase itself?
Are there any modern relics that still do without the shift linkages?
thanks

 

[bugalugs]

and that increase was the result of switching from the classic rwd
scheme
to fwd/awd layouts or what?
do you know what has nessessitated the distance increase itself?

The 'on floor' shift lever has to be within comfortable easy reach of
the driver so its position in the car is relatively fixed. As engine
design, orientation, and placement, changed (in most cases) the gearbox
stayed close to the engine and complex linkages were necessary.

Generally most FWD cars would have linkages (original BMC Mini went
direct to the gearbox) while a large number of RWD would be direct. (VW,
Porsche. and some Alfas which had transaxels had to have linkages)

and transmission designs changed and