Reverse gear on the first and second gear side
 

I have not seen this before, maybe its a new thing. but this picture shows that the reverse gear is on the first and second gear side not the fifth and sixth gear side.


taken from http://frswonderland.tumblr.com/

A lot of cars have this... I'm not sure if it's for any practical purpose or it's just for the hell of it...


I for one am used to Reverse being on the right side, so i'm sure I will run into a few situations where I lift the lock and go the wrong way...

yea it seems like it'll be a bit of a nuisance for me but o wells have to deal with it haha

It's more practical on the left side. You're going from R to first gear faster.

I agree. I've had cars that had it on both right and left sides of the gates and I prefer on the left. For the reason stated above and for the mere fact that humans naturally find it easier to exert force in torwards their boday than outwards. If the gear box is on the stiff side this helps. I know I'm splitting hairs here. :bonk:

you know i never saw it like that before. it does seem easier on that side, thanks

this is quite common, especially in german cars

my VW had this,

first thin you have to realize is that the H pattern is simply for illustration purposes

your 1st gear motion is identical to any other car

to actually get into reverse, on some cars you have to press the shifter DOWN (it moves about an inch) and make the 1st gear motion, and you're in reverse

in some cars (my friends audi), there is a little ring about 1/2-1" below the shift knob base that you pull UP with your fingers and then make the 1st gear motion.

it sounds complex but it's really not, and in a lot of ways i prefer it this way, and by no means is it a hassle to actually operate.

as to why they did it, i dont have the exact answer but it's along the lines of desinging the gearbox in better way. (less wear? stronger? etc)

thats one nice looking nob

Celica GTS was the same way. I wonder if they're going to make it so you have to push down on the shifter like the S2000. The Celica also beeped when you were in reverse.

The Celica GTS transmission (and the Corolla XRS and Matrix XRS) didnt have lockout protection thats why it beeped. There was no ring to pull up nor did you push it down to get into reverse. You just pushed it harder to the left to get it there. The harder push and the beep was all that was preventing you from a possible misshift and transmission damage. Because of this you could actually shift into Reverse accidentally while moving forward. I actually did it once when i was still a newbie manual driver (I learned stick on that transmission...)....and the beeper was there to remind me i was in reverse and not first (i didnt depress the clutch so it was still engaged, and i avoided damage). Some cars beep as soon as you get into reverse, but its usually just once. The GTS transmission would continuously beep until you were out of reverse.
In the Lotus Elise (Same transmission/engine combo) the shifter had the ring to pull up. I actually felt pretty stupid when i was trying to shove it left into reverse (hitting nothing but gate wall) in that car before realizing i had to pull a ring up to actually get into reverse.

I believe (and you can sorta see it in the picture) the FRS/BRZ/GT86 shifter has the ring to pull up to get into reverse. Theres a noticeable ring 'shelf' under the shift knob and the shifter boot.

This one looks like we'll be lifting the ring to shift it over into reverse. I've seen reverse on both sides of the pattern, it's probably just up to preference of the engineer that designed the gearbox.

My 2012 tc has it like that too. Lift up the reverse lock and slide it to the left of first gear.

Very european. I like it.

That's where its supposed to be!