Model Year 25/26 I just need to vent about this...

[rankoroso]

Hi everyone,
Not a contributor to the forum, occasional reader, but I want to start by thanking you for maintaining this forum and sharing your experiences!
I just need to drop here my biggest frustration with the Formentor, maybe someone somewhere will think about this for the future generations...
Why oh why does the gear selector needs to be pushed FORWARD when you want to go BACWARD, and pushed BACKWARD when you need to go FORWARD????
This annoys me so, so much... especially parking, of course - coming from years of manual gears, when doing a manoeuvre it just breaks the whole flow of "1st-R-1st-R" while doing the "forward-backward-forward-backward" with the hand.
Why did they not make R selector go BACKWARD, and D/S selector go FORWARD??
Does this not bother anyone? I am alone in this? Do I have too much time on my hands?
It is my worst pet peeve about the car, still today I feel it so counter-intuitive, all the time I have to flip my brain 180 degrees to select the right gear without making a mistake... damn it!
Anyway, this was it. No question, no solution. Just venting
Cheers

 

[Bahnstormer_vRS]

It a logical evolution of the classic / standard;-

P - R - N - D where P is nearest to the front of the car.

Isn't it?

Simples

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S25 Ultra using Tapatalk

 

[rankoroso]

I know where it comes from. Even if I don't see find it "logical" at all. There many shapes and forms for gear selectors, going from circular to push buttons to paddles. So the "logic" is whatever the manufacturer decides to do with it, it has nothing to do with the P-R-N-D front-to-back.
I still find it logical that with a forward/backward selector, you would align it with the natural movement of the car.
You want to move forward? You push forward.
You want to move backward? You push backward.
Simples

 

[serdar_18fr]

... coming from years of manual gears, when doing a manoeuvre it just breaks the whole flow of "1st-R-1st-R" while doing the "forward-backward-forward-backward" with the hand.

There are also cars with manual gearboxes that have the reverse gear on forward, just next to 1st

 

[rankoroso]

Yes, I understand and I am aware of those - I owned a couple of them at some point, and also felt the same. But those cars mostly have mechanical reasons or constraints to why the designs are like that, which kind of justifies it (even if I still didn't like it). Same goes for 2nd and 4th, for example, as they also go "backwards".

But this does not need to apply nor relate to electronic selectors, especially for one as simple as R-N-D mounted and moving in the direction of travel (and yes, I am aware of all the history for PRNDL like briefly explained here).

And there are also cars with gears shifts in the column, which just went in all kind of directions... as the previous examples showed, options and standards have been many, so the initial "PRNDL" sequence can also be questioned today, right?

Anyway, I drove a few automatics here and there, but this is my first owned automatic with R-N-D after tens of years with manual, and I am noticing that driving it every day like this still feels "wrong", and I still find myself pushing to R when I want to go forward, and pulling to D when I want to go back... that's all.

PS - I know I am not touching something new here - see for example this thread. Like I said, just venting.

 

[serdar_18fr]

as the previous examples showed, options and standards have been many, so the initial "PRNDL" sequence can also be questioned today, right?

I believe it's a dilemma for manufacturers. They certainly must have questioned that at some point and even if they wanted to give it a reasonable change, I guess they ultimately decided not to break tradition, with the fear of possible backlash from buyers.

 

[KJA]

Positive G force Acceleration maybe which pushes you back inside seat.... hence the direction of D

 

[trew]

Can't see the problem myself. (I typed this while riding my bike)