2013 Ram Owners Can Use a Radio Dial To Choose A Gear
Tim Esterdahl | Apr 19, 2012 | Comments 26
Chrysler has been hard at work on its new Ram 1500 and one of their interesting ideas is a blast from their past, a shifter dial to replace the traditional shifting lever. Yep, just like changing stations, you can change what gear your transmission is in. Weird or cool?
The new 2013 Dodge Ram features a TorqueFlite shifter knob to change gears. An odd idea or will it catch on?
According to Autonews.com, “The pickup has a rotary dial to the right of the steering wheel for the P-R-N-D functions of the automatic transmission. There also are button controls for manually selecting gears 1-8 of “Drive” for those who don’t want gear selection to be done automatically.”
The TorqueFlite name was first used by Chrysler in 1956 when it was added to the Chrysler Imperial sedan. It was a push-button type system with buttons normally located at the driver’s side. The first TorqueFlites featured three forward gears plus reverse. Each gear would have a button like P, R, N, D, First, Second. The idea lasted until 1965 when the column shifter gained favor. The name continued though and was last used in 1993.
The name is still trademarked by Chrysler and its revival concides with many recent changes to the Ram 1500 aimed at improving gas mileage. Chrysler has been working on some new items like including Grille Shutters, Stop-start system, V-6 with 8-speed transmission and a CNG-Bifuel Ram.
However, unlike the TorqueFlite, most of these changes the driver may not notice. The TorqueFlite will definitely standout. Yet, will it be as a “Wow, isn’t that cool, I wish other trucks were like that” or “What the hell is that knob for, how do I shift this thing?” What do you think?
Related Posts:
Filed Under: Auto News
Just a different way of going through the gears. Sorry that don’t impress me. No I don’t want a truck with a radio dial to shift.
Mickey – My favorite part of this feature is that you could accidentally change gears when you’re not paying attention and trying to adjust the volume on the radio, or the air conditioner fan speed, or anything else that’s usually controlled with a dial.
My guess is that this is a “gee-whiz” feature that people won’t really care about, but I could be wrong…I guess we’ll see. Paddles would be cooler, as Anon says.
I agree Jason. It may seem nice till that first bang of the tranny being shifted when you didn’t want it to.
I’m sure the tranny is smart enough that she won’t allow a shift which results in a bang.
Mickey- paddles shifter would be cool….
I would be concerned about kids in the vehicle messin’ around. Heck, if a kid threw something around the vehicle and hit the dash/knob…what happens?
You’d end up with a driver sitting at a light possibly unaware that he’s going to go in reverse when he hits the gas…
this could cause a great deal of tranny confusion.
What is needed is a way of preventing such an event or correction if it does happen. With my stick, engaging the wrong selection is just blocked out by the system.
I think it’s a way for dodge to blame human error on thier faulty transmissions… What happened?you say something broke? Well the warranty is void because you obviously changed gears and not the radio. Sorry. We all know dodge is trying to cover thier butts with this new 8 speed wonder tranny. This is a ridiculous waste of engineering and a costly electronic part that will get dirty or wet and then not work. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Waste of engineering? They are just following what most other manufactures are already doing.
That “waste of engineering” allows Ram trucks to get the best fuel economy in their class, both with the V6 and V8 engines. And 8 speed transmissions are here to stay, along with 9 speeds and more. The CAFE ratings necessitate that “fix”. As far as the shifter goes, I’m sure it’s as easy or easier to bump a lever sticking out than it is to rotate a knob. Since the lever is no longer pulling a cable to mechanically change a gear it makes sense to put some type of space saving device in there.
I have owned my 2013 Ram for 5 weeks now and I hate this rotary knob. I can’t count how many times I rotated to Park when I meant to rotate to Drive and vise versa. Worst of all is when you think you are in Park and take your foot off the brake only to start rolling into that object in front of you. It’s only a matter of time before something or someone gets damaged.
you will never know until you actually get into one and figure out first hand how the shifter dial actually works will you?
What happens if someone actually does turn it to the wrong gear? Is it possible to do? If so, besides loss of torque….how would the driver know how to correct this?
Weird….next thing you know it will be like a touch screen shifter.
Who makes their Transmissions anyway?
Hap,
Usually there is some sort of blocking element to prevent incorrect gear shift.
I’m pretty sure that the input will be ignored…it’s all digital. Still, you’ll have to change the position of the dial before you can use the selector. At least that’s what it looks like.
ZF makes these particular transmissions.
They have a reputation.
I think the radio dial and tranny shift together will be my excuse to the officer when I tell him I was listening to “I Can’t Drive 55″ and the truck did just that.
I think it cool, it new way of looking at making room in car. Purse now go where shift was.
What was wrong with the normal column shift>? Its not in the way, its easy to switch in and out of gears when loading or hooking up trailers. Plus its a good place to rest your hand when your cruising lol
Just don’t rest your hand on the knob, it might turn accidently! Also probably don’t play with any balls in the truck.
Will this also apply to my RAM for removing the shaft which seems to jam into the ‘knob hole’ thus preventing the tranny from engaging in reverse?
It failed once and history will repeat .. face it guys and gals like to grab ” the stick ” and control it:)
Hate the shifter i go go for the ac knob and i get the gear shift lucky i was @ a stop sign and not on a freeway going 60 and accidentally slamming into reverse turning on the ac or volume on radio STUPID DESIGN pit it back on the column where it belongs
Wow! You didn’t lose your transmission did you?? There should be an emergency over ride to stop this from happening.
-Tim