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A gear stick (rarely spelled ''gearstick''), gear lever (both UK English), gearshift or shifter (both
U.S. English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...
), more formally known as a transmission lever, is a
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typica ...
lever attached to the
transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission ** ...
of an automobile. The term ''gear stick'' mostly refers to the shift lever of a
manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
, while in an
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving co ...
, a similar lever is known as a gear selector. A gear stick will normally be used to change gear whilst depressing the
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
pedal with the left foot to disengage the
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
from the
drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...
and
wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...
s. Automatic transmission vehicles, including hydraulic (torque converter) automatic transmissions, automated manual and older
semi-automatic transmission A semi-automatic transmission is a "theoretical" multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input would be required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and t ...
s (specifically clutchless manuals), like '' VW Autostick'', and those with continuously variable transmissions, do not require a physical clutch pedal.


Alternative positions

Gear sticks are most commonly found between the front seats of the vehicle, either on the center console (sometimes even quite far up on the
dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the driv ...
), the transmission tunnel (erroneously called a console shifter when the floor shifter mechanism is bolted to the transmission tunnel with the center console to cover up the shifter assembly when used with a rear or front-wheel drive vehicle), or directly on the floor. Some vehicles have a column shift where the lever is mounted on the
steering column The automotive steering column is a device intended primarily for connecting the steering wheel to the steering mechanism. Secondary functions A steering column may also perform the following secondary functions: *energy dissipation management ...
— in vehicles with a manual four-speed gearbox such as 1950s Mercedes-Benz cars and all two-stroke
Trabant Trabant () is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. In total, four different models were made, the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant 601, and the ...
s, this is actually a manual gear lever connected to the gearbox with a linkage. In automatic transmission cars, the lever functions more like a gear selector, and, in modern cars, does not necessarily need to have a shifting linkage due to its shift-by-wire principle. It has the added benefit of allowing for a full width bench-type front seat (though some models with bucket seating as an option include it). It has since fallen out of favor, although it can still be found widely on North American-market
pick-up truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...
s, vans, emergency vehicles (both law enforcement and EMS - the column shifter is retained where a floor shifter is unfeasible due to mounting the mobile data terminal and 2-way radio), and "full-size" US sedans such as the
Ford Crown Victoria The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Fo ...
. A
dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the driv ...
mounted shift was common on certain French models such as the Citroën 2CV and
Renault 4 The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. Although the Renault 4 was marketed as a short station wagon, its minimal rear overhan ...
. Both the Bentley Mark VI and the
Riley Pathfinder The Riley Pathfinder is an automobile which was produced by Riley Motors Limited in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 1957. It was first presented at the London Motor Show in October 1953 and replaced the RMF as Riley's top-line model. Desi ...
had their gear lever to the right of the
right-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred t ...
driver's seat, alongside the driver's door, where it was not unknown for British cars to also have their handbrake. (
Left-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred t ...
models received a column shift.) In some modern
sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
s, the gear lever has been replaced entirely by "paddles", which are a pair of levers, usually operating electrical switches (rather than a mechanical connection to the gearbox), mounted on either side of the steering column, where one increments the gears up, and the other down. Formula 1 cars used to hide the gear stick behind the steering wheel within the nose bodywork before the modern practice of mounting the "paddles" on the (removable) steering wheel itself.


Gear knob and switches

A knob, variously called gear knob, shift knob, gear shift knob or stick shift knob, forms the handle for the gear stick. Typically the gear knob includes a diagram of the ''shift pattern'' of the gear selection system, i.e. the positions to which the gear stick should be moved when selecting a gear. In some older manual transmission vehicles, the knob may incorporate a switch to engage an
overdrive Overdrive may refer to: Organizations * OverDrive, Inc., a digital distributor of entertainment media ** OverDrive Media Console, a media player developed by OverDrive, Inc. * Overdrive PC, a subsidiary of Velocity Micro Technology * Overdrive ...
; in some automatic transmission vehicles it may incorporate a switch to engage a special mode such as a sports mode or to disengage overdrive. Both of the above-mentioned switches may also be found on the console or on steering column stalks instead. Manual shifters on the steering column, if having only three forward speeds, are typically called a three on the tree. The lowest of these gears, if set at a much lower ratio than a typical 1st-gear ratio, is often called a granny gear. Starting the car in gear with the clutch engaged causes it to lurch forwards or backward since the starter motor by itself produces sufficient torque to move the whole vehicle; this can be highly dangerous, especially if the parking brake is not firmly applied and can be injurious to the starter and drivetrain. Therefore, novice drivers are taught to rock the knob of a manual gearbox from side to side before starting the engine to confirm that the gearbox is in neutral. For the same reason, modern cars require the clutch pedal to be depressed before the starter will engage (though some modern vehicles have a button that disables the clutch start requirement if held down when starting, for rare situations when starting the car in gear is necessary). The latter practice is also useful in extremely cold conditions or with a weak battery, as it avoids the starter motor also having to turn over a gearbox full of cold and highly viscous oil. Many automatic transmission vehicles have extra controls on the gear stick, or very close by, which modify the choices made by the transmission system depending on engine and road speed, e.g. "sports" or "economy" modes which will broadly speaking allow, respectively, for higher and lower revolutions per minute, before shifting up. Some specialist vehicles have controls for other functions on the gear stick. The
Land Rover Freelander The Land Rover Freelander is a compact luxury crossover SUV that was manufactured and marketed by Land Rover from 1997 to 2015. The second generation was sold from 2007 to 2015 in North America and the Middle East as the LR2 and in Europe as the ...
introduced a button for that company's Hill Descent Control system feature, which uses the brakes to simulate the function of a low-ratio gearbox in steep descents.


Secondary gear levers

In some traditional
four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...
vehicles there can be a second gear lever which engages a low-ratio gearbox, used on tough
terrain Terrain or relief (also topography, topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The ...
. Further, a similar-looking lever called a
transfer case A transfer case is a part of the drivetrain of four-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, and other multiple powered axle vehicles. The transfer case transfers power from the transmission to the front and rear axles by means of drive shafts. It also sync ...
switches between two- and four-wheel drive, or engage differential locks; these are not "gear levers," however.


Shift pattern

The shift pattern refers to the layout of the gears. In a typical manual transmission car, first gear is located to the left, and forwards. In many trucks and some sports cars it is instead in a "dog leg" position, to the left and rearwards. There is usually a spring-loading to return the stick to the central position. Reverse gear is commonly positioned in the best choice of location to avoid accidental engagement.


Manual transmission

A typical manual transmission vehicle, with (for example) five forward gears, will thus have seven possible positions: the five forwards gears, reverse gear, and a central "neutral" position. Some vehicles have a special button to prevent accidental engagement of reverse. Others require that the lever be lifted (e.g.
Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands ...
), pressed down (e.g.
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post- ...
), or moved with extra force (e.g. BMW) to engage reverse. In transmissions with reverse directly below fifth, there may be a mechanical lock-out preventing selection of reverse other than from neutral, thus preventing a driver used to a six-speed transmission from engaging reverse while trying to select sixth. Some transmissions also have an electronically controlled error-prevention safeguard that blocks the first and sometimes the second gear from being selected if the vehicle is moving fast enough to exceed the engine's maximum RPM.


Automatic transmission

Automatic transmissions traditionally have had a straight pattern, adopting the classic ''P-R-N-D gate'', with "P" being to the front, topmost position (or "P" all the way to the left on a column-mounted shifter); the corresponding shift positions being: *P = Park - transmission is mechanically locked in position for parking, via a
parking pawl A parking pawl is a device fitted to a motor vehicle's automatic transmission that locks up the transmission when the transmission shift lever selector is placed in the Park position. "Park" is the first position of the lever (topmost on a column ...
. *R = Reverse - reverse motion *N = Neutral - no drive applied to the wheels with the engine running *D = Drive - forward motion with fully-automatic operation in all gears. All automatics use some sort of manual override of the transmission, with numbered positions in descending order marked below (or to the right) of "drive", which will prevent the transmission shifting to a gear higher than the selected, but maintaining automatic operation between all lesser numbered gears. Such gates will appear as ''P-R-N-D-3-2-1'' for example. On some vehicles (mainly Japanese makes such as
Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
,
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
and
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...
) these numbered positions are replaced by a single "L" (for "low") position, which will hold the transmission in whatever lower ratio is required for climbing steep grades or for heavy acceleration: ''P-R-N-D-L''. More modern automatic transmissions have employed a "J-gate" (pioneered by
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
) where some gears are on the left-hand "arm", some on the right, and there is a sideways movement at the rear of the pattern. The second-generation
Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to ...
from 1995 used an "H-gate", with two parallel PRND gates on the opposing legs of the "H" for both high range and low range ratios, for normal and off-road driving, respectively. Some modern gearboxes, namely
manumatic The modern usage of the automotive term manumatic denotes an automatic transmission that allows the driver to select a specific gear, typically using paddle-shifters, steering wheel-mounted push-buttons, or "+" and "-" controls on the gear select ...
s, such as
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
''Sportronic'', and
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...
''Tiptronic'', has a traditional automatic shift pattern to the right, with a special position to the left in which movement of the stick forwards and backward increments the gears up and down respectively. This can be useful in snow or dirt conditions, where it may be necessary to start from second gear.


Electronic gear shifts

With the advent of
drive by wire Drive by wire, DbW, by-wire, steer-by-wire, fly-by-wire or x-by-wire technology in the automotive or aviation industry is the use of electrical or electro-mechanical systems for performing vehicle functions traditionally achieved by mechanical link ...
(or more properly, shift by wire) computer-controlled transmissions (particularly in the case of automatics), the gear stick no longer needs to be mechanically connected to the transmission unit itself, and can, therefore, be made much smaller since there is no need to package either remote mechanisms or complex interlocking arrangements. This has allowed designers to replace the gear stick completely with either button, rotary knobs (current
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
,
Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers i ...
and
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
models are good examples of this), or a miniaturized gear stick on the center console. This can be seen in some
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...
s, BMWs and the
Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Ed ...
. Japanese finger shift is another example. It is a revival of an approach used in the 1950s by the Chrysler push-button PowerFlite and the Packard Touchbutton Ultramatic.


Special knobs

A ''shift knob'' also known as a ''gear knob'', ''gear shift knob'' and ''stick shift knob'' is the physical interface between the gear stick and the driver's hand. Made of many materials from simple plastics through to
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platin ...
, it comes in many shapes sizes and weights.
OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
shift knobs are generally spherical in shape, often resembling a chess pawn when attached to the gear stick. The shift knob's principal function is the ergonomical interface between driver and the manu. The gear stick, as the name implies, is often just a
machined Machining is a process in which a material (often metal) is cut to a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes ...
or cast
aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
or
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...
rod with or without threading the shift knob is fitted on its end. In recent years, manufacturers have increased the variety of shifts knobs available to the consumer from inexpensive plastics to diamond-studded white gold.Yamamoto, Mike. (2007-03-06
The $150,000 shift knob
. News.cnet.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-13.
File:Ed Roth 'bloodshot eyeball'.jpg, 'Big Daddy'
Ed Roth Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in S ...
'bloodshot eyeball' shift knob, a 1960s craze File:Skull_shift_knob.jpg, Stylized shift knobs can be found on many types of vehicles. This aluminum, hand made, skull shift knob is mounted on a vintage Harley Davidson Knucklehead's "jockey shifter".


Weighted shift knobs

A ''weighted shift knob'' is a performance-driven aftermarket modification which entirely replaces the OEM shift knob and sits atop the aftermarket short shifter or OEM manual shift stick. Initially designed to be used in tandem with a short shifter, it is increasingly being purchased for stock stick shifts. The weight generally varies between 400 and 600
gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...
s or more, depending on the material used. The principle of the weighted shift knob is to make the stick shifter top-heavy, thus increasing the throw momentum in order to decrease the time between shifts. Weighted gear knobs are offered for sale by a variety of North American-based manufacturers in many shapes and finishes, though they are significantly more expensive than the commonly available aftermarket shift knob.


References

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