Fun fact.

"not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada) 11/27/2016 at 00:30 • Filed to: None

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You could have a column shifter and a front bench seat in the second gen Avalon.

pjhusa > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 00:36

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‘Murica

Birddog > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 00:37

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I did know that! Whoo!

Some days I wish I stayed at that Toyota store. Weekends mostly. All the food you could eat.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 01:00

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Great for old people and OSTEOPOROSIS.

DeltaDat > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 01:03

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This is a good fun fact! bravo!

RPM esq. > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 04:21

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Take a profoundly boring (but comfortable!) car and add nostalgia for boring but comfortable cars of years past....and make it demonstrably worse in the process.

shop-teacher > RPM esq. 11/27/2016 at 06:34

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A bench seat and column shifter are not worse. They’re just different, and they’re a different that I prefer. The lack of bench seat and a column shifter may very well keep me from buying a deisel Colorado for my next truck.

shop-teacher > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 06:35

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Looks so comfy!!!

I wish the bench seat/column shifter combo would make a comeback.

Tapas > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 07:21

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Bench seating - we got the room for some hanky and some panky!

Pyrochazm > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 09:14

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I figure with an auto that’s the way to go. I never understood the point of console shifters.

Pyrochazm > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 11/27/2016 at 09:15

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I read that in the voice of BROWN.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 12:24

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The most recent car I have driven with a column shifter was an Mercedes E-Series. With automatics, column shifters are the best shifters.

bhtooefr > Pyrochazm 11/27/2016 at 17:39

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Because sportier, basically.

So, for manuals, you had the three-on-the-tree (3-speed column shifter), and the four-on-the-floor (4-speed floor shifter). More gear ratios is sportier, and a manual on the floor is sportier than a manual on the column. (Americans never really adopted 4-speed column shifters, because our engines had a wide enough powerband that that wasn’t necessary for non-sporty cars. DKW, and in turn Saab and IFA, did adopt it, though. And, the Japanese even had some 5-speed column shifters, in things like taxis and vans.)

Then, sportier versions of automatics needed to have a floor shifter to follow that. And, you had things like the Hurst Dual-Gate, which had a second set of gates that basically functioned like a sequential manual gearbox.

And, because a floor shifter became seen as a premium option, if a car didn’t truly need the space for middle-seat passengers, or if middle-seat comfort was unimportant (or impossible), it got a floor shifter to make it seem more appealing.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/27/2016 at 22:10

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I looked at one of those, but the dealer wanted too much for it.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/28/2016 at 15:08

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I think everyone should follow Merc’s lead with auto shifters, putting the selector on the column and providing paddles for manual mode. Frees up a ton of console space, or allows for a bench.

not for canada - australian in disguise > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 11/28/2016 at 15:16

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I like the space saving element, but I don’t like the shifter itself. It’s too, small. I want something big and robust so I can feel like I’m in a seventies action movie.

GM’s fullsize SUVs and trucks have got the right idea.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > not for canada - australian in disguise 11/28/2016 at 15:25

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I think that only works if you can drop it into 1st and lay a fat peel. The “70s action hero” thing loses its impact in a FWD or AWD car.

jimz > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/16/2016 at 20:54

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I have a column shift and bench seat in my 2011MY vehicle.