I’m here to make a bold statement. Not the boldest I’ve ever made, but it’s up there. I’m here to sing the praises of the button shifter. It’s languished in obscurity for far too long. It’s high time that it became the de facto standard above all others.
“You’re mad!” they all shout. “Huge girthy shifters should sprout from the console!” insists the floor shifter brigade. “Bring back column shifts!” say the old heads in the back. Meanwhile, the manual enthusiasts have left the room. This is a discussion for automatic transmissions only, after all.
In any case, I think you’re all wrong. I think the button reigns supreme, and I’ll explain why.
Clean & Compact
Here’s the thing: Button shifters aren’t new. In fact, Chrysler was installing them all the time back in the 1950s for its Powerflite automatic transmissions. It’s commonly believed that government regulations enforced a move away from pushbuttons, but the reality is more complex. In any case, from the mid-1960s onwards, column shifts and floor shifters would become the norm.
I got my first taste of a button shifter much, much later—in 2021, in fact, when I climbed aboard a glorious Hyundai Staria. A modern marvel, its design wasn’t held back by tangled ties to the past. It was a new van for a new era, and it didn’t have some bulky, chunky shifter sticking out of the dash. It had four rectangular buttons which did all the work.
I immediately thought this was rad. Sure, the Staria didn’t have a front bench seat. There wasn’t a middle passenger who scored big in the legroom stakes. But it decluttered the cabin, and it made shifting easy. You’d hit “R” when you start your drive, pull out, hit “D,” and away you go.
There were no clumsy detent gates to slot an awkward shifter around. No pointless mechanical linkages for a transmission that was electronically controlled anyway. Just four simple buttons did the job. I certainly liked it better than the clunky automatic stick in the 2007 Yaris I’d been driving at the time.
Neither were there any “2” or “L” settings that I have never found any use for in my entire life. Yes, I’m aware that these are of more value to some people in snowy areas or something, but personally? I’ve driven one automatic car in my entire life that I’ve ever shifted below “D”. Besides, the Staria had paddles or something to do this if necessary anyway. Pointless in their own way, along with the Sport mode, but they were there.
I do understand that some people like the old ways. I can see the value in the chunky, physical feel of a classical T-bar auto, for example. But many automakers have gotten so far away from that anyway.
BMW is fitting weird little shifter nubbins in its center consoles. Meanwhile, Tesla abandoned shifters entirely, demanding you change drive settings by touchscreen! Neither of these rock, in my opinion.
I think the physical button shifter lands nicely in the middle. It’s clean, modern, and takes up a minimum of space. But it also delivers enough tactile feedback to give the user some confidence in its operation. That’s also key from a safety perspective. You don’t want to be mis-shifting in your driveway at home, lest you accidentally drive straight through your own garage door.
The truth is that there isn’t a whole lot of reason for traditional floor shifters to exist, as far as automatics are concerned. Virtually every auto on the market now is electronically shifted, to say nothing of EVs and cars with CVTs. Of course, this should be obvious anyway given that we had pushbutton shifters in the 1950s as well.
I have a secret extra reason for liking button shifters, too. I feel like more than most people, I find myself climbing over the center console to exit via the passenger door. Why, I did it just this week when my press car was too big for a multistory car parking space. I had to clamber over a big shifter in the center console, avoid impaling myself, and sneak out the passenger door. I don’t have to tell you twice—that’s much easier in a button-shifter car!
I know this viewpoint won’t be popular. People like the positive physical feedback of a “normal” automatic shifter. Personally, I don’t think that’s so important for something you do maybe two or three times on any given drive. I find the buttons are more than good enough, and they clean up the cabin nicely. That’s my design taste, but feel free to tell me why I’m wrong.
Image credits: Plymouth, Hyundai, Lewin Day, Chrysler, Ford
Hasn’t the standard PRNDL structure always been a matter of safety?
Now I’ve only ever owned manual transmissions and will keep doing do until I’m physically unable -or somehow get my hands on either a Giulia QV or an RS6 Avant-, but from what I know of autotragic, Neutral is always easily accessible, like just a nod on the stick without pushing the button you would normally push to shift from P to D or R for example.
Popping it in neutral can be useful in emergency situations and I believe it should remain the standard we’ve all known for generations in order to reduce confusion and generally decrease reaction time in an accident-avoiding scenario.
But me having an opinion on automatic transmissions is like comparing Ogdenville’s and North Haverbrook’s monorails; I’ll hopefully never have to use either of them.
I mean, the electronically controlled stuff prevents adverse events from occurring it in case you were to, say, push P or R while at highway speeds. It simply refuses.
Yes PRNDL was standardized for safety reasons. Prior to that standardization you had some other variations, GM cars, for example that were PNDLR.
Sorry, no. The simplest auto shifter I ever used was the one in my Mercedes Metris. Simple up/down stalk with a pushbutton for park. Logical. Simple. Effective. And no prostate checks when climbing over the center.
No it is not logical to have a separate button to push for park and a lever for D N or R.
Hell no
Yikes!
I am a manual guy and find myself actually using the manual mode in autos. I decide when to shift gosh darnit!
I don’t know, I kind of agree with Lewin here. Whenever I am stuck with driving auto for a while, I try to use manual mode as a consolation. But after a minute or so, I find that I am still just as bored. So I simply put it back in D and resign myself to my miserable existence.
I pretty much only use manual mode for engine braking on downhills, and leave everything else to the ECU/TCM.
How so? I drive tons of manuals. But driving autos around urban streets… why would I ever use L?
Look at a new Kenworth /peterbilt/ Volvo/Navistar truck,push button electric shift on the “automatic “versions.
My Parents Dodge Coronet 440 wagon had push button shift with a small lever for the “PARK” position
Look at an old one Allison has had a push button shifter for a long time.
I came here expecting to be mad but honestly I feel like we can just agree as long as it’s incredibly obvious what gear you’ve selected, which is somehow not 100% of gear shifters on the market
fair! that’s key.
I had a 1963 Valiant with pushbutton transmission. It was to the left of the steering wheel on the dash and super easy to use. Whichever button you pushed remained inset. It was fun.
“Meanwhile, the manual enthusiasts have left the room.“
Yup. I’m out.
I’m looking at swapping from a center console to front bench on my ‘19 expedition. Only thing that isn’t direct swap from an f150 is the dial shifter. But the beauty of that is a jumper and a 3d printed bezel and I’ll have it attached to the steering column. I like button and dial shifters.
I want a write-up on this!
Will do! I’m accumulating hardware now
Keep me posted on your build!
I’ll put something together on the discord
It is funny since I’ve seen some people have put a F-150 console shifter in place of the dial on their Mavericks because they didn’t like the dial.
I disagree. My father in law had a Lincoln with the push button shifter and in a moment of confusion hit the “R” button while exiting the freeway. Luckily nothing happened but I don’t trust anything that can cause confusion.
The push button activates an electric motor which moves the linkage to switch the gear. It’s one more expensive part that will break at an inconvenient moment. It’s one of many unnecessary “improvements” that make higher mileage cars worth less, because more stuff is not working and is too pricey to repair for the latest owner of the vehicle.
How hard is it to move a lever? And why would you want to give up downshifting for when it’s useful, such as on a long, steep downgrade?
And all of this is assuming you would want an automatic instead of a real transmission…
You don’t have to give up the lower gear settings. I’d describe my Prius’s gearshift as something in between levers and buttons, and even with its eCVT it still has a “B” (engine braking mode) that I use a decent amount in Pennsylvania.
Plus, I love how smooth the eCVT is in normal driving. Even the smoothest manual drivers I’ve driven with, the natural motion still causes some body movement (head tilting slightly forward, etc.) from the jerk.
It depends on the vehicle, In some there is a motor that only releases the parking pawl. Otherwise it just sends a signal to the computer of which gear you’ve requested.
I am going against push button shifters in ICE and hybrid vehicles. You’re kinda adding on to my argument.
That’s kind of the whole point though? He pushed R and nothing happened, because the car is smart enough to know “hey, we’re traveling forward at high speed, we probably didn’t mean to go into reverse just now”.
Yes. Luckily nothing happened, but it scared the wee out of his passengers, including me. All his other vehicles had the standard style transmission shifter, and he never did anything like that all the way up to his 90’swhen he finally stopped driving. (BTW he took a driving exam, on the road test included, to show his competency at age 89. He passed with flying colors.)
After thinking on the whole push button trans thing, I have decided to adjust my judgement and think that they are ok for EVs. It’s not like they have a real transmission anyways.
Anything stealing space on the console from something else and/or requiring the damn things to be even more massive to accommodate them is dumb. Push buttons, dials, column shifter, small lever on the dash, whatever, are all better than an automatic console shifter. On older cars, I don’t mind it as much since they had reasonable sized consoles and sometimes fun shapes, but there’s absolutely no point on new cars.
As long as I can access all the individual gears (or the made-up gear settings on CVTs) in some way, I’m relatively happy. Was driving a Chrysler Pacific around SoCal back in July and not being able to choose a gear was maddening.
SoCal is where I learned to drive, but I learned on a manual, took my driver’s test on a manual, and it’s just easier to deal with LA traffic in a manual. But if I’m stuck with an automatic, I want to be able to choose a gear and have the transmission stay there.
Back to the Pacifica, the ‘L’ on the Pacifica’s transmission selector dial didn’t cut it, and there was no other means of selection. Paddle shifters are my preferred method; when I had a Flex with the Ecoboost, I did most of the shifts using the paddles and rarely let the transmission shift.
The best option, of course, is a classic three-pedal manual. But I digress.
Curious what your arguments for that are? Seems the only time most people can agree auto is best is in traffic and I tend to agree with them.
Good point: I should have clarified that, because of learning in SoCal and always having a manual, for me driving in Los Angeles traffic (any heavy traffic, really) is easier with a manual.
The biggest argument (again, this may only work inside my worldview) is that it’s more intuitive to just let off the gas and slow down a bit rather than having to go from gas to brake all the time. This can be relatively convincingly copied by an automatic when there’s some form of individual gear selection (PRND4321, paddle shifters, the +M- ‘tiptronic/autostick/manual mode’) available. And, of course, regenerative braking in an electric/hybrid counts.
My Sonata N-Line has a push button DCT…I don’t mind the buttons but the one thing I don’t like is not having a place to rest my right hand.
only way I would like that is if they made it tactile like cassete players, you push a button and the other resets, and if the P is down the other buttons are locked until you step on the brakes first
bonus points if it made the clickety clack noises
i like that idea
You underestimate the Ed “Big Daddy” Roth influence that taught us that the shifter should be massive enough to stick out of the sunroof, requiring gorilla-like arm out the window to operate.
That crazy old man was an extremely kind and supremely excentric person. I met him once when I was about 10 when he cam strolling up to me to return my lost little brother to me at a car show. I had no idea who he was until later in the day after we had regrouped with my dad and we went to his little autograph booth. It was a neat experience for my 10 year old mind.
That’s Great!
I still prefer physically attached shifters regardless, however, for modern transmissions that are not mechanically connected, buttons are far far better. Just got out of a rental Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the shifter was the most obnoxious garbage I’ve ever seen. You must use the button on the back to shift, however there’s no lock or physical stop, so it will flop around shifting nothing. Also the AWFUL park button on the top of the knob works *Sometimes* with no rhyme or reason. You have to actively stare at the shifter to see if it did what you want.
Push buttons at least remove the guess work, look at letter, push letter, drive like that letter says. I prefer a physically attached level like older school autos that you physically select since there is no guess work, no delay, and no question. But if that era is dead, give us push buttons, not this neutral position, gimmicky, unreliable crap we have now.
Also to ramble, Ford’s heinous dial selector drives me nuts, a friends 62k mile 2019 Fusion needed a tow and several hundred dollar repair because the attachment to the motor on the shifter broke. On an older car you can at least force the mechanism in place, but because Ford things, it was locked and stuck in neutral. Yay
I think of it as a trade off between frequency of use and size. Most drives, I touch a shifter to go into drive, then go somewhere, and put it in Park. Why do you need so much valuable center console space for something you use only a handful of times in a day?
I have a CRZ auto and while my shifter looks cool, there’s no reason for it to be the size that it is given that it’s just a PRND
I think I could be okay with buttons if they were in a logical place. Not in the same location, stuck taking up the same amount of space, as a normal console shifter. Not placed in the lower dash beneath the HVAC controls. Not placed in the dash with an integration that makes them impossible to distinguish by feel from the radio controls. So far, I have yet to see a good implementation, though I think the Honda Odyssey would be close if they moved the shifter close to the driver instead of the center of the dash.
Nah
If it’s an EV, buttons are fine. Anything with a transmission needs to have a shifter, simply so that when the vehicle is disabled it can be shifted to neutral.
My parrot like to perch on the t-handle. Buttons just piss him off.
The main thing would be consistency. Buttons are fine! But I’d like them to be consistent car to car.
Not a button person here.
But agreed on the location thing.
IF the buttons are on the dash like the old Chrysler then I may be less opposed, as then you aren’t looking down where there used to be an intuitive handle with specific positions and checking what button you’re pushing.
That’s probably my biggest gripe with the knob and button options, is they put them in the exact same place as the console shifter but with the console shifter you didn’t have to look, grab it, press the button, 1 shift is R, next is N, next is D and that’s the most folks need to know.
Buttons you’re now feeling around to which button you’re pressing, like you have to find P to home your fingers and now you can figure out where R or D is, and god forbid you need to find N real fast like if your pedal gets jammed by your floormat on the highway.
So if they’re on the dash and it’s as quick as glancing at the speedometer to check what you’re pushing, maybe, but I’d still rather a column or console well proportioned lever, not only for ease of use but also as a reminder that hey, this is a multi-ton machine you are engaging with, not an ipad, and by pulling said giant lever, the multi-ton machine is going to move now.
A lot of the button shifters you don’t actually have to look at – the buttons are all different enough that you can tell by touch. Honda is pretty good for this – Drive is the only concave button, reverse has a divot so you pull instead of push.
I’m with you, standardization is key and it takes too long to implement a new standard; I was in a near-miss the other day in a 2023 Bolt because I put my hand on the shifter…and whiffed because it was a damned button. A well-designed and conveniently placed button where I couldn’t find it in a pinch. Should the universe decide to simultaneously switch, I’m on board, but I’d rather clamber over the handle than wreck.
Lewinsky, what about the rotating knob shifters that pop up on Range Rovers? Not quite a button but you could scoot over it
Damn auto correct on my phone butchered your name! Sorry!
It’s his name forever now.
Torchinsky & Lewinsky?
Sounds like an old Borscht belt act! 😉
I had this on a rental Chrysler 300S. I like it better than I think I would like buttons.
But realistically, console-mount shifters work fine for both manual and automatic applications. Why mess with what works?
And to sell cars, don’t you want people to feel comfortable.in them right away? You don’t want a “nice car except for the f@%$ing shifter” comment after the test drive.
One of these guys wrote an article here a little while back to whine about the rotary shifter on a Maverick (I think..). I’ve used them plenty of times in rentals and I like them better than the rod shifters and definitely better than column shifters or touchscreen ‘shifters’. I also don’t mind buttons, they’re fine.
My only strong opinion on shifters is that the spring loaded nubby ones should be killed. They’re annoying, they’re fiddly, they killed an actor once. Scrap them all.
Also GMC had a very annoying pushbutton in the last Terrain I saw since it’s low mounted and the drive button is weirdly far away. But at least it’s not a springy death lever.
I rather liked the spring-loaded nubby shifter in my 2G Prius.
I have a Prius v (3rd gen equivalent) and I’ve quickly grown to appreciate its shifter, but yeah, I think I’d be just as happy with push-button. No need for it to stick out.
IIRC buttons were available in Japan. People on Prius Chat were paying lots of dough to import the JDM pushbutton shifter.
Damn. That looks pretty sick, but it also looks like there wasn’t a similar factory option for the Prius v(/alpha/plus) so I’m stuck with the blue knob.
That’s what she said…(sorry?)
It is also kind of out of the way on the Prius. It sits higher up on the center console than a “regular car” where it is masquerading in the spot that used to have a manual shifter.