So I’m sitting in a rental Dodge truck at a race this weekend, enjoying the cool A/C and lack of humidity, while eating a mediocre at best Subway sandwich when I realize that the crap I’m eating pisses me off far less than what I see on the dash. If a Dodge, sorry “RAM”, engineer had been standing there I probably would be writing this from a jail cell. Why did this truck piss me off so much? Especially when I should care at all since I’m a Chevrolet Truck guy? I’ll tell you why it pisses me off, because it’s a sign of how pussified we are becoming even with TRUCKS!
If seeing the picture above doesn’t key you in on why I want to rip the steering wheel off this thing, then here is what is wrong. Do you see the shifter on the column? No, you don’t. And since you also don’t see a really long stick coming up out of the floor in the middle, it means that there is no manual transmission in this thing either. Instead, a knob…yes, a KNOB, is on the dash to choose gears. WTF? Even Dodge’s minivans at least have shifter in the dash. Not a knob. Do you have to turn in your man card to own one of these things now? WOW
If you are reading this thinking “Chad…dude….they started that in 2013!”, that’s a fair statement. But, it shows you that I haven’t been in a new RAM in a while. What does make me laugh about this rotary dial shift thingy, is the fact that several people tried to defend it when it came out, mostly by comparing it to the pushbutton system Mopar had in the early ’60’s. To those that thought this was a fair comparison, I hereby revoke your car guy card, and ask that you please save up some money to buy a clue. Seriously? We all know you could push the button clean and simple to manually shift the 904 and 727 quickly which is why several race suppliers sold the units with their manual valve body conversions. How someone would lean forward and use a rotary knob to do that same thing, I cannot fathom. This comparison is a bad one.
I even found where RAM says that the knob works really well with gloves. I rarely wear gloves. But I know that some people do to work on dirty things, or to keep their hands warm. Say you are a construction guy and you jump in the truck and grab the knob with dirty or muddy gloves, won’t it be fun trying to dig that grime out of the nooks and crannies around the knob? Jump in a truck with a column shifter wearing those same gloves and you only dirty up the shift lever. Easy peasy to wipe off.
And before one of you steps up to remind me that a lot of column shift vehicles are just a stick attached to an electronic selector, I know. But it is what is supposed to be in a truck. Just like manual levers to shift from 2wd to 4wd. Which by the way this sucker doesn’t have either. I know, I know, hardly anyone gives you sticks to shift a transfer case anymore. But just because they don’t doesn’t make it right.
This here rotary knob shifter thing is just wrong. Even the hipster camera guy that was driving it as a rental agreed!
RAM, what the hell were you thinking? If someone from Dodge wants me to drive one of these for a week to try and convince me I’m wrong, I’ll take a stab at liking it and try to test it as many ways as possible. If I’m wrong, I’ll gladly admit it.
As a person that manually shifts his automatic, you know it keep it from hunting gears uphill and engine braking downhill, how the heck are you supposed to do that with this thing?
Apparently you can do that with the buttons on the steering wheel, but if it doesn’t have a “Manual” mode, then I’m not sure how you force it to do what you want. But clearly you are a real man so you wouldn’t buy this truck.
That gear select knob looks like the heater control knobs too! What a joke!!
Another step towards disposable cars.
As many times as i’ve had to push old cars with dead or missing batteries how would you move that truck if you can’t get it out of park? I am working on a 1966 F100 right now fixing the column shifter for it’s automatic. Doubt i’ll be fixing the rotary dial on that Dodge or it ever becoming 49 years old.
Good point.
1. How is this different than the push button automatics of the 50’s
2. An override is provided to get the transmission out of park if needed.
3. Did you rant about the LS “fly by wire” throttle system? (don’t know just sayn’)
4. You don’t need a manual lever for an electrically controlled trans anyway
5. Cars have always been disposable,and biodegradable (mostly), and recyclable. If they weren’t we wouldn’t have demolition derbies and all those car wrecks in movies.
Guy gets all worked up over a knob. Sounds like he’s a real knob.
An accident waiting to happen ?? What happens if you need to back up in an emergency ?