This is a GTS QV. It’s kind of clever idea and maybe useful for long distance driving but it’s not original. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you’re on the Highway for a long period of time at a constant speed, there’s really no need to shift.
If you’re putting on the miles and the rest of your interior is changed I say go for it. Figure out how to make it reversible....
A bit of humor. I am familiar with highway driving and not shifting. More humor...If you are on the highway for hours and not shifting, why are you driving a 5 speed, sports car? Gearshift knob in fifth gear, perfect place for my hand, but after a while I succumb to the boredom and downshift to fourth, watch the revs climb, feel the acceleration and listen to the roar of the four, dual throat Webers singing their song. Then back to fifth with my hand on the gearshift and it gets boring again.
Ahhh, NO! That's the WORST place for your hand! It's commonly said that the pressure of a hand resting on a gear knob moves the shift linkage ever so slightly, which can cause preload on selector forks etc and premature wear of the forks and possibly other transmission internals. Some say this is a myth, and perhaps in cable-operated FWD transmissions it might be, but for direct linkages that are sensitive to fine adjustments, like the 308, I would definitely keep my hand off the shift knob except when actually shifting. https://www.carthrottle.com/post/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-rest-your-hand-on-the-gearstick-when-driving/
I have read this and in my BMW Z3 I do not do this because it a different linkage. On the 308, I do not believe it is a factor due to the gearshift box design, very long shift rod and the two sump holes that support the rod before it even gets to the transmission. Plus, my hand is more resting on the knob than pulling it back. Realistically, if i'm on the highway for hours, my hand is not on the knob 100% of the time.
You know... I don't hate the idea, Mike. Doesn't look that bad to me. And I'm 100% certain it's more useful than my parking brake lever. I'd even be tempted to mod it for a bit of storage, or cupholders.
It really doesn't look that bad. I think the biggest problem with it is we are just not used to seeing that thing there.
She's that too, although I'm pretty careful about that these days...iced beer in the trunk is the answer... The only reason the GTS does not have an arm rest is the top storage, GTBs have a little hinged lid glovebox there you know. Getting a console from a "B" would give you a factory one.
I bet there is a way to make something like that work as long as it is reversible with no evidence it was ever there. I think if it were stitched along the edges like the console, if someone didn't know better they would think it was original
I bought mine in Birmingham, AL... flew there on a one-way ticket, and drove it back to Florida. Several hours longer than it should have taken, in the rain, with at least 2 hours in stop/go traffic on the interstate because of an accident or some such thing.There was a LOT of shifting from 1st-2nd gear, to say the least. And back to 1st. Was certainly not the best first day in a Ferrari. When I got home from that hell trip, my girlfriend asked, "So... is it everything you hoped?" I answered something along the lines of "Right now, I don't ever want to drive a car again."
