Explain why the gated shifter?

There's not much to it. It takes a little getting used to but it's not that big of a deal. I don't know why you would think there's a guaranteed missed shift, though. If you don't miss shifts with a conventional shifter why would you miss shifts with a gated one?

The gated shifter is such a great part of owning a Ferrari, though. It's one fo the parts of the car with which you always interact and one that always sets the car apart from everything else on the road.

 

The gated shifter worried me until I actually drove a Ferrari. It really isn't all that different than what happens underneath the leather boot of non-gated shifters. Ask any Chevy LS1 driver about missing shifts and you will see it isn't a matter of gated/non-gated but more a matter of the geometry of the shift path.

Plus, the gate makes a neat mechanical snick-snick sound as you shift. Drive one and you will understand.

 

aint's it a Beaut' ?

 

It's a good question. I liked the look & feel of gated shift, but never thought why. I saw some other cars have a gated shift now, but never wondered why.

As others said in their posts, missing gear change shouldn't be the reason.

Yoshi

 

the gated shifter was originally designed to delay the gear shift by a fraction of a second because the old transmissions were not really up for speed-shifting all day long or during a race. it then became part of the cache of ferraris and was kept for that reason.

they are not difficult to get used to, and i frankly like the click-clack and have now gotten so used to a gate that when i am not in a gated car, i get paranoid about not being in the right gear etc. so given a choice i'll take the gate (and since that pretty much guarantees that i'd be in a ferrari or lambo thats pretty good).

 

Every now and again, I see a gate shift plate for sale that has been slightly modded for smoother/faster shifting.

Has anyone used one?

 

I love gated shifters alot better then the leather boot, Looks cleaner and you can tell its italian.

 

When i first got my Saturn, i desperately searched for a gate for my car, but to no avail... i wanted it so i could practice...

Turns out i didn't need it, anyway... First time i drove a Ferrari (Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet), shifting was a breeze... A Malibu breeze...

 

You can also tell what gear you're in by feeling the gate and on banked race courses such as Daytona it helped keep the lever in the gear you wanted. The gated shifter in the P4 is sequential as well you can't go from 5th to 3rd without going through 4th. This prevents accidental over speeding on downshifting. The Zf GT 40 boxes were also like this although many removed this feature. The T44 in the MK-IV is gated but not sequential. The Zf isn't gated but many race cars were.

 

James,
That's pretty damn cool. How is the shifter on the P4 configured? I can't picture a sequential gated shifter. Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

I assume that it's entirely because of the following:


wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-click-click-wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

There is no cooler sounding shift sequence on the planet.

 

Hmmm shouldn't that be click-clack , actually seriously, have a look in any historic race car, most had gated shifters.

My guess is that in the early days the designers thought that they needed it to ensure the selection of the appropriate shifter rod, and thus the shifter mechanisim was simplier.

Then gearboxes advanced or this was proved redundant but Ferrari continued ...

Ferrari were definitely NOT the first to use gated shifters, I think you could turn the clock back a good 30 years for the first.

Villeneuve (the real one) used to get real pissed at Ferrari for their gated shifter in his 312T4, as it slowed his changes down ...

While Jims comments would be relevant and there is nothing like confirming you are in the gear you thought you were in, they are now asthetically pleasing things that have no function ... other than that click-clack, which is good enough for me

Pete

 

What he said. I love it.

 

It looks like a regular gated 5 speed. The mechanism is inside the shifter.
I'll shoot a photo. Remember the box is not sequential the shifter is.
Pete
At 3am. in the rain I bet I'm not the only one who didn't want to look away to make sure I was in the gear I thought I was in.
Best

 

Not all Ferraris had gated shifters; essentially only those with transaxles.

None of the 2+2s up to 412i had gated shifters.

 

Never having driven a manual car before, it seems to be like a gated shifter would actaully be easier to use, because it would be easier to tell what gear you are in, and easier to not miss a shift since you can see where you are going....

 

Anyone know of a sound file that captures this well (e.g., mic mounted near the gated shifter)?

 

Thanks, James. I am looking forward to seeing a pic. I can sort of envision a mechanism on the shifter itself, preventing double changes.

 

This is the sound I make up pending the purchase of my first F-car in my Mercedes (and any other car I happen to be in at the time). It sometimes keeps me awake at night. What does that say about hertiage? Definitely a part to the nostalgia of Ferrari.

 

Here I always thought it went:

wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-snick-snick-wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-clang-clong-wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......... if you ask me

 

Ferrari nerds....

 

hey did my icon work