Should RAM ditch the knob shifter ?

[Ram92131]

The knob is fine for me. My only issue is that i occasionally select P when I wanted to select R, such as when backing into a parking space.

 

[jk101]

The knob is perfectly fine.

 

[agjr85]

+1 for knob. more console space, easy.
Soon we'll just have buttons, if that.

 

[RedRocketZ28]

I don't even think about it anymore and it's become natural. I have been driving my Dad's 2002 Avalanche (helping him sell it) back and forth to work to save miles on my Ram and I can jump back and forth from each without issue. Same goes for hopping in my wife's 2017 Tucson with a console shifter.

The only reason I like a column or console shifter is because I tend to rest my hand on them at times. Outside of that, I couldn't care less how it goes into gear.

 

[silver billet]

+1 for knob. more console space, easy.
Soon we'll just have buttons, if that.

I truly hope not. And I hope RAM doesn't move to all touch either, that was one reason I stayed away from the 12 inch screen, I want large, simple knobs to turn for my volume and HVAC etc, touch screen in a moving truck is not a great experience at all (in my opinion of course).

 

[silver billet]

I also think RAM could have designed a better rotary shifter knob. Some areas for improvement; make the clicks "harder", right now the little bumps and clicks are way too soft for something as important as a shifter. Second thing they could do is put more space between the bumps for Park and Reverse; make it double the width of the spaces between Reverse, Neutral, and Drive.

So a little more tactile feedback would be a large improvement over the current knob. The current one doesn't feel cheap by any means, it just doesn't have the feedback that I would expect in something so important as changing gears, and is hardly any different than changing the fan speed.

 

[Gman]

I truly hope not. And I hope RAM doesn't move to all touch either, that was one reason I stayed away from the 12 inch screen, I want large, simple knobs to turn for my volume and HVAC etc, touch screen in a moving truck is not a great experience at all (in my opinion of course).

There are physical controls for every feature you just mentioned on a 12" equipped infotainment system. It's not a knob, but there are physical buttons for temp warmer/cooler, fan controls, recirculation, front and rear defrost, and auto. You can go into touch if you want to tweak some finer points, but everything you likely need is right there in physical controls.

 

[silver billet]

There are physical controls for every feature you just mentioned on a 12" equipped infotainment system. It's not a knob, but there are physical buttons for temp warmer/cooler, fan controls, recirculation, front and rear defrost, and auto. You can go into touch if you want to tweak some finer points, but everything you likely need is right there in physical controls.

That's good to know; never liked trying to interact with a touchscreen in a bouncing/moving truck! Knobs/buttons are easier to glance at and then adjust while your eyes are on the road, and the physical knob means your finger has something to hold and isn't bouncing around and moving in a different direction than the touch screen button.

 

[Quiet]

Yeah the only thing you NEED the touchscreen for is the vented seats.

Regarding the knob, I thought it was goofy the first time I saw it however many years ago, but after spending the last two weeks with my truck and seeing just how much center console space it's freed up (versus my old Explorer), I'm sold on it.

 

[Gman]

I swap virtual buttons on the bottom of the screen for heated seats in winter and ventilated seats in summer. The system is amazingly flexible.

 

[Ram92131]

Yeah the only thing you NEED the touchscreen for is the vented seats.

Regarding the knob, I thought it was goofy the first time I saw it however many years ago, but after spending the last two weeks with my truck and seeing just how much center console space it's freed up (versus my old Explorer), I'm sold on it.

Yes, and I use it often for the heated and cooled seats. That’s the only drawback to the 12 inch screen, and a fairly minor one at that.

 

[Ram92131]

I swap virtual buttons on the bottom of the screen for heated seats in winter and ventilated seats in summer. The system is amazingly flexible.

I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you could only put the “controls” menu there.

 

[riccnick]

I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you could only put the “controls” menu there.

You can put any of the Uconnect apps there, and the seat controls are their own apps.

 

[MattyHowls]

+1 for knob. more console space, easy.
Soon we'll just have buttons, if that.

What do you do with the expansive space provided by a lack of a shifter?

 

[TheMadDutchDude]

I much prefer the knob shifter. It leaves so much more open space and doesn't intrude on the overall style of the truck. You'd be going backwards in my opinion.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

What do you do with the expansive space provided by a lack of a shifter?

Look at the interior pictures on the Ram website.

 

[NHRoadking]

No, it takes up less space.

 

[Rob5589]

My only dislike with the knob is the weak detents. They really need to be heavier.

 

[JHRebel]

Love it, it saves space and works flawlessly...it’d be a backwards progression to go to a lever imho.

 

[SpeedyV]

My only dislike with the knob is the weak detents. They really need to be heavier.

Much better than the 4th-gen, though.