I still have to pause and think for a sec.

Just about anyone I've let drive her is initially confused.

I can easily foresee some inadvertent bumper bumping in this car.

 

This is a discussion I have almost every day, because a car that I may or may not be a lead engineer on, may or may not have the same layout design as the jaguar, and people who aren't familiar with the vehicle may or may not do exactly the same thing. BMW does the same thing, with the thought that people will get used to it, but it's always going to be a issue. I'm on your side.

The issue really is the location of the park symbol. If it was between R and N, the function might be a little more intuitive. But even then, some people would still find it uncomfortable.

 

I've often thought the same thing... but you can include me in the class of drivers who quickly got used to it... but then, I'm prone to adapting to my environment more easily than most.

Even having become acclimated after 18 months in an F-Type, there are occasions where my mind is elsewhere or I'm just not paying attention and I find myself defaulting to a more intuitive direction on the shifter when needing to be in Reverse.

 

It took some getting used to and I am now conscious of the oddball way the F-Type shifter operates, but I have found that after driving it I sometimes get in my Grand Cherokee and inadvertently move the shifter forward to reverse and get and error message that the car is already in park.

 

Yes! thanks.

I've been pondering this and yeah, its the order of the symbols. P R N D!

 

This is the fourth Car I've had with the same pattern, a BMW, two Range Rover Sports and now the F-Type, I still have to stop and think now and again.

Going OT a bit :Then they made the Convertible Button so you have to push the switch down to make the top go up, and pull it up to make the top go down. I don't know what I'm trying to say here but it would have been more intuitive to pull the switch up to make the top go up and open.

 

Actually, the factory configuration on my '14 is opposite what you said--push the switch down for top down, and pull the switch up for top up, just the way you said you'd like it to be.

In the past most electric convertible top and sunroof switches have been sliders, back for down and forward for up, but this is a different kind of switch.

Most of the people on the forum in the past expressed their view it is counterintuitive. Some have even purchased an aftermarket module (Smart Top) which allowed reversing the switches. To me the way it works OEM in my car, down for down, and up for up makes the most sense.

I'd be interested in hearing if that's been changed for 2016.

 

Why reinvent the wheel? PRND! Then you won't have to do a recall like Dodge/Jeep because people couldn't figure it out. Plus, if you are switching between cars that have different configurations it becomes very quickly very annoying.

My big annoyance with F interface is electronic parking brake switch. First, I could never remember if switch down or up releases it. If I am fiddling the switch, this is likely because I want OTHER state! At least it automatically releases if you are starting to drive and engages if you shut off engine.

Unfortunately, automatic engage is problematic when you are cooling the car in the pits. You can't shut it off or you will risk damaging parking brake.

 

The confusion might be here: "top go up and open" sounds like a different outcome (open) vs "top up" (top up = closed). That or someone left a SmartTop installed in his car...

Agree that it makes sense the way it is. I find it's easier to look at the convertible top controls matching the window switch behavior: push when sunny/warm, pull when raining/cold.

There was no change in switch direction on my 2016. Push to open, pull to close.

 

I associate direction of movement of top with direction of movement with a toggle. If top is moving toward the back of the car to open, then switch should be flicked that way. To bring it back and latch it, the switch should be flicked toward front of the car or down.

Unfortunately, F-type has it backwards. So I have to think about it every time.

 

If it is Impreza, please get a MT with a clutch catch point that is not so awful. I drive one as my winter beater, and it is probably the most punishing manual gearbox outside of Jeep Wrangler that I have driven recently. I just can't lend it to anyone else - they will grind gears.

 

Fortunately, the F-Type has it correct. It's not a toggle/slider/forward/backward switch. It's a push down, pull up switch. Down for top down, and up for top up makes much more sense.

It does make sense the way you describe for switches that actually go forward and backward, which this one does not.

 

If you disagree with me on the matters of taste or preference, then you are categorically wrong! There is only one correct way of doing things - SinF's Way (TM).

 

Haha, all of these comments are great. I don't feel like such a loser now!

 

My EPB doesn't appear to auto engage when parking or shutting off engine (no red PARK indicator in gauge cluster). When previously set, it does auto-release if the accelerator is pressed after selecting D/N/R.

 

Agreed, EPB does not auto engage on my car either, but it does auto-release when putting the car in gear.

On the FCA recall due to people getting confused about whether the car is in PARK or not before getting out of the car, JLR got this one right. If you open the door while the car is in gear, the transmission will very abruptly shift to PARK.

I was startled by this shortly after I took delivery, when I cracked the door open to check my parking alignment and was jolted to a stop.

 

I don't have any issue putting it in reverse, although I do agree it is not the most logical shifter to use. I do sometimes find it has returned to park when I've put it into drive through and a message pops up on the instrument cluster telling me it has gone back into park. I've not yet figured out what I'm doing wrong to cause that - any ideas?

 

Are you sure it's ever come out of park? If your foot is not firmly on the brake until it completes the shift, it will stay in park.

 

As far as I know I would still have my foot on the brake because I usually do my mirror checks after putting into gear before pulling away. I will try and keep that in mind though because it does sound like a logicial cause.

 

It happens to me every so often because I'm removing my foot from the brake at the same time I'm shifting into R or D.