TIP Rewire Up / Down Shift
02-21-2009, 06:32 PM
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TIP Rewire Up / Down Shift
There is a post on the OT forum regarding the shift positions on a Mazda.
It has forward for Downshift and back for Upshift. A lot of posters thought that this was unnatural, but I felt that it was the proper way, not the way our P-car is set up. I remarked that I had a pro racer instructor at a DE at Watkins Glen try to drive my car using the Tip for shifting, and he was frustrated when trying to shift. His racecar has a sequential gearbox and is set up in what is a natural motion.
I have been meaning to look into reversing the Tip so it was set up like a sequential shifter, and today, I spent a little over an hour rewiring the controls in the console.
It was simple, just removing a series of screws that held the center console in place, removing the gearshift outer lever and the 3 switches and spoiler switch. Then I just had to desolder a wire on each of the 2 microswitchs that control the "+" and "-", reverse the wires and resolder.
Now, I have Forward = Downshift and Back = Upshift.
It feels much better in this configuration!
It has forward for Downshift and back for Upshift. A lot of posters thought that this was unnatural, but I felt that it was the proper way, not the way our P-car is set up. I remarked that I had a pro racer instructor at a DE at Watkins Glen try to drive my car using the Tip for shifting, and he was frustrated when trying to shift. His racecar has a sequential gearbox and is set up in what is a natural motion.
I have been meaning to look into reversing the Tip so it was set up like a sequential shifter, and today, I spent a little over an hour rewiring the controls in the console.
It was simple, just removing a series of screws that held the center console in place, removing the gearshift outer lever and the 3 switches and spoiler switch. Then I just had to desolder a wire on each of the 2 microswitchs that control the "+" and "-", reverse the wires and resolder.
Now, I have Forward = Downshift and Back = Upshift.
It feels much better in this configuration!
02-21-2009, 09:47 PM
#2
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I had the same problem with an audi I used to have, the maunal shift was forward/up back/dn, and I couldn't drive it in manual mode, completely backwards. I had a chance to talk to an audi engineer and asked him about it, the answer was because it would be more intuitive for the typical buyer...but then he smiled and said he changed his on his car. BMW has it right (not to mention the paddle shift is very nice). But you might need to flip the button symbols somehow in case someone else borrows your car...