simsgw

This is why trial lawyers can afford new Porsches.

Every year...

Gary

Curvfun

If all this "litigation" noise was a legitimate argument, there would be hundreds, if not thousands of these cases available to view for BMW owners. When BMW decided around 2001 or 02 to reverse their shifters to the direction they use today, MANY owners either reversed their newer cars to the previous method, or reversed older cars to today's newer method. This required nothing more than a simple switch wiring change. Prior to the change, BMW utilized the same direction as today's Porsches. After the change a decade ago, BMW's are now opposite of Porsche and the reason a lot of us want to change our Porsches.

rnl

enough law bashing (by the way I too would like it reversed) but then again, I knew the set up when I bought it.......ok, here's some very recent case law which makes reference to an authoritative tome on law (the Restatement of Torts 3d)

“The malfunction theory of products liability permits the plaintiff to establish a prima facie product liability case on the basis of circumstantial evidence when direct evidence of a defect is unavailable. Most states have adopted some form of the malfunction theory.... Although this theory does not relieve a plaintiff of the burden to prove all elements of a product liability claim ... it does help to establish a prima facie product liability case by permitting the jury to infer the existence of a defect attributable to the manufacturer. According to § 3 of the Restatement (Third) of Torts, Products Liability, in a product liability action, the malfunction theory permits a jury to infer that the harm sustained by the plaintiff was caused by a product defect existing at the time of sale or distribution, without proof of a specific defect, when the incident that harmed the plaintiff ... was of a kind that ordinarily occurs as a result of product defect ... and .... was not, in the particular case, solely the result of causes other than product defect existing at the time of sale or distribution.... This theory is based on the same principles underlying the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, which permits a fact finder to infer negligence from the circumstances of the incident, without resort to direct evidence of a specific wrongful act.... Indeed, when a relatively new product fails to perform its intended function, the fact that the product failed may be said to speak for itself and provide support for an inference that the product was defective.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)

White v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc. 139 Conn.App. 39, 56, 2012 WL


...so i ask you...where's the defect? It's a stick that moves forward and back and there are instructions available on the web, at the dealer and in the manual.

I don't see it...but, then again, you never know...

Tacet-Conundrum

Talking about a Dog-Leg Transmission?

BGB Motorsports

Okay...I'm going in! I will let you guys know what I come up with.

John

Mike in CA

My issue with the buttons was 2-fold. When autoxing, during the kind of quick wheel transitions that don't normally occur on the road or even a road course, I inadvertently activated unwanted upshifts a few times with the base of my thumb. That's never happened since I switched to a paddle wheel. The second issue is consistency. If you drive more than one car with paddles/buttons, it's nice not to have to reprogram your reflexes from car to car. More than once I would pull the right "button" in my Carrera to upshift, as was the case in my S4 Avant with conventional paddles, and get a downshift instead.

I suppose it comes down to personal preference. Actually, it's nice that both options are available.

Curvfun

I actually purchased the TechArt paddle kit and installed it on my multi-function steering wheel. This eliminates the buttons and provides a paddle shift setup exactly like the Sport Design wheel Porsche offers and exactly like my E92 M3.

As we ponder the reversing of the PDK lever, during the TechArt installation there is a minor wiring change required for the kit to perform with paddles. On the positive or right side of the wheel, three wires in the connector were reconfigured to make the backside button into an upshift instead of downshift. The paddles utilize the existing switches with the reworked wiring for the right one. Dummy covers were installed over the buttons on the front side of the wheel.

This may help someone who's trying to figure out the shift lever.

simsgw

Wrong tort. And I was bashing people who commit torts, not the attorneys who specialize in finding amends.

The defect will be inferred in any subsequent harmful incident associated with a car I've modified. Will the plaintiff win that argument? Not necessarily, given my credentials as a design engineer. But the cost of testing the question and the unpredictability of juries in technical matters is what leads to a large liability risk for me if I accept someone's request to redesign a critical system of a car. For those picturing the hot rod trade, let me point out they don't make hidden modifications. Anyone driving or even walking near a custom rod is having its half-*** enginee... I mean, it's custom design traits... advertised and is arguably accepting risk in pursuing a closer relationship.

Gary

meine911

That's funny. I moved from US to UK and drove a stick and reached for the door to shift. Also remember going through roundabouts that seemed clear because no one was approaching from the left.

fester

Perhaps design a jig with handle on top of the shifter that moves the shifter in opposite directions...???

I've gotta tell u...I could never get used to my BMW after 6 years, but get used to Porsche/Audi shifter pattern...I just thought its more intuitive in Porsche/Audi but everyone is different I guess...

Rushman71

Wow, to those worrying about getting sued why the hell did you buy one of these cars in the first place? You are so paranoid how can any of you enjoy these cars? That's why I only lurk here. My car has been modded this way for months done in conjunction with a well known Porsche dealer that runs a substantial racing effort. It works fantastic and to all of you who deny that physics actually exists, you are simply wrong. But if I want to know what type of car condom plastic to cover the front of my car with so it looks good for the next guy, I'll be sure to ask here.

Justin N

Rushman- interesting to see someone has done this- do you have any pics of the process? I am not sure I will flip the direction, but if it's easy and reversible then I might try it.

For those worried about getting sued, suing people etc for shifting the +/- on a tranny - sheesh. This is way overblown. I understand it's an expensive car with a complicated tranny, but more than likely it's just two microswitches that need to be reversed. If you want to get really rediculous, I could say the + means that you have to touch that side of the lever to go up, and vise versa. Legal problems solved..

The PRND functionality doesn't need to change. Once the trim is off (of which the process is actually described in the user manual for emergency releasing the tranny) it should be readily apparent to someone that has experience with this type of thing to see if it's an easy process or not.

Nicoli35

I don't know..we didn't bring a turkey to one charity function this thanksgiving because of the possibility that people would eat the meat many hours later (overnight) and possibly get sick, and sue us.

We brought packaged, preserved foods instead. I suggest umbrella insurance for anyone who doesn't have it

chance

+1. Not digging the sport paddle wheel that came on my 991 v the wheel I had on my 09 c4s.

mtony

We're not the only ones that don't like the direction of the shifter...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZlrqm7cNnU