Gated Shifter - Why?

Is'nt the gated, just exposed, as opposed to other car makers who cover them up with leather?

 

The early transmissions didn't have internal gates, and so an external one was used. Later it became tradition.

I'm certain there's more detail, but that's the basics.

 

Technically yes, all cars have "gates", some you can just see.

Plus they look so cool! And make the click, click sound as you shift.

 

Because it looks so cool.

 

You actually have to know how to drive in order to use it smoothly.

 

It also helps if you shave the gate prongs a bit, or replace the Ferrari gate with a pre-shaved Hill Engineering gate. A little vaseline on the stick shift bar and gate also helps.

 

I think that it was a plot to slow down shift times to compensate for really bad Italian gear oil. With decent gear oil and a shaved Ferrari gate, you can shift a Ferrari quite rapidly...Schumacher was once clocked at some mind-numbing small number once in his 355 (like .08 seconds to shift).

As for anything else being used, there was a different (clutchless, but still had the gate) Mondial Valero transmission that preceded the F1 tranny.

 

'Shifter gates' make people follow the 'H' pattern, It is very common on heavy equipment and farm tractors besides cars. I have seen alot of shift gates on 1920's and earlier cars also. I have wished I had a shift gate on VW and air cooled 911's that I let friends drive and grind gears cluess to where they were going with the selector. I could just picture Enzo F. fed up with whinning owners not shifting right so he used a shift gate to force them. Remember there is a lot of Ferrari owners and not too many Ferrari drivers.

 

It was there from the beginning; see pic below of 002C.
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The gate is in reality, decoration. You can remove it and the car will still go into gear. As SSNISTR points out, all cars have "gates", which are just slotted "fingers" attached to shafts that move the syncros between each of the gears inside the gearbox. The gate for the gear lever is simply a visual guide of where the gear lever should go.
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Well, Looks like Enzo did not get the insperation for the shift gate from Ferrari car owners, maybe Alfa drivers?
Shift gate is an old way to make people shift right, very important when linkage is long or vague.
I would not use the term "gate" at the trans, maybe so. On some transmissions if you do not follow the H patern you can select a gear with out removing another, locking up the gear box, more common in old cars.
I think the shift gate is a carrier over from the past, like knock off wheels were used way longer on street Ferrari's even though knock off have been long obsolete on race cars where the idea came from.

 

I am going to have to disagree with a bunch of you guys on this. From my understanding, the gated shifter originated as an easy solution to a precise gear shift. It also makes it much more difficult to miss shifts--something easy to do under the stress of racing. As Ferrari progressed into more modern mid engine machines, it was an excellent way to give the feeling of precision to the vague shifting quality usually inherent to mid-engine cars. Having driven a few cars without it, and almost missed a few rushed shifts, I think it was a godsend. Hell, I wish they had slapped one on the E36 BMW, how many E36's lost their engines to the dreaded third-fourth shift.

With the advent of more precise gearboxes and modern technology, the gated shifter is probably more jewelry then anything, but it still offers a definite engagement--which many moderns cars still sorely lack.

Just my .02

 

Amen.

 

In the P cars it also contained the sequential mechanism that prevented shifts (5-3) that could mechanically over rev the engine.

 

I believe as with most Ferrari innovations it came from racing. 250 GTOs had them but many road Fs didn't during the 50s and 60s.

With the gate its much more difficult to miss a shift go into the wrong gear such as downshifting hitting 1st instead of 3rd and grenading the motor, you can also tell at a glance what gear you are in.

 

It shouldn't, doesn't matter if you see the gate or not, they are still there....

 

The gate also provides reverse lock-out, looks great and I agree eliminates missed shifts.

 

If the car is set-up correctly and you know how to drive it, you can shift quite fast. Takes some practice to be real good in an old Ferrari.

 

But once you nail it, there is nothing more rewarding.

And to contradict something another poster said, the internal transmission "gate" on a mid engine car is a lifetime away from the gear shift. Having the gated shifter gives a far more precise feeling then otherwise possible---at least in the midengine cars I have driven.
If you have any doubt, drive a Boxster and then a 328.


Finally, anyone who doubts the functional usefulness should consider that it appeared on Ferrari's racing cars too...and I sincerely doubt Enzo would have tolerated cosmetic adornments in the cockpit if they resulted in slower times! He may not have given two Sh%ts about us consumer folk, but he cared dearly about his race cars.

 

I had never driven a car that had one before I drove a Ferrari the first time. I do not believe, in my experience, that it has slowed my shifting times at all, particularly if I am driving it hard and going for quick shifts in my street driving. Never tried to track it though.

I am sure there are a LOT of people who would likely say the same thing.


PDG