Accidently shifting in reverse instead of first?

[hqduong]

How many people here accidentally shifted in reverse instead of first with teh 6 speed?

I'm always paranoid I would do it one day because I'm very hard handed on the shifter.

[IowaS]

dude, you must be really hard handed...cant see anyone doing this unless you are completely spacing out...

[Frodo]

Actually, I have to admit to having done this once or twice during the first few weeks of owning the car ('01 S). The one time I remember very clearly. I was sittin' at a red light, kind of zoning out since the lights in NE Ohio---many of them, anyway---seem to last like a week and a half. Suddenly I realized the light had changed green without me noticing, so I stomped on the clutch and pushed up and left on the shifter...into reverse. Seems like it would be hard to do, but if you're suddenly in a hurry (like I was), it's really a fairly easy mistake to make.

No collision ensued, but I think I kinda freaked the guy behind me out at least a little as the back-up lights came on and I started to release the clutch.

Haven't done it in the last year and a half, no doubt at least in part because of that incident.

[Darkhamr]

Yeah I see this as being very difficult to do by accident as well.

[Frodo]

BELIEVE ME, if you're new to the car AND someone's gettin' antsy behind you because you kind of zoned out at a red light that's now (and has for several seconds been) green, IT AIN'T ALL THAT HARD TO DO.

And I'm NOT at all heavy-handed when it comes to shifting.

[blinkwatt]

Get the base 997 shifter assembly. You will know what gear your going into without even thinking about it.

[Frodo]

Well, I'll consider your suggestion, but like I said: Only happened once or twice when I first had the car. It's been a non-issue in the last year and a half since then.

[Jaxonalden]

I worry about the same thing happening with my Tiptronic

[mchi5]

I have never done this before, but it's probably because I installed the short shift kit on my 6-speed boxster S. To get it into reverse takes ALOT more force than shifting it into gears 1-6, and I love it. In fact, after the short shift kit, I rarely miss any shifts 1-6, even during spirited driving

[trogdor]

I zoned out once in a drive thru and did it...

[hjkim550]

Hmmm....

My car came with the short shifter. Nice action, short throws, firm but not requiring excessive force to shift. The standard shifter must be different from mine. In order to shift into reverse, you really have to force the shifter to the extreme left and up. It would be very hard to do accidentally, even if you were in a hurry.

If this is a nagging concern, I would look into a short shifter. I did my shopping for a Boxster last year in April and I cannot recall what the standard 6 speed felt like.

[hqduong]

Thanks for all the replies, I never done it myself, just not use to driving a 6 speed with reverse so close to 1st :-)

Just a paranoid guy I am

[Snipped]

Mine did this very easily when I bought it (used). Only way to get first reliably was to shift to second and then up to first. There was essentially no resistance to reverse.

One motor mount later, and there was no way you could make the mistake. Plenty of effort required to get over there to reverse. Night and day.

Posting this because if you do have this problem, you may well have another problem that is causing it--motor mount or shift linkage mucking up the allignment of the shifter cables perhaps.

Now I just have to remember not to throw my wife's five speed into sixth (aka reverse). That would be bad

[pbanders]

Hey, you should own an early 911 or a 914 with a "dogleg" or "Le Mans" shift pattern, where reverse is directly in front of 1st! Makes first-time owners pretty nervous when doing a 1-2 shift at the stoplight grand prix.

[CJ_Boxster]

I zoned out at a light and forgot i had it 3rd gear once.

[nselewa]

I did that today; got my 6 speed 3 days ago; same story, red light goes to green, shift up; and oops; luckily no one was behind me.

i wish the on board computer when tell you what grear you are in or at least when you're in reverse.

[944boy]

I have not missed-shifted into reverse yet. But the first time I drove a Boxster I took off from a stop light in 3rd. I was 16 though....still learning.

[fragdude]

I understand if someone with a standard shifter shifted into reverse because they were zoned out and in a hurry to get going. But I couldn't see this happening with a short shifter...unless you really lay into it. It takes considerable effort to get into reverse with the SS.

It does bring up an interesting point though...why no lock out on reverse? It doesn't bother me, but why not just put it there? The car has cup holders so why not a lock out

[fragdude]

I understand if someone with a standard shifter shifted into reverse because they were zoned out and in a hurry to get going. But I couldn't see this happening with a short shifter...unless you really lay into it. It takes considerable effort to get into reverse with the SS.

It does bring up an interesting point though...why no lock out on reverse? It doesn't bother me, but why not just put it there? The car has cup holders so why not a lock out

[Quickurt]

It's not a big deal when stopped, as at a light, but ALWAYS downshift into second before going into first. This will, obviously, make it a straight push into first gear. I guess auto-xers might do this, but I can't see downshifting into first on any regular basis with the ratios in the six speed. I tried it at the BrumosU school course, one time, but two extra shifts will lose more than you gain by going back into first, unless you're almost completely stopped.