I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
Truman
Los Angeles
'86 VDP
I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
I suspect that what they actually deplore is that the J gate makes all
OTHER auto sticks outdated. They also probably deplore their own
inability to drive (it*) properly.
It is the ONLY system to allow sufficient space for the downshift
area, while still giving decent separation for the D-N-R-P section -
quite simply, putting P-R-N-D-3-2 in a single line means they are to
close together for safety.
I agree it is a shame there is no right hand drive version though.
I’ve driven many different systems, and find the Jaguar one superior
to all others, despite the fact that it favours left-hand drive
models.
*Delete as applicable.
Phil Lee, Bordeaux '88 XJ40 Sovereign,
209,000+ Miles, Cambridgeshire, England.On Thu, 18 Apr 2002 01:30:20 -0700, “Truman C. Wang” truman@classicalvoice.orgwrote:
It depends on the writer on to what is printed about the J gate. I’ve seen
some articles deploring it as “archaic”, but I fail to see what is archaic
about the J Gate when the alternate T Bar is as old as the hills.
Yet other writers rave about it. I get a bit disillusioned with the
motoring press when obvious personal preferences are so blatant in articles,
it makes me wonder how much other less than objective comments are in the
article.
Cheers,
Shane
I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
Truman
Los Angeles
'86 VDP
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Fazal Cader wrote:
That’s because most motoring writers are wankers.
Fazal
Fazal:
Is that related to a Wankel (“and the Mazda goes hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”)?
Regards
Lou
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At 04:30 AM 4/18/2002, you wrote:
I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
Yeah…it’s a totally irrelevant gimmick that takes up console space…
I hate the stupid thing in my '91 VDP…
Jeb
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The J pattern refers to having to place the shifter into the bottom of the
J in order to be in automanual mode. Then the shifter is pushed forward to
upshift, back to down shift. Compared to a linear sequential automanual,
this is thought to be difficult. Having only tried one car with an
automanual (Lexus), which had paddles, I can’t say if they are right. I
prefer a manual anyway. IMHO, If it has to be automatic, a plain old put
it in D and go works fine. Whether I have a knob or a T handle makes no
difference.
Dave
79 XJ6L SII USA, Federal, 49 states
Dave
At 07:15 PM 4/18/02 +1000, Shane Jarvis wrote:
It depends on the writer on to what is printed about the J gate. I’ve seen
some articles deploring it as “archaic”, but I fail to see what is archaic
about the J Gate when the alternate T Bar is as old as the hills.Yet other writers rave about it. I get a bit disillusioned with the
motoring press when obvious personal preferences are so blatant in articles,
it makes me wonder how much other less than objective comments are in the
article.Cheers,
Shane
I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?Truman
Los Angeles
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Yep! they tend to go in eccentric circles. 
Lou Danzico wrote:
Fazal Cader wrote:
That’s because most motoring writers are wankers.
Fazal
Fazal:
Is that related to a Wankel (“and the Mazda goes hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”)?
Regards
Lou
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Truman C. Wang wrote:
I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate…
Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
J-gate has been around for a long time, Truman, and they must say
something bad about Jaguars? Half of them never use it. Half of the rest
hanker for a manual to show off, and the rest may be be urging the
introduction of the six speed wheel paddle-shift…?
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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I’ve read many automotive writers who deplore the outdated J-Gate… Not
sure what’s so bad about it. Would anyone care to explain?
Well, first, your 86 XJ6 doesn’t have it, so you don’t really have to
worry about it.
Second, the J-gate shift pattern was briefly interesting when it was
introduced, but was rapidly outdated by the
Tiptronic/Selectronic/Autostick type of “slapshift” automatic pattern - a
sequentially shifted automatic, where the lever is moved to the “D”
position, then moved to one side or the other about an inch or so, where
it goes into a second gate. Moving the lever up and down in this gate
causes the transmission to shift (hopefully).
The J-gate requires the user to go all the way down to the bottom of the
first column, then over to the second column (in early cars with this
system, the throw from the first column to the second column is quite
long) and then up to select a gear. So, P R N D, over, then 3 2 1 (or
whatever you have) going up. Note that you can’t shift sequentally, and
if you wish to go from first/low to drive, you have to shift all the way
down in the second column, then over.
The problems with the J-gate: The J pattern takes up a LOT of space on
the console - a sequential shifter takes up only a little more room than
a single-column shifter. It’s counter-intuitive - when you’re in the left
column, to shift UP, you have to pull DOWN. You can’t select the gears
sequentially. The gears are not spaced evenly - it’s a lot longer from 1
to 2 than it is from 2 to 3. Using the J-gate is slow, painfully so. And
it’s just plain old cumbersome. Jaguar would be much better served by
installing either a standard pattern gate or going to a sequential shift.
They can do that easily, too - the current transmission in the XJ and XK
is from Mercedes, I believe the E55’s transmission is the same one.
The J-gate was a good idea, just a bad execution. I much prefer the
pseudo-slapshift on the original XJ’s. Another reason I consider the
Jaguar line to end after the Series III was killed off.
Henry Fok
XJ Web Admin
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows XP. Looks like a duck. Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck.
Too bad it’s a decoy.
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I rather like the J-gate on my '95 XJ6. I can’t give in whole hearted
support, but I think it’s only counterintuitive if you are used to shifting
an automatic. The layout is actually
P
2 R
3 N
D D
So, if you decide to use the manual side of the J, you don’t have to go
sideways until you are ready to put it into reverse or park. Like the S3, it
won’t jump to the next gear until it’s ready, so I don’t know if that’s
different from the slapstick. If it is then I’d prefer the slapstick, but
not because of the configuration necessarily.
Someone on the modern list said he had heard that if you remove the ski
slope, you can advance the short side of the J one more spot into first. No
one has confirmed that.
My concern isn’t as much with the J-gate, which actually seems more
intuitive if you compare it to a stick shift, where you pull back to go into
the next higher gear for the odd-even gear shifts. It’s going back to the
straight line shifter in the Series 3, not thinking and pushing the shifter
into R thinking I was downshifting from D.
Folks on the modern list, many of whom actually use the manual side, gave
the J-gate a resounding vote of approval, and called the C&D writers a bit
set in their ways, unable to adapt to what most of them considered a very
functional layout. One thing they liked over the slapstick was that like a
manual, the selector indicates what gear you are in. You can put your hand
down and feel it, unlike the slapstick which always rests in the same place
no matter what gear you are in.
It does take up more space, but most liked the enveloping feel of the large
console.
Having owned an X300 for a few weeks, I’m very impressed. You may consider
the Jaguar line to have ended, but the X300 has the lines and the
appointments you’d expect of a Jaguar. The quality comes as a very pleasant
surprise, especially when you compare it to the initial years of the Series
3 and XJ40. Finally, the power you’d expect from a Jaguar has returned. I
don’t know what they did to make the entire drivetrain so smooth, quiet, and
strong, but when you have to make a quick start to beat traffic, the car
responds from the moment you step on the gas, unlike the S3, which, by
comparison, seems to bog for the first 10 mph before it really starts
pulling.
I like the X300 very much, not to the exclusion of the Series 3s. But it’s a
very different car. From a driving standpoint, you couldn’t put both through
their paces and do anything but conclude that the X300 is a superior driving
machine.
“Mark 1” Mark Stephenson (@Mark_Stephenson2)
1952 XK120 Roadster S673129
1958 Mark 1 / 1967 E-type Coupe
1984 XJ6 / 1985,6,7 XJ6 VDP / 1995 XJ6 VDP
Jaguar Club of Central Arizona (www.cableone.net/jcca)
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So, if you decide to use the manual side of the J, you don’t have to go
sideways until you are ready to put it into reverse or park. Like the S3, it
won’t jump to the next gear until it’s ready, so I don’t know if that’s
different from the slapstick. If it is then I’d prefer the slapstick, but
not because of the configuration necessarily.
Most slapsticks will shift to the gear you tell them to, when you tell
them to. The only restriction is that they will check the load state and
RPMs to determine if the engine would lug if it shifted - and will not
shift if this is the case. Same for downshifting - they won’t let you
overrev the engine that way.
By the way, the BW66 in an XJ6 is very slow if left to it’s own devices.
Try shifting your car manually - it’ll move out a bit faster.
Henry Fok
XJ Web Admin
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows XP. Looks like a duck. Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck.
Too bad it’s a decoy.
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