Manual Transmission For Gamers

manual-transmission-for-gamers

If that stick shift just doesn’t feel right in your hand it’s time for a change. This hack puts a gaming joystick in the center console of your hoopty as a gear shifter.

[Ilias] used a joystick from about 1991 to replace the stock shifter. It jogs our memory when he mentions that this thing saw a lot of use playing X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. Boy did we burn up a ton of time playing that one too! He actually broke the stock part getting it off (find a shop manual for your car if you’re afraid of this). But once the grip was removed he was relieved to find the joystick fit perfectly. The two molded plastic halves of the joystick screw together. To join them with the shifting level he used epoxy putty.

The momentary push switch for that thumb button is still in there. But it doesn’t look like he hooked it up to anything. If we were to give this one a try we’d have to find some use for it. Got any suggestions? Let us know in the comments.

53 thoughts on “Manual Transmission For Gamers

        1. Need some kind of actuator first since almost all clutches use leg strength to operate whether mechanical linkage or hydraulic.

          High speed high strength linear electric actuator maybe? Make for some quick shifts…

          1. Manual clutches are inherently analogue. In lower gears you have to release them slowly to prevent stalls, not to mention needing feedback to ‘feel the bite point’ when doing hill starts.

          2. I think it could be done. It would require a combination of RPM sensors (one on each side of the clutch), throttle management… and maybe something else? The bite point is a matter of matched RPM’s.

          3. use a pair of rpm sensors after the gearbox and measure the twist.The twist relates to the torque transmitted through the shaft – equation as for a torsion bar. when clutch dipped there’s no reaction torque so no twist.
            Bite point from rest- the final rpm sensor shouldn’t be rotating at all. so long as the engine is outputting enough torque to not stall, just raise/lower the clutch to keep that last sensor stationary. From rest see the accelerator as being torque demanded
            For smooth gear changes ideally the torque before and after the gear change should be equal . with switches to detect the selected gear it shouldn’t take long for a uC to map out the engine’s torque curve, and figure out the ideal engine rpms for beginning and end of a gear change. for Up shift-while out of gear cut the throttle until the rpms match. For down shift perhaps blip the throttle while out of gear?

          4. @bWare
            A growing number of cars have at least one trim level with “manumatic” transmission that you can control with paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

    1. Pretty much this. When did epoxying something to something else be considered a hack. He put next to zero effort in to it, and didnt bother to even find out how to properly remove the stock shift knob. Whats next? Is a peice of paper with glitter glued to it going to be featured here?

      1. I’m kind of annoyed about saying there would be no driver if he kept it, I’ve used a microsoft side winder controller with usb to game port on win 32 and 64 bit with pure sucess at least until the game controller died inside and only works as a passthrough extension to the additional port on back

        1. It wasn’t worth the effort. The adapter it self costs 15 USD. might as well go out and buy a new fancy one. This way I’m giving new life to something that would just sit on the shelf.

    1. what he said but have it also control two laser pointers steathly hidden in the front end. then a projector and the Star Wars Xwing fighter game. the lasers move with the stick and the action on screen and you would have to park in front of a wall to play it. (parts: pico projector, raspi with a mame emulator, some servos, an aduino and two dollar store laser pointers.)

  1. Use it to start the car along with the key if the driver does not push the button before trying to start the car it will deploy the airbag in the driver seat if the car is running and in drive and u do moris code on it , have it deploy the passenger airbag

  2. press and hold the hat button to warm up the cigarette lighter and pull the trigger to eject it into the passengers lap.

    though a more believable application would be to control the windows (if they are electric, if not install an after market and route the switch =P )

  3. I like volume buttons on both steering wheel and shifter, but not on the shifter alone. Nobody sees the non-ergonomic mess this makes.
    You grip joysticks below the head and place thumb on top, forearm horizontal. And you keep it there thru the whole game. Same in a jet.
    You place your palm almost on top of the head of a gearshift and gently grab, potentially hitting all buttons.This has to be done very quickly, and let go then again. You may even rest your hand on the top while driving, the down lower grip will get tiring.Your forearm drops down towards the shifter at an angle unless you’re short and it’s a low sports car, making for a bent wrist. Especially in 2 and 4.
    Despite breaking the old knob, this one will break soon!

    1. I just came back from a 3+3 hours trip. I griped it in both ways as you described, hitting the hat button often, but I didn’t mind, and it wasn’t uncomfortable at any time.
      I “played” with the trigger button while tailgating even though it isn’t wired to anything.
      Even if it doesn’t last long, I can always epoxy the original knob back, or get a new joystick. No big deal.

  4. For a bunch of smart guys, y’all have completely missed the obvious: The 1986 (ya, ’86!) Subaru XT came STOCK with an extremely similar shift knob, the single red button acting as an AWD/FWD toggle.

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