New Motor

A dog leg gearbox is an unusual manual transmission layout, an up-over-up shift between first and second gear resembling the hind leg of a dog.

R  2  4       1  3  5
|  |  |       |  |  |
---N---       ---N---
|  |  |       |  |  |
1  3  5       2  4  R
Dog leg     More common 
pattern     "H" pattern

Dog leg layout gearboxes are usually found on performance automobiles because in road racing it is rare to shift into first gear other than for the initial start or exiting a pit lane.

Notable street cars to feature the dog leg layout are the BMW M535 and (Non-US) M3 E30, Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 and 2.5-16, Porsche 914, early 911, 924 Turbo (all featuring Getrag gearboxes), Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and the Lamborghini Miura. A non-performance car to feature such a shift pattern is the Subaru 360. Also: Datsun 160J Hardtop SSS. A dog leg transmission has also been seen in odd places such as a 1980 Datsun 210 Wagon built during the 210/310 crossover or a Citroen 2CV. The mid 70's Oldsmobile Cutlass with the 260 V8 had an optional 5 speed transmission that utilized the dog leg shift pattern.

Volvo Volvo

as I said,,,   driven by older gents more mature in there years.....boring cars yawn yawn.

Hi all,

havent posted in a few months on the road a lot with work and still no net at home, anyway time has come to change the 318is for a diesel. Took this out for a spin today a very smooth ride, the car is in mint condition full bmwsh and was very impressed, except for one thing, i was not happy when changing gears there was a clunk noise as you let out the clutch, let the window down and the noise was very noticeable other than this the engine purred away. Any comments on what this could be. I do very much like this car but if it is a gearbox job in 7 months just after the warrantee runs out Oouch