short shifters

[johnl]

Of course when I have this thing (pictured below) pretty much all the notchyness goes away.

I'll bet it does!

That extension is pretty extreme, mine is about a third of that, which still makes a substantial difference to how far from the wheel the shifter feels to be.

Your throw must be quite long in both directions...

[rexload]

this picture inspired me to make an extension for my shifter,

I just finished it about an hour ago. I made it similar to yours but it is not as high and the knob is a bit closer to the driver. Oh and mine is also removable.

I love it, and it looks really sweet.

[The G-Man]

this picture inspired me to make an extension for my shifter,

I just finished it about an hour ago. I made it similar to yours but it is not as high and the knob is a bit closer to the driver. Oh and mine is also removable.

I love it, and it looks really sweet.

Mine is very easily removable. It threads right on the stock shifter. Then it has threads cut into the rod at the top.

[99EJ6T]

I have always wanted to ask this...

What is the reason for doing all this work? Is it simply for comfort? Cause your not changing anything about how fast the transmission will actually shift.

I am just wondering and cause it seems like a lot of work for no true performance gain. <- Thought process is purely performance driven and in no way meant to insult the work shown above.

[deevergote]

What is the reason for doing all this work? Is it simply for comfort? Cause your not changing anything about how fast the transmission will actually shift.

I am just wondering and cause it seems like a lot of work for no true performance gain. <- Thought process is purely performance driven and in no way meant to insult the work shown above.

It changes the distance of the throw necessary to shift... so yes, it does change how fast the transmission shifts. This is only when you relocate the cable mounting point, not just when you change the length of the lever itself (that does nothing). Simply altering the size of the shift lever does not make it a "short throw" shifter.

[johnl]

It changes the distance of the throw necessary to shift... so yes, it does change how fast the transmission shifts. This is only when you relocate the cable mounting point, not just when you change the length of the lever itself (that does nothing). Simply altering the size of the shift lever does not make it a "short throw" shifter.

I'd have to disagree. Strictly speaking anything that reduces the distance the end of the lever travels 'shortens the shift' , so yes, shortening the lever does by definition make it a 'short shifter'.

However, it is a crude means of doing so because it also has the unwanted side affect of moving the end of the lever even further from the steering wheel, meaning a longer stretch for the driver each time he / she changes gear.

One thing you'll typically notice with serious racing cars is that the lever is located as close as reasonably possible the the wheel so that the driver spends as little time as possible with only one hand on the wheel, and the lever can be reached as quickly as possible. This can be achieved by lengthening the shift lever, but this also lengthens the throw, so adding a 'short shifter' that changes the geometric ratio of the mechanism can negate this, or even make the throw less than a totally stock shifter despite the longer lever.

In some cases a short shifter will increase the speed with which the shift can be made, but sometimes the limiting factor is the speed with which the box itself will allow shifts to occur. In most cases short shifters are used (in road cars) to improve the tactility of the shift, i.e. how 'good' it feels when shifting gears, more than any actual increase in shift speed (which would be pretty marginal in most cases).

[gloryaccordy]

I don't get short shifters...

Drive a Maxima... ur Accord shifter will feel great stock

[deevergote]

Shortening the lever will shorten the travel of your hand (on the lever, not to it), but it won't shorten the actual distance of the "shift". The travel of the mechanism, of the cables, is the same...

When you move the cable mounting point, you're actually changing how far the mechanism itself moves.

My shifter is shortened and the cable mounting point is moved... so it's all been done to mine. Honestly, it's not worth it. The shorter throw, at least in the design of my shifter, caused the shifting to be notchy... which, in the end, caused me to miss shifts regularly. I'll move an extra fraction of an inch to ensure smooth shifts.

[guitarplayer825]

Is there a DIY on this with pictures somewhere?

[gloryaccordy]

Shortening the lever will shorten the travel of your hand (on the lever, not to it), but it won't shorten the actual distance of the "shift". The travel of the mechanism, of the cables, is the same...

When you move the cable mounting point, you're actually changing how far the mechanism itself moves.

My shifter is shortened and the cable mounting point is moved... so it's all been done to mine. Honestly, it's not worth it. The shorter throw, at least in the design of my shifter, caused the shifting to be notchy... which, in the end, caused me to miss shifts regularly. I'll move an extra fraction of an inch to ensure smooth shifts.

It's not worth it. A better investment to me would be some new shifter cables

[king_cobra]

i had alot of shifter 'slop' but went away after i swapped out my tranny. now its really crisp and tighter with original cables. your problem is probably just wear and tear.

[gloryaccordy]

i had alot of shifter 'slop' but went away after i swapped out my tranny. now its really crisp and tighter with original cables. your problem is probably just wear and tear.

I have had shifter cables fail on me. W/high mileage cars it's definitely something to watch for. It's an excuse to get the Prelude linkage.