C7-Beast

I will start out by saying the below is just my opinion. If you prefer another shifter do not take offense as this is just my personal preference based on having tested quite a few shifters over the years.

I have tried a lot of shifters over the past 4-5 years. In my 02 Z28 I have had the stock factory shifter, the upgraded Hurst shifter, a B&M ripper shifter and a PRO 5.0 shifter.

I drove my first C6 back in May of 06. It had the stock shifter installed. I have also driven the same car with the Callaway shifter and when I purchased my 08 back in Mar started driving the stock 08 shifter. When I found the PRO 5.0 for my z28 that was the nirvana of shifters as far as I was concerned when mated to a Lou's short stick. Nice short throws that were very positive.

None of the shifters I had driven in the C6 were as satisfying as the PRO 5.0. Of all the C6 shifters the Callaway was the best but honestly I still thought the throws were a bit too long and not positive enough for my tastes. Today all that changed. Today I installed the MGW shifter.

I knew the MGW was a quality shifter after reading all the praise here and I knew George from MGW was a good guy. I emailed George Weds evening and ordered the shifter. I had it sent 2 day but that would mean I'd have to wait until Monday for it to show up. I emailed George Thursday morning and he got me a great deal on overnight shipping and I had my shifter on Friday at 10:AM. OK, I was impressed already by George and MGW.

When I got home yesterday I opened the box and found a very solid looking shifter and a CD. George had created a great install manual with lots of good pictures of the install and so I knew the install was going to go smoothly. Due to the weather prediction I got started early Sat morning. I didn't want to be stuck in my garage at mid day when the temperature was suppose to me close to 90. I started the install at about 8:AM. The install was a snap. I had no trouble getting the console out and just followed the MGW instructions. By AM everything was all buttoned up and I was pulling out for a test drive.

The first thing I noticed was the throw distance was much shorter now (YES!), the second thing I noticed was the crisp 2nd to 3rd feel. The last and most impressive detail was the 4th to 5th shift. No longer did I need to push over to the right to catch 5th like all the other C6 shifters I tested. It felt like straight up from 4th. I continued to test the 2nd to 3rd shift as that was the one that would give me the most problems. While it only happened a couple of times not "getting" 3rd on the stock shifter under medium to hard acceleration was brutal. No such problem with the MGW shifter and the shift feel is so positive I can not see missing 3rd again.

I know some have complained of more noise from the MGW but I honestly didn't notice any. I felt a little more vibration through the stick when my hand was resting on the top but I expect that. I only drove about 80 miles today but I would expect to have heard or felt something and did not. I will do more driving over the next few days since I'm on vacation this week but so far I am very happy with the MGW shifter and it is probably my best mod to date. I think I like the MGW even more than the PRO 5.0 in my Z28 and I did not think that was possible.

Not that it's a negative to me but some might feel it is so it is probably worth mentioning. There is more heft to the MGW shifts. What I mean is that you need to apply slightly more force to the MGW to shift gears over the stock shifter. Now I did a substantial amount of "rowing" the gears today testing the shifter and I'm certainly not in very good shape and am 41 years old but my arm was a little tired after my 80 mile test drive today. It may loosen up a bit as I use it more but even if not the short throws and very positive gear engagement are worth the extra effort in my opinion.

Thanks to George at MGW for making a great C6 shifter that I look forward to using for years to come!!
-Mike

edv2122

Love it

tjl5709

It's the bomb.

HorsePower Junkie

Anyone notice or confirm if it does, or does not, loosen up to where there is not quite as much force
needed to shift it to the next gear after some miles have been put on it?


Does it get easier to shift after a "break-in" period? Or does it stay the same and you just get used to it?

nwc6

Yes it does "break in". I have 500+ miles on my MGW and just this past weekend I suddenly noticed that the stiffness is much less. The bolt action precision is still there, it just works easier. That or my arm is much stronger..