FWIW, I found my MGW too short and too hard to shift, but it's adjustable. I pulled it up about 1 inch and it was much more to my liking. It's an improvement over stock, but it's not going to cause the heavens to open up.

 

there is no getting comfortable with the stock shifter, install the mgw and be done with it

 

Do it now. It's much better shifting. Easier to drive. Makes it a better experience.

 

Probably a more realistic an observational opinion than most.... Too many people buy something then go all ga ga over it as if in fact " the heavens did open up " Sugar coated opinions make for very thin soup, IN my Opinion.
I have been a student of texting body language ( internet forum text ) for years. I can see a canned Text or message from a Mile away. The fact that Koufax posted a real opinion with some latitude, tells me he is someone to respect for his in depth opinion... no one has to agree with anyone's opinion, but I would consider an Opinion from Koufax, to be more focused than most.
I always say, " Be careful who you listen too here " I'd listen too Koufax, I may not agree with him, but his comments are what this forum needs. Non sugar coated opinions of products they own.

Bill aka ET

 

Ill add this too.... many people are incapable of being subjective, and only wish others to buy into their choices, as a means of personal validation. This is the reason why I am skeptical of some people's input and their motivation to do so.
Those who go on the premise of only saying nice things, are worthless to me.... I WANT someone to tell me, there is bird poop on the back of my shirt... broccoli in my teeth.. a booger hanging off the end of my nose.. If letting a friend go around with those issues makes them a friend.. I don't need any friends like that.

 

I hated the STOCK Shifter in my 98 Coupe and I hated it in my 02 ZO6. I replaced the shifter in the 02 Z shortly after I purchased the car with a KIRBAN Shifter and Its been excellent!

When I purchased my 06 Z51 Coupe, the VERY FIRST modification that I planned to do to the car was replace the OEM shifter.

After I drove the car and experienced the much improved shifter feel on the C6, I found no need to replace the shifter. I now have an 11 Grand Sport. It too has the stock shifter. Works just fine.

I've had numerous people complain about C5 and even C6 transmission and the way the shift feels and performs. The first thing that I do is take a ride in the passengers seat and OBSERVE how they shift the transmission.

You will be amazed at how many people grab the shifter **** with a death grip and try to FORCE the into the different gates..

A better technique is to use the palm of your hand and the tips of your fingers to move the shifter.

When you grab the ****, and are speed shifting, you can have a tendency to pull the shifter lever towards you body. If you ever wind out third gear and go to ****** forth gear and grab second gear by accident, you will for sure wished that you learned to shift the correct way!!!

If you ever watch the Hinson Short Throw Shifter "IN ACTION" video, The person who is shifting uses good shifting technique.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...in-action.html

 

PM'ed you regarding available MGW shifter.

 

I would install it today and not wait at all. I've done the install with the lower box and the whole process takes an hour maybe, their youtube vid makes the install fail proof.

 

ET, let me preface this by saying that I trust what you say a great deal. I pay attention to your posts because I know that what you say comes from real knowledge and real hands on. I respect you and have learned a lot by reading what you write. You have also been generous with your time in responding to a couple of PMs I have sent you over the years. And I understand what you are saying, but I know good shifters from bad. I should quantify that, I know what feels good TO ME when it comes to shifters. I love my MGW but not just because I bought one. I drove the car with the stock shifter. It felt sloppy next to my MGW. I must admit that a shifter is a mod I make to almost every car I buy. All my mustangs and even my Focus ST. The main reason I did it in this case is because I couldn't get past the fact that my Focus had a much better shifter than my corvette. That just seemed wrong. Most stock shifters that I have ever driven leave much to be desired in my opinion. I have driven a couple of BMWs that weren't bad. But even the shifter in my buddies BOSS 302 that wasn't nearly as loose feeling as the stock shifter in my corvette was greatly improved, again in my opinion, when he installed an MGW.

The thing about shifters and tires and all of these things is that it is very subjective. I am sure there are people that would prefer the looser but less effort required stock shifter. I don't happen to be one of them. Im sure there are those that would prefer the smoother ride before I switched to C6 Z06 shocks. I felt it was a better match for the rest of the Z51 suspension than the softer stockers. I prefer the tighter handling and I'm happy to give up a little smooth for a tighter feel.

So that being said, I definitely agree that the best thing the OP can do is find others near his location that have done these mods and feel it for himself. Just because I love it or ten others here do, it's a subjective thing and will depend a great deal on what kind of goals the OP ultimately has for his car.

I should also mention that the customer service I have received from MGW has been second to none. Way above most of what you find in this day and age. Shoot, the owner of the company called me personally a year after purchase to offer assistance when I was having an issue with adjustment that was 100% due to user error during install (didn't get one of the bolts tight enough) when it was not going to result in more money to he or his company in any way. I was way past time to return it, so no danger there, and I'd already bought the project WAY before. That says a lot about the integrity of the man and his company.