Ok I know this topic has been beat to death in the forum. But I haven’t seen many people who have had both shifters to make the comparison in the same vehicle. I purchased the Hinson shifter 4 years ago and it was so much shorter than the factory z06 shifter. 1-4 gear was precise and if those were the only gears I ever used I may have kept the shifter. 5/6 gears were difficult to get in to gear. Reverse was almost inaccessible when the shifter was new. They say it has a break in period if you leave the shifter in reverse and 1st alternating between the two for a period of time when the car is parked. I can tell you that after 4 years of alternating it never really broke in. I decided to try to make it work properly by doing the anti venom mod with 2 washers, change the entire detent assembly, made adjustments to the shifter lower box to get it centered perfectly, different greases, replaced the reverse lock out solenoid and put a lighter spring, replaced the plastic cup that sits on the shifter bal….. nothing made 5/6/R any easier to reach. So I decided to order a MGK. Got it and put it in the car in 45 mins….. WOW. I cant believe I dealt with the other shifter for so long. It feels like butter. What used to take literally all my arm strength to get it into reverse I can now do with two fingers. 1-6 I can shift to with one finger on top of the ball. This is a really great product and if I can save anyone out there the headaches of picking an aftermarket short throw, don’t do what I did and ignore the recommendations on the forum to save a 100 bucks. The other ones aren’t going to be anywhere near the quality of the MGW. I like my car again! If anyone wants the Hinson I’ll sell if for 100 bucks but buyer beware it can’t compare to the MGW.

 

 

FWIW, my father's car @Harleyyac had a Hinson shifter and that was by far the worst I ever experienced, it was almost impossible to shift (and there was nothing "wrong" with it.). When the MGW went it, it was like a brand new car. That's my two cents.

 

I've no experience with the Hinson, but I just installed MGW flat stick shifter yesterday and WOW, what a difference. It's so much tighter and more controlled. All the gears shift beautifully, albeit a little notchy, but I'll knock out the anti-venom mod this weekend and we should be good to go. The MGW was worth every penny.

 

What? It's like you expect me to come and write a book and make an offer on th... hmm tempting!

I had recently read where @Kubs had been running a Hinson on his track car a while and the heft was enough that he got rid of it. I was formerly very curious to try the Hinson. Hearing that and the above reference here I have written them off as not worthy of the effort. I also don't have a C5 "test bed" anymore which is what my daily driver coupe used to be. So I can't hop in and test it out with the Z on the lift still. That would be apples to oranges anyway on a fresh 6060 transmission.

If ​​​@Markolc1981 wants to give it a shot as a test bed in his FRC - he is doing lots of test runs for tuning with the new cam - then I don't mind making an offer on the Hinson here to check out.

 

I really enjoyed the short shifts of the Hinson on track, but the high effort was too much for street driving. I swapped it out for a Tick and its a much better middle ground. The Tick feels similar to an MGW, but the install and quality are a bit nicer.

 

The difference in effort is directly related to the reduction in throw pattern. "Back in the day" you had an B&M with a 50% reduction, while the Hurst was 35% reduction. Guess which one was a PITA to shift on the street? I really like my Hurst (adjustable bias assist springs), but I have always wondered about the MGW and lately the Tick and TMOD shifters. One thing for sure with any of these shorter throw shifters (as well as the C6 shifter option) is to make sure you upgrade the lower shifter box as well as trying the anti venom modification. Inspect the shifter rod ends to make sure they are still up to snuff as well. All these components along with fresh correct fluid in the T56 have an impact on "shifter feel".

 

I chunked my Hinson and went with mgw, Hinson was crazy short and was killing my shoulder going for R and 6th

 

Where did you order your MGK? I can't find it.

 

eBay

 

I just went on their website mgwshifters.com. I think it was less than a week from the time I ordered until it arrived