Ok . . . I am going to go way against the grain on this and say that I was not impressed with the MGW

A little background- I came from the Mustang world where I tried Steeda, B&M, Pro 5.0, and ultimately MGW and found the MGW to be the best.

Then I buy my C5 last year which already had the Hurst installed. I actually liked the Hurst but just found that the centering springs were a little too tight making 5-6-Reverse somewhat difficult. However, I could not help but remember my Mustang days and how great the MGW was.

Then I read about the "New Designed MGW" shift that does not have stiff centering springs and smoother and more precise than any shifter on the market. I was actually pretty happy with the Hurst but I figured that there was always room for improvement. I read all the reviews raving about this shifter and decided to order a MGW.

So I received my shifter Thurday afternoon and I was very impressed with the finish of the MGW unit as well as the instructions and included hardware. I install the MGW actording to the instructions. I chose to trim the factory boot thing. Here is my conclusion:

I found the side-to-side effort to be the same and the Hurst. The side-to-side effort was reduced as the transmission warmed up. However, my transmission is usually not warmed up when I need to back out of my garage and am trying to get the car into reverse.

The MGW was also not as precise as the Hurst. The Hurst had more of a "click-clack" into gear, while the MGW sort of slid in. It just did not have that positive feeling when going into a gear. Maybe that's the "smoothness" everyone is talking about, but it felt bumpy. It felt a little like the rubber boot on the MGW was keeping the shifter from moving freely. I've always described stock shifters as being like shifting in peanut butter. Well the MGW felt like Chunky Peanut Butter. Very hard to explain

The MGW had a somewhat mushy feel to it. It did not have the metal on metal, gearbanging feel that the Hurst had.

The throw distance was about the same on both shifters.

So, being somewhat dissapointed at this time I tried different variations of the anti-venom mod to try to dial in the shifter. No dice. I actually liked the MGW better without the anti-venom mod.

The MGW is still a great shifter and is worlds above stock, but I just found that the Hurst was a little better and can be had for a whole lot cheaper.

So I called MGW this morning (Saturday) to leave a message and was shocked when a female answered the phone. I explained my above issues and she seemed puzzled that someone liked the Hurst as much (if not better). She took my name and said a technician will call me Monday.

I am sincerely hoping that I either installed it wrong or I got a defective unit because I was very impressed MGW in my Mustang. However, I'm pretty sure that I installed it right as the shifter works properly. Hopefully the technician will be able to shed some light on Monday because at this point I cannot recommend spending $250 MGW when you can pick up a used Hurst for $85-$120.

Has anyone else tried the MGW and not completely fallen in love with it?

 

I installed mine recently as well. It is also difficult for me to get into reverse and 5th. I have yet to try the antivenom. Sometimes I go into 3rd instead of 1st when leaving from a stop. However, my right arm was in a cast for over 6 months, and I think I have rotator cuff problems. There was no way I could use the short version of the derlin ***** (C5R style). I am hoping it breaks in a little more. I did notice it softened up after the first few days.

 

Finally a review of something that doesn't say, "what I just bought is the best in the world!". I have tried most of the shifters available and have been disapointed in all of them. Hurst too stiff, MTI hard to get into some gears, C-6 not really very differant from stock, etc. I hope they can help you out and make it better, I have been considering the MGW next. I had a Hurst in my C-4 and it was perfect. Of course I had Corsas on it and they sounded great but not so on my C-5 to me. Asking which exhaust is like asking which shifter, "whatever I have is the best" answer is mostly what you get. Good luck and keep us informed, I love real world reviews.

 

Shifters are a personal taste type of thing. Some people hate the centering spring feel, some hate the mushy feeling stock type feel shifters.

I personally like a nice crisp self centering shifter with mechanical stops. My KIRBAN shifter fits into that category. It has shift stops and centering springs. When I shift, I can feel a POSITIVE stop that tells me its IN GEAR!

 

Gearbanging101,

I enjoyed reading your review, nice job. I hope the tech can help resolve your issue.

The shifter really is a subjective personal thing. For me, I've had my 2008 ZO6 shifter in for about a month now and I find I like it even more then when I first installed it. Since it's been installed I've had no missed gears and it goes into reverse much better then the original unit. The best part for me is the newer style shift ****. It feels much better on my hand then the old squared off C5 original.

Are you using the same shifter **** on the MGW as you were on the Hurst?

 

Yes. I am using the same shift **** with the mgw as with the hurst. It is the classic hurst ball. I am finding that the more I use this shifter the better I like it but I may just be getting used to it. In a couple days when I'm completely used to the mgw I'll instal the hurst again and see what it feels like. If it feels like I'm upgrading from
a mgw to a hurst, then I'll keep the hurst.

I guess my preference is "notchy without stiff centering springs".

 

I think this is a classic case of "I just bought the most expensive part available for my car and it must be the best". The mgw is still a great shifter that's very well made. But it's not the end all be all greatest shifter in the world with all the positives and none of the negatives.

Now if mgw figures out a way to make mine less mushy, I may just amend everything I said. I'll definetely keep everyone in the loop.

 

I just installed my MGW last weekend, and it replaced a Hurst. I have to say the MGW is smooth as silk and yes you do not get the click type feedback going in to gear, which I do not miss at all.

To me when shifting with the Hurst, going into gear it was like trying to shove the square peg in the round hole. While some may like that feel, I felt the MGW made shifting enjoyable again.

As mentioned before shifters aren't one size fits all and it comes down to personal preference.

Quite honestly the same exact shifter if swapped to a different car will feel completely different. I think that the transmissions in our cars have quite a bit of variance and in every C5 I have driven this seems to be the case.

Hopefully MGW can help you out, I think they have a top notch product. In the end, it will come down to personal feel.

Good luck

 

My MGW seems to get better with each trip I take. It was rather stiff at first and I wasn't sure I liked the feel. Nothing wrong with a honest review on any product.

 

I'm impressed you called them and someone answered the phone. At least it sounds like they are trying to help the situation. Good luck.

 

I know!! Their website said they were closed saturday but she still answered. I was just expecting to leave a message.

 

didn't like mine...made my car difficult if not impossible to drive for both me and girlfriend.

friend of mine didn't believe me as he had one....got in my car and said, "WTF ! now I see why you are complaining" said it was nothing like his...I was not about to do any other "mod" to make it better. IMO it should work without further modification.

Went to a C6 Z06 shifter....

will never ever do a shifter mod again...should of just kept my stock shifter.

 

i will be calling you first thing monday to discuss but i agree with a few and basically it comes down to a few things...

1. you may just like the notchy feel of the hurst shifter more. there is nothing i can do to change your mind about that and no reason to. its your right to have a preference.

2. the shifter should be MUCH easier to move left to right than the hurst. i just cannot agree that the effort is about the same unless the hurst was quite a bit taller and had some more leverage. our shifter uses ZERO added spring pressure and the pivot ball design on the bottom is much less drag than the cup design.

3. the mgw unit is NOT sloppy at all and the throws are VERY precise. it just takes a bit of getting use to the fact that the shifter is smooth and you dont want to TRY and guide it into the centered gears. just let the shifter do the work. it may be a bit different when coming out of the hurst unit so i guess it may just again go back to personal preference.


and Pewter99 i do understand you have not been a fan of the mgw shifter for awhile and voice your opinion often and i respect that fully but i do feel that the shifter that you tried was an orginal design and since has evolved into a much better unit. it is much easier to shift and alot smoother. i really would welcome you to try this new design out as somep oint if you ever are inclined to.

regards
george

 

I loved the MGW shifter (I have a 2008 C6). Shifting is easier now.

 

I hope that no one is taking this as a bash on the mgw shifter. I have said a few times that the mgw is a really nice unit. I would give it a 9 out of 10. But I would also rate the hurst a 9. I'm just looking for a 10 shifter. Maybe there's no such thing with a corvette transmission.

 

You do know that the hurst is adjustable, from a kids loose tooth to major work out? When I first put mine in, I did it the way it came from the factory (strongest springs and the set screws deep). Not a pleasent shifter, so I read the instructions about the lighter springs and the adjustment screws. After I set it the way I wanted it was great but had harmonics at high rpm.The cure for that was a heavy shifter ball that I like better than the stock ball.

 

When I got my car it already had a B&M short throw shifter on it (Not a Ripper), with the Delrin shift ****. I had already heard enough bad things about the feel of these shifters that was I was resigned to changing it out pretty quickly.

Driving the car for the first few months only confirmed this. The shifter was incredibly 'notchy', would occasionally not shift or grind going into second gear and was generally fighting me most time it seemed. I even changed the trans fluid to Royal Purple to see if that would fix it. It did smooth it out a very very small amount but really nothing that would be noticeable unless you were really looking for it.

So as a last resort I decided maybe it wasn't installed correctly. I read all the threads on here about anti venom mods and all that, so I got all my information together and pulled it apart to see how it looked.

Well after getting to and looking at the alignment of the shifter it looked perfect, or so damn near it as to make no difference. I decided since I had gone through the hassle of pulling everything apart to get to that point I would re-align it anyway using the procedure I found on the boards here. Since the factory alignment pin was obviously no longer there on the aftermarket unit I just used a cylindrical cold chisel from Sears that was the exact size of the alignment hole and went for it.

In the end by my measurements with my caliper I moved it less than the thickness of a matchbook cover. I didn't even bother to write down the difference on the gauge it was so small. So I reassembled it figuring I had just wasted a few hours of my time for no reason.

On my first drive it was like a new transmission. Rifle bolt precision going in and out of gears, great feel, smooth. The difference was amazing. I mean it was literally night and day. Now I have been driving it like this for a year and half and it has never missed a gear, it has never held me back at all and feels like an extension of my arm. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So everytime I see a thread where there is not an actual functional problem with the shifter (not going into gear, grinding, etc). I always think how much that infintesimal change made to my car.

My guess would be because of the remote mount/rod actuation of the shifter in our C5's these cars are VERY sensitive to the mounting of the shifter. Something as small as how worn out your motor mounts are or the power of your motor, or its cam, or whether you have any chassis/driveline stiffening items could have a huge impact on the feel of your shifter. Just something to think about. Good luck getting the result you are looking for.

 

I think it's important to realize that no matter how you feel about the MGW now...leave it in the car for 500 or so miles and it will feel like a completely different shifter; I honestly liked the feel of the shifter best when just installed, it's VERY precise eiather way, but when just installed it's much stiffer, after some miles it loosens up a lot.

 

I love my hurst shifter. Im always wondering why others have problems with shifting. Mine shifts perfect and easy for each gear otherwise i would have taken it out. Here is how mine is installed:

1. OEM springs- after 500 miles of shifting, it became easier to shift compared to when it was brand new. After 1000 miles i didnt even think about it anymore. Other people have driven my car and they never mentioned that my shifter is stiff.

2. I used teflon tape on the shifter **** threads to get rid of the noisy rattle.

3. stock shift ****.

4. removed stop bolts

5th, 6th and reverse is easy to hit just like any other gear.

 

I just installed it three days back, I was very happy with it, it's a far away better than the stock 08 c6 shifter. But yesterday and today, the the shift got stuck in 3rd gear and sometimes in 1st gear, this happened to me three times till now, I may installed it incorrectly but Im sure I followed up theinstallation instructions.

other problem is: when you are in nuetral, you can hardly move the shifter left and right, and if you move i to right, it will not come back to center as if you move it to left it will!

one more question: is the shifter rubbers (came with stock) should be in good shape? one of them like it's toren apart but no heat soacking found,

I don't know what to say, I contacted MGW and hoping they will reply to me very soon