The best shifters I have experience are the Miata shifters. The shifts are very short, crisp, precise, and very light. You shift to any gear with a flick of your wrist. I have driven Audi TT, Boxsters, M3s, and many other cars and no car comes close to the feel of a Miata shifter. If I rate the Miata shifter a 10, then I would rate the stock C5 shifter a 6. But with this homemade shifter mod, I think I brought it up to 9.5. This original mod was posted by Andy of A&A and I have been waiting for him to sell the product forever. After waiting for a few months, I decided to built it myself and here is how I did it:
1. I bought a spare stock shifter.
2. I used a drammel tool to cut down the 4 rivets on the base plate. This will separate the plastic base plate from the metal base plate.
3. Now if you look at the shifter shaft, it consists of a black upper shaft and a yellow colored lower shaft. The two shafts are connected by a large rubber piece. The rubber piece is the cause of the rubbery shift feels.
4. Cut the shaft to separate the lower and upper shafts. Cut the lower shaft to separate and try to save as much lower shaft length as possible. I cut it right below the upper shaft. Now you can separate the plastic base plate from the lower shaft.
5. Go to Ace hardware store and get a 9/16 “fine thread” head bolt. You want one that is at least 4 inches long.
6. Cut the head off the bolt and the body of the bolt is now your new upper shaft of the shifter.
7. Weld the bolt body to the lower shaft. You can use this opportunity to angle the upper shaft to your preference. I angled it a little toward left. (My welding friend is out of town. So I used JB weld instead. I used a 3-inch metal pipe to connect the two shafts and pour in the JB weld in the pipe. It seems to be pretty strong. I will let you know how long it will last.)
8. Now you have a complete shifter shaft and put it back in the base plate. I used 4 small nuts and bolts to replace the rivets I cut off.
9. Grind down the shaft to adjust to your length and put the new shifter back in the car.

I did it last night and drove it to work today. The shifter feels is great! Andy was right, this mod is better then the Ripper and Kirban! The shifter is about 1/2 inch higher then the center console arm rest and the shifts are light, precise and short. The Miata shifter is still a notch better because its efforts are still a little light. The total cost of this mod is about $3 for the head bolt. Now I have to replace the stock shifter **** and get RedLine transmission fluid to lighten the shifter effort even more…

UPDATE:
Here is the link to see the pictures: http://www.lvcm.com/wwang/


[Modified by benelliwang, 4:10 PM 2/27/2002]


[Modified by benelliwang, 4:42 PM 2/27/2002]

 

I might have to try that. But I gotta see some pics! :cheers:

 

HOLY HURST SHIFTER BATMAN :eek:

 

:eek: JB Weld? You really should have that properly welded.


[Modified by SONIC99, 6:38 PM 2/21/2002]

 

DISCLAIMER!!! Although I did tell him how to do this mod and how well it works. I must insist that In no way do I condone the use of JB WELD in this situation. I will not be resposible when the shifter flies off and causes bodily injury!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Totally agree with Andy. But I just can't wait for my welder buddy to come back from his trip. Desert rats are crazy that way :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: Like I said on the post, use a welder not JB weld. My buddy will weld that piece for me as soon as he gets back.


[Modified by benelliwang, 1:33 PM 2/21/2002]

 

I have to agree that the Miata 5-speed is the benchmark for how a shifter SHOULD feel. (Too bad the car is so small that a tall guy like me can't fit w/ the top up.)

GM cars are still stuck in the dark ages with their long throws and bad feel. I think there are guys like my father-in-law making the specs for the shifter at Chevy...He was bragging how it's so easy to shift his '67 El-Camino w/ Hurst Shifter, and I said "What about the horribly long throw?"
(The shift from 2nd to 3rd crosses time-zones!!!)
His comment "what does 'long-throw' mean?"

Still, the benchmark for crappy shifter: VW Jetta. The shifter feels like it's mounted in rubber cement.

 

I just had a Kirhban Shifter installed..and what a huge difference.
One of the most noticeable MODS i've done , 2 to 3rd is a snap...I always felt that the C5 shifting was sloppy.

They claim to reduce the throw by 20% , it feels more like 50% .

Jeff

 

I like the Kirban more than the Ripper. The Ripper makes it too short and of coarse raises the effort required. The Kirban is right in between. The reason I also like the modified stock one is that you can make the shaft REALLY short without making it too stiff. Mine barely sticks out of the hole in the console and works great.


[Modified by Andy@AandACorvette, 1:59 PM 2/21/2002]

 

Nope :nono:
Crappiest feeling shifter goes to..........Drum roll please.......

Porsche Boxster...Feels like a paint stick stuck in a gallon of latex wall trim.. :U

 

I shortened my stock shifter 1 1/4" by separating the upper and lower shafts just like benelliwang, but instead of discarding the upper shaft, I used it. The upper shaft is hollow to begin with, so I ran a 3/8"-24 tap into it. I cut back the black metal tube that is part of the upper shaft and the rubber isolator to expose 1 1/4" of the lower shaft. Its O.D. is 10mm or .394", so I had to hand grind it down to .375" and threaded the outside 3/8-24. (If I had a 10mm tap and die, I would have used these.) Now, all I had to do was screw the upper shaft onto the lower, using red loctite and making sure the keyway lined up facing straight back. I little cone of silacone RTV on top of the rubber isolator gives a nice tapered transition protecting the leather of the shift boot. I have just enough clearance for the neck of the shift boot when the know is screwed on. The aluminum key was re-used preventing the **** from turning, and its sides were filed slightly so it wouldn't be as tight. For virtually zero cost, I have a nicely shortend shifter that does not require excessive effort. The metal to metal connection is a threaded overlap that should never break or come loose. I have the remains of the original rubber isolator on the lower shaft that dampens some of the vibration. Very happy with this mod. As a parting note, I appreciate the comments by benelliwang on the Miata shifter. I hate to admit it, though, the slickest shifter I had previously used was on a '73 Ford Pinto. That thing sat there like a big toggle switch that you simply flicked into each gear. :cheers:

 

For the unskilled among us, can this be done with a saw and epoxy glue??

 

Has anyone just tried removing the springs from their ripper completely? Seems to me that is the ONLY reason they feel stiff. The stock shifter has none...

 

See the pictures of my home made short throw shifter at the link listed below. Did it a year ago and it works great!

BTW: Try the tiny shifter in a 60's Lotus 7. Makes the Miata throws seem like a mile long!

 

Will
Thanks for posting the info.. I got ahold of an extra stock shifter today and started the disassembly process. I am doing a few things different. I should have it welded up in the next couple of days, and I will post some pictures of the pieces I modified, as well as the finished unit. By my best estimation, the shifter should be about 2.5" shorter than stock, and by removing the rubber isolator bushing, should increase the postive feel dramatically. :D

 

Yes, DON'T do it. The Ripper needs at least one spring to keep the shaft tight against the baseplate,or the aligner will twist.Trust me, drove 40 miles today with only 3rd & 4th gear. It workes fine with the left spring removed.
I'm experimenting with the original shifter, I'll let you know how it works out.
Jeff

 

Here is the quick update since the mod. The more I drive the car the more I love this mod! There are no noises or vibrations; the shifts are very quick and positive. The top of the shift **** sticks up about 2 1/2 inches from the base of the console. The shift travel is about 1 to 1 1/2 inch in the shifts. People has asked me to post pictures, but I don’t' have a digital camera. Almost bought one a Best Buy today, but decided use that $999.98 + tax on other mods :D So if anyone lives in Las Vegas area and have a digital camera, drop me a call and we can take some pictures.

One of my friends drove it and did not like the shifter. He says it is great (u can't miss a shift) for the track but too short for the streets. I forgive him because he never drove a real car; all his cars have shift linkage made out of gummy bear (Civic and Maxipad, or is it a Maxima?).

The JB weld is still holding strong. Just in case I have the spare shifter and some tools in the car :D Again, please weld your shifter if you are going to do this mod don't use any glue, epoxy, or JB weld.

 

Yes, the '99-on Miata shifter is THE standard by which every other shifter should be measured. It's even better if a 2" round **** is used and drilled and tapped to within an 1/8 inch of the top of the ****, shortening stock considerably. This works like a shifter "switch" and is what I tried to emulate in my '01 C-5, unsuccessfully, with a modified Ripper.

I would tend to think the changes suggested here for the stock C-5 shifter is as close as one might get to the Miata. :yesnod: Yes, both of my friend's Boxsters' shifters remind me of the stock C-5 as much as anything I've driven, like "rowing" through the gears with a leather-covered ball bat.

What do these engineers think about? What do they drive? I cannot believe a Porsche or Corvette engineer EVER drove a Miata and produce the crap shifters they have! Perhaps, before the C-6 is cast in... whatever, they should drive a Miata. Though it has many shortcoming--literally and figurativly, shifter action is NOT one of them!

 

I got mine welded up today. I will take pictures tomorrow of the pieces modified, and the completed install and try to post them asap.. ;)

 

Dude, you are so on the money with that one. I am about to post my horrible review of the Boxster. Drove a friends over the last week and it has the worst feeling shifter ever. Very disappointing, I expect more from Porsche.