MGW 15% Shifter Quiet Nice
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 988
Likes: 4
From: Livermore CA
MGW 15% Shifter Quiet Nice
After trying the MGW 30% shifter I contacted George and encouraged him to pursue the 15% version he had on the back burner. I received mine about a week ago and drove it a week before offering up a review/opinion. I think the 15% eliminates the vagueness of the stock unit with beefy precision, slightly shortens the throws an almost undetectable amount, no rattling, and most importantly doesn't decrease the resolution of where to find a gear. The 30% felt binary to me, either in gear or not. The 15% gives me a definitive independent area of where each gear can be found and it lets me feel the synchro sliding and then the gear engaging. The biggest drawback of the aftermarket shifters I tried in both my C5 and my C6 has been this lack of resolution. Other than the palm slam from 2nd to third or the jerk from 3rd to 4th , 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th always took some concentration with the typical 25-35% reduction. With the 30%, daily driving and spirited mountain road jaunts took a conscious effort, just a little blip of thought to make sure you were grabbing the right gear. With the MGW 15% it all becomes autonomic. Thanks MGW and George.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
I appreciate your review, but I have a question.
"I think the 15% eliminates the vagueness of the stock unit with beefy precision, slightly shortens the throws an almost undetectable amount, no rattling, and most importantly doesn't decrease the resolution of where to find a gear.
What do you mean by the "vagueness of the stock unit" as compared to "doesn't decrease the resolution of where to find a gear?"
"I think the 15% eliminates the vagueness of the stock unit with beefy precision, slightly shortens the throws an almost undetectable amount, no rattling, and most importantly doesn't decrease the resolution of where to find a gear.
What do you mean by the "vagueness of the stock unit" as compared to "doesn't decrease the resolution of where to find a gear?"
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 988
Likes: 4
From: Livermore CA
AORoads,
The stock shifter has a fair amount of play in the ball socket where the shift shaft pivots, the stock shifter also has a rubber coupling section which is designed to eliminate vibration induced rattles. These two attributes combine to let the **** end of the shifter move and squish around creating what I would call a vague feel. This squish and slop eliminates the feel of what is really happening inside the transmission.
Your second point is on resolution, if you think of the shifter patterns with the stock shifter as a map and each gear is a different state with all the gears represented as a cluster of six states, with a 30% reduction shifter you have basically reduced the total area of six states to two or three. The 15% doesn't shrink this map a noticeable amount.
The real beauty of the MGW 15% shifter is that you don't give up anything. It is really an engineering feat to design a shifter which has eliminated the slop and squishyness without introducing vibration induced rattle.
The stock shifter has a fair amount of play in the ball socket where the shift shaft pivots, the stock shifter also has a rubber coupling section which is designed to eliminate vibration induced rattles. These two attributes combine to let the **** end of the shifter move and squish around creating what I would call a vague feel. This squish and slop eliminates the feel of what is really happening inside the transmission.
Your second point is on resolution, if you think of the shifter patterns with the stock shifter as a map and each gear is a different state with all the gears represented as a cluster of six states, with a 30% reduction shifter you have basically reduced the total area of six states to two or three. The 15% doesn't shrink this map a noticeable amount.
The real beauty of the MGW 15% shifter is that you don't give up anything. It is really an engineering feat to design a shifter which has eliminated the slop and squishyness without introducing vibration induced rattle.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 988
Likes: 4
From: Livermore CA
