I installed this product and I absolutely hated it. I am 6'1/ 230lbs and only about 9% body fat (in other words I'm in real good shape/very strong) and this thing was VERY VERY difficult to shift. I come from the world of mustangs and I have installed tons of pro 5.0 shifters and they always felt great. Naturally, I thought this would be a nice cheap mod that actually mattered since the shifting is a big part of the driving experience of a manual. However, I have to say that this thing was atrocious. I wanted shorter throws, not an extra workout.

On the positive side I will say that the throw from 1st - 2nd was VERY short. VERY SHORT. First to send was twice as fast and I am a good driver. But trying to get the shifter to slide over was a MAJOR PITA and you can forget about skipping gears.

Let me qualify this with 2 statements:

1. I bought the product from west coast corvettes (www.westcoastcorvette.com) and they had not only matched LAPD's price but took it back the second I said I hated it. They didn't even check if I had put back all the springs - which I was very careful to do, and I even cleaned them. Bottom Line - GREAT customer service. That great customer service lead me to point number two.

2. When I went back to WWC they let me feel a car with a B&M Short Throw shifter and it felt VERY NICE. It was what I had hoped for with the hurst, especially since it supposedly has a spring bias adjustment that makes the "wiggle" on the shifter adjustable. So basically you can adjust it somewhere between "impossible to shift" and "pretty easy to shift if you have cybernetic implants in your forearm".

IN THE DEFENSE OF HURST ... The tech at WWC said that his Hurst felt just like the B&M that I really liked. So, I don't want to flame the company if it was just one bad thing or I did something wrong on the install (though kinda hard on a short throw shifter though, don't you guys think? PLUS I had 2 of my friends who work for a VERY good shop come look at it and they took it apart and re-installed it with no change). It is pheasible that I did something wrong and it is pheasible that this was just a rare error. Hurst has a VERY solid reputation and the quality of fabrication was very nice - but it was just much much too firm (side to side) for the street.

Anyways, I am just posting this to help anyone who was thinking about it. I am going to buy a B&M short throw later and try it again.

 

Hmmmm?! I was pretty happy with mine and don't feel the effort was excessive. Have you tried adjusting the tension and changing the springs? The sure way to know is to compare your shifter with someone else's C5 Hurst shifter that's happy with his.

 

Maybe you'd like the BPP shifter, but I'd have to say that the Hurst I had was not for for me or my wife to shift?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=917281

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Everyone else seems to like it. I'm gonna do a search.

The thing about the short throw shifters that always irks me is the ratchety feeling. Why can't they make one that is firm without being so gosh darn clanky?

 

Sounds like an installation / adjustment issue. The good thing is your vendor worked it out with you. That's what counts in the end.

Cheers,

Mark

 

I agree.

Pro 5.0 has the GREATEST shifter I have ever used. BAR NONE.
No one even comes close.

If any of you get the oppurtunity, ask a Mustang or Camaro guy if they have a Pro 5.0 shifter and row through the gears with one.
You will DEFINITELY see what I am talking about.

I have been begging the owner of the company to fabricate a shifter for the C5 since 1996.
I think I will be calling them again on Monday.

 

Maybe an oddball exception with your Hurst.
I'm 6' and 160 lbs, yes pretty lanky and I have no trouble shifting mine.
I did have to reduce spring tension some, but as I used it more, it's loosened up nicely. I put back some tension as I like the sure snaps from 2nd to 3rd.
Either way, you got something you're happy with and that's cool!

 

I installed mine with the low tension springs, it was still to hard to shift.
I removed all springs and it still snaped back to center when in neutral. No
springs worked great for me, love the shifter.