I have a couple of questions on short shifters. 1. What are the advantages/ disadvantages? 2. What kind would you recommend and where should I get it? Bill
Kartboy would be the better route imo. Get a good mallet though. Pounding them into place can be a b!tch! Otherwise straight forward install, could be a 15 minute job depending on how hard the new one is to get in.
Short shifter = shorter throw = faster shifts! I have a Kartboy as well and highly recommend it. The shifter itself is about a 15 minute job and pretty easy. I would also recommend getting the kartboy shifter bushings which take a bunch of the sponginess out of the shifting. They are a complete and utter pain in the butt to install....at least the two sets I have installed. The hard part is getting the old bushing out. Go for it! Stee
And don't forget the TiC pivot bushing while you're at it. Also, don't pound on the threads with a mallet to install it; snug a lug nut down on them and pound it instead. I found the hardest part was getting all the plastic trim off from around it to start with. The shift lever install itself was a piece of cake. http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205 I have my stock shift knob for winter (leather is much nicer in the cold) and a Kartboy shift knob for the summer. The Kartboy one is *significantly* shorter than the stock one, and helps to further reduce the throws. In fact, it's only a gnat's chuff from being too short to use on a daily basis. Stuart.
I don't have a rubber mallet, and had to make do with a lump hammer. I was a bit too gentle with it for the first tap, but the second one popped it right into the cup. Some people claim to be able to do it with the palm of their hands. I believe these people also walk on fire for fun, open beer bottles with their eye sockets, have large cranial ridges, and answer to the name of Thag or Oog. Stuart.
Kartboy (and i think the cobb) Short throws are just shorter shifters than stock. Subaru and sti short throws are different shifter assemblies which have shorter linkages in the shifter assembly. best short throw possible is to shorten the subaru short throw by cutting it off and rethreading it. actually if you have the tools you could probably hack off your stock shifter and save yourself money rather than buying the kartboy one. One thing you will notice is that your transmission will feel more difficult to shift, don't worry though its not your tranny it self but you loose a decent amount of mechanical advantage by shortening your shifter so it requires more input on your part to equal the same amount of output to your transmision.
The cobb you can adjust the throw and the height, make sure you do all of the bushings as well, remove that shifter slop.
The big difference is in the pivot point. I think it's funny that the factory STi short shifter upgrade for >'02 models came stock on my car. Stuart.
I have the Cobb Double-Adjustable shifter on my FXT (universal to all Subarus) and I love it. It gives you the option to make as short of shifts as you want and how low or tall you want the shift knob to stand. I made my shifter as low and as short as I could because it visually made my shift boot look clean (not cluttered as it does with a long shift lever) and it doesn't require you to 'get used to it'. I recommend a lightweight crank pulley (or flywheel if you must - but not both) after doing this mod. Lighter rotational mass relative to the engine driveline will better drop the RPMs fast enough (in between shifts) to be in line with your shorter shifts. In other words, the time it takes you to put the shifter in the next gear, the RPMs will have dropped to the proper RPMs for the next gear. In my opinion, if your car is only for racing purposes and not for smooth shifts, you will benefit having both the flywheel and the crank pulley replaced with lightened units.
Get the Subaru Short Shifter! Make sure not to over tighten the bolts that go to the transmission! Great Product!
iono I got the subaru short shifter to come along when I bought mines. Advantage: More Precise shifting and quicker shifts
How about $30, then throw in a KB shift lever and a few bushings. http://www.rs25.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=11468 Stuart.
