What is everyone's thought on the 3rd gen shifter? My dad drove my car and thought it was a little mushy. It's definitely different than the Pro5.0 shifter installed in my Mustang. That things has shorter throws and is notchier but you can really shift hard. If I remember correctly I test drove a '00 ES a while back and the shifter was much notchier and I didn't like it very much. I think the throws are a little long in my ES but not too much but the shifter is really started to grow on me. I actually like the soft feel of it.

 

FWD shifters are always a little on the sloppy side, but I think this one's actually pretty good. The Mustang has a lot fewer places to develop slop in the linkage, which is why it feels tighter.

For a true appreciation of your car, go test-drive a Kia Spectra with a manual...That's atrocious! The lever moves 2 inches side to side, IN GEAR!

 

Actually I thought that my P5 shifted nice and smoothly. The only problem was that it felt like the shifter shoot up past the friggin dash board. That all changed after I insalled my short throw shifter though. Now it's not as smooth and feels really tight, but the throw is a lot shorter and it's nice and low. I think the Ultimate shifter is my dad's M Roadster. It has an increadibly short throw, it's easy to manuver, and it feels like it has a good grip. Basically you could flick it into gear with your wrist with no effort at all.

 

i changed mine to a kartboy short shifter today. and also got their shift **** and bushings. very short, notchy, very nice feel just like how my wrx turn out with the kartboy shifter.

install wasnt too bad and it doesnt hit the heatsheld after
giving the sheild a light tud.

 

its one thing the Pro definately needs....the stocker is way to long. I felt like I was reaching into the back seat to get it into 2nd and 4th

 

I'll see how it goes. I actually don't find the shifts too long....maybe a tad but nothing that has come close to annoying me yet. I test drove a '01 Audi S4. That shifter had the longest throws I'd ever seen!

 

not only is the pro5 throws too long the shifter is wobbly...
its not my goal to get the shifter as short as possible, its to
get the shifter to feel snug and secure so that i can make
shifts cleaningly and reliably.

 

The Pro5 shifter and throws should be identical to the sedan, correct?

 

dont know, doesnt matter. if you think the shifter is wobbly and
too sloppy, chances are it is. you need to get a short shifter if
that's the case.

 

VW/Audi is notorious for that, also really long clutch throws.

I should look into the short shifter idea; I wouldn't mind it being a little snick-snickier (Is that a word? Well, it is now...).
How much does it shorten the throw (ballpark guess)?

 

I don't know about the TVM or Pace Setter, but the RVM and B&M will shorten the actual shifter to about half it's height. The Kartboy is less than an inch or so shorter than those two.

 

yah, kartboys are 'almost' too short if you use a short ****.
the reason it is too short is because the driver seat is too high
on this car and the center console sits pretty low so you need
some extra length on the shifter so that your and doesnt have
to travel across the car to reach the shifter.

 

If your saying its mushy when driving.. atleast get the Kartboy
shifter bushing. You can't go wrong there for 25bucks. That will
defintely get rid of all the mushiness when shifting.

Just my thoughts.

RC

edit: its 25 bucks.. woops.. still cheap.

 

Thanks, all, for the info. Yeah, it's not the throw length that bothers me, it's that "rubbery" feeling, although like I said, it's really better than most FWD shifters. $20 for a bushing, eh? Have to check that out... Cheap is my kind of mod!

 

I have a Pro 5.0 shifter in my Mustang GT and it is simply awesome. But then again the stock shifter in that car was pathetic. I like everything about my ES right now including the shifter for now. The stock one is world's better than what came with my Mustang.