when i bought my car my friend commented on my shifter saying it seemed to be shorter then it should and it may be a short shifter. i recently pulled it out seeing i am changing my clutch and was looking at the shifter wondering... how would i be able to tell this? length, markings?

 

You can tell by the length. And also the bottom where the ball is if it is on an extened shaft or short one.......if its long then most likely a short shifter. If that explains it lol

Nick

 

Does your shifter have a long lower lever like the short shifter in this picture?

Otherwise it's probably just your friend. Our cars have pretty tight stock shifters, especially the distance from 1st to 3rd, to 5th. The throw on the other hand (1st to 2nd), is kind of long.

This is the Mazdatrix short shifter:

 

ok, so the shorty will shorten the throw?

 

im sorry, i thought i knew what the point to one was but i got confused by these two responces, lol. why is the lower lever long? doent it sit in a housing in the shifer case that is only so big? i dunno anymore, lol

 

the longer length of the rod shortens the throw you have to shift. It is usually a 33 percent difference.

 

You're just adjusting the pivot point.

 

Yes, the shifter is actually the same length overall as a stock shifter. Like HeffBoost said, it moves the pivot point up. And when you move that pivot up you shorten the amount of throw required to move the control arm the same distance.