I'm looking into buying a short-throw shifter for my "89 GTU. I was wondering what brands were good, and what kinda prices am I looking at??? (used would be fine ) I'd also like to know if anyone's had any problems with theirs. My friends has one and he loves it.
~Thanks

 

I got the mazda trix and I love it. It will be tight as hell for the first few hundred miles depending on how often you shift (city/hwy driving) but after that it is awesome.
Mine has developed a slight buzz in it but that is because my neutral return spring is a little shot I believe.

 

I have the mazdatrix unit also,It came with another boot and all the replacement bushings. However mine does have the infamous rattle emanating from my transmission, but its not that bothersome unless you don't have a radio and even then you get used to it. I think my trow was shortened from 6 to like 3 or 3.5 inches. it feel great almost like a new trans but then again my bushings were shot to begin with! Price is steep but I give it a thumbs up, I have had it for almost two years now and it still fell great!

Oh and yes they are very stiff and notchy for the first hundred miles or so!

 

I also see them on ebay form time to time..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2451310437


Says it for turboII.. but from what I understand they are all the same so it should work fine on your gtu

 

I'm not sure I would go as far as to say its rare!! But it does look nice!

 

you can also do a DIY short-throw with the stock shifter. You lose about 3 inches off the shifter. You'll just need to get a shifter with side screws rather than a whole top-screw shifter.

 

Thats just a shorter shifter.. not short throw.

If yuo want to do it yourself.. what you would have to do is take out stock shifter.. and weld about 1/2in long bolt or screw with almost the same thickness as the little ball at the end of shifter. Then you will have use plastic washers and put it under the stock bushing. then put washers underthe plate you screw the shifter with..

Its alot of work and most people don't have accesss to welders.. I would NOT use JB weld as it could break and you would be f*cked.


This what I did to my car and it worked great.

 

thanks guys...I was looking into a mazdatrix....but how much do you guys think i should pay for a new one??

 

This is a common misconception, which I don't understand. Simple physics with a lever says that if you shorten the length of the beam and the distance traveled on the other side of the fulcrum remains the same, then the distance traveled on the top side is shorter. It is short throw.

Granted the throw with this mod isn't as short as a "real" short throw shifter, but it is most definatley much shoter than stock and doesn't cost a thing.

Having said that, I just a shortened height (and throw) stock shifter, but will be changing to a "real" short throw shifter. Higgi on this forum makes them, and that's who I will be purchasing mine from.

-Chris

 

the cheapest new units are made by a forum member "higgi". Other than that, you are looking at spending about 200.

If you ae patient, you can get'em on ebay, for a bit cheaper. I see used units there from time to time.

 

OK, I bought one for a car I used to have, and to say the least there is msny better ways that you can spend the money.

Unless you drive ALOT then I don't see that it is worth it.

 

I've heard nothing but good about the Mazdaspeed units.

 

www.mazdaracing.com

They have the shortest throw short throw shifter for an FC on the market. It has a 10% discount at the moment so you might want to get in on it. Its a quality peice and it comes with everything you need to install.


Santiago

 

^ yeah right. Where does it say shortest shifter on the market? After they cheated me out of $1900 for an engine as well as other people I wouldn't send them a dime.
Do a search for them on this and other forums, you'll find more than one complaint about their buisness practices. One complaint you can possibly ignore if it's minor, but multiple complaints? There are other more reputable companies to whom you can send your money.

 

i'm selling one w/ aluminum anodized **** specifically made for this ****, so i won't separate them, obviously. e-mail me at naertz1@winthrop.edu if you're intersted.

 

Hey I don't work for them. But I bought their shifter. It came pronto and was packed with all the **** I bought so I don't give them anything but a good name. If you have a problem with them take it up with them. 1900 dollars is enough to sue over so why don't you? If you were really cheated then you can take them to court and get your money back and then some.


There is NO other shifter with a shorter throw. I worked out all the numbers that are advertised for the other well known shifters sold and it IS IN FACT shorter. I have yet to find one that beats theirs.


Santiago

 

k...newbie question here, what exactely is the difference between a short throw and just a shorter shifter? I've just been planning on machining a shifter down a couple inches and re-threading it...physically, how is this different from a short throw?

 

A shorter shifter is physically shorter with nothing else changed. While a short throw shifter changes the pivoting point for the shifter lever and is usually shorter aswell! This shortening also increases the effort needed to move the lever from gear to gear and what not. Its based on leverage(sp?). Kind of like a see saw in a play ground.

 

And I am telling people what my expereinces are that's it. Suing across state lines , lawyer fees, etc, etc isn't that easy FYI. I am just warning people that this socalled comany is shady.

As for the shifter,
What numbers do they advertise? What numbers did you use to prove that "IS IN FACT shorter" ? I would like to know.

 

From Mazdaracing.com ^






From Mazdatrix.com ^


From Corksport.com ^


Now I will use some of my basic analitical know how to descipher(sp?) these sets of numberos.


From the Mazdatrix text DIRECTLY quoted from their site we now KNOW that the stock throw is 6" using the mazda OEM shifter lever. Ok Now given that it reduces the throw from 6" to 3.5" we can make a little proportion and find out that the reduction in a % value is IN FACT: 42.6% which is the value that it is REDUCED which is 2.5" simply accuired by subtracting 3.5 from 6".

Moving onto the mazdaspeed short shifter available at corksport.com and other places we know that the reduction in a percentage value is 25% which translates into inches to: 1.5" that is also FACT.

Now going onto my main focus tonight....

The mazdaracing short shifter is AND I F@KING QUOTE! MORE than 60% reduction in throw. This figure leads us to beleive that it AT THE VERY LEAST has a 60% redux in throw so we will use that minimum figure to make the final computation 60% of the STOCK throw is 3.6" therefore we KNOW IN FACT that the mazdaracing shifter reduces the throw by the largest amount of the shifters on the market! To a stunning 2.4" from a staggering 6" throw!


If any of my figures are incorrect or if there is a better shifter out there please speak up as I don't like to be wrong.


Santiago

PS- Thankyou I will be here all night ladies and jerks! woo woo!

 

cool...thanks rx7guy!

 

To further illustrate the idea behind a short throw lever I made a patented photochop image which I will basically try to explain.




From the above we see a seesaw with three triangles and a set of arrows at each side. Take the left arrows to be the shifter ****'s side and the right side the part that interacts with the transmission.

If you have the pivoting point(triangle) at the middle it is basically a ONE-for-ONE deal. Every inch you have to move at one end will account for one inch of movement on the other end. If you move it to the right of the center or towards the transmission(which is what a stock shifter is usually like) you will have a shifter that requires less effort over a greater distance. In other words you might move the **** end 1.25" for every 1" the tranny side moves. Now transversly if you move the pivoting point towards the ****'s end and away from the tranny you now have more effort required over a smaller distance. Say .75" of travel on the ****'s side for every 1" the tranny side moves.

I hope this helps you all out guys.


Santiago

 

i love your ghetto drawings, santiago

but strangely, they do a good job of explaining things :p

 

Not a problem little buddy.

 

But it is rare! It's a "JDM short shifter" and these are "very hard to find over here in the states."