Which short shifter works best
 

I want to get one and need to know what you guys are using and like.

I have only used the Mazdatrix. It works great, cheap. I have not missed a 2-3 shift or 4-5 shift since (not that I missed often).

I highly recommend it.

Mike

I tried to get info from everyone on the pettit one. I heard that the mazdaspeed one does not really help.

I'm using the Pettit's short shifter and love it. It is definitely one of the best mods I have ever done. The stock shifter completely sucks.

I have the B&M, cheapest price, quality piece, love it. Haven't tried the others but the B&M is reallly nice so they get my vote

supposedly, the Mazdaspeed only shortens the throw 25%. while the Pettit: 50%.

From what I read the Mazdatrix shifter shortens by 50% and costs $209. B&M's shifter is only like $179 shipped. Pettit's is around $300. How much does the B&M shorten the throw?

I have the Mazdatrix shifters in both my 2nd and 3rd gens and love them. They were the cheapest ones when I bought them and work like any other shift knob, I guess?

off of impulse and after reading this thread i went out and purchased the pettit short shifter along with the gt shift knob. i'll have my car out of the shop next week if your patient and i 'll let you know if it feels like a 60% shortet shift.

by the way a friend of mine said that a short shifter is for those who don't know how to shift, any truth to that. i personally thik i know how to shift fine, i just like the idea of the shifter being in gear effortless (if thats a word).

luigi

anyone got a link to B&M for their shifter.
Thanks

There are days when I can shift well and other days when I blow 2nd to 3rd. The stock shifter is fun but trying to shift very quickly with it is hard for me. I'm not a drag racer but I like to have precise shifting. The more I ask and read I see that Mazdatrix makes a quality piece for cheap and works well.

I've got a Mazdatrix short shifter. I like it, but it does rattle. Mazdatrix has a write up on their website about this. Pretty much just saying that it is car specific and 1 out of every 3 cars will experience a rattling noise after the short shifter is installed. I have had it in for about a month. No big deal to me, I don't notice it too often, but it may drive some people insane.

B&M Shifter for FD $164.95
 

I just got a quote from Scotty at Atlanticspeed.com for the B&M short shifter for the FD (B&M # BMM-45083) for $164.95 plus $6.00 shipping and handling. He also assured me it is in stock. That's the lowest price I have ever heard! Go for it.

Here's a link to their web site:

http://www.atlanticspeed.com/

% Throw Reduction for B&M and Mazdatrix
 

FYI

There's been a lingering question on the Forum about the % throw reduction from B&M short shifters for the FD so I decided to contact B&M directly to find out.

I just got off the phone with a B&M technical representative. He told me that the B&M short throw shifter for the FD (B&M #45083) reduces throw by 30% over the OEM shifter.

I've also seen posts on the Forum that say the Mazdatrix short throw shifter reduces throw by 50%. On the Mazdatrix web site it clearly states that their short throw shifter reduces throw from the OEM 6 inches to 3 1/2 inches. That would translate to a throw reduction of 2 1/2 inches which is equal to an approximately 42% reduction over OEM.

Percent reduction in throw is certainly one factor to consider. However, I am more interested in hearing from actual users of all the brands about their experiences with the different shifters. The experiences of others and cost will likely be the major factors influencing my purchasing decision.

I have the B&M.

Summit Racing.

What ever percentage it reduces it....it has a tiny throw after installation. It is seriously about 1 inch of movement to go from first to second gear.

It is nice.

Patrick

$170 shipped is pretty sick for a shortshifter - that's about $50 to even $125 cheaper than most others for the FD. Anyone else with B&M shifters out there want to testify to it's use and quality?

The B&M short shifter is nice and is very short. You can get the B&M short shifter for $160 shipped from here. Now that's a killer price.



Tony S.

The Mazdatrix short shifter works great, and really does cut down the distance of the throw.

btw mine does not rattle, (this might be a problem for a few)

I think it is worth every cent.

Mike

Short Shifter
 

I installed the Mazdatrix and it works great. I haven't tried the others but anything is an improvement over stock!

I have the mazdaspeed and love it. It does make it a little louder. Very short and very crisp throws.

the stock shifter in my '85 is way too low and doesn't have enough leverage so it feels really notchey. I'd imagine a short-throw unt would feel lots worse (even lower/even notchier) so I'm making a tall shifter for it, make driving it lots easier like the SA's where the shifter was only a hand's-breadth from the steering wheel. Shifting just takes too long with the short lever - too far away and not enough leverage.

the pettit is great, had it for a month now and its great

luigi

any short shifters thats help prevent the 2 to 3 shift...??

1FAST7

Mazdatrix short shifter here. Love it...no rattles either. My installation notes here if you are interested:
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/shifter.htm
Regards,
Crispy
"If you have no fear your car isn't fast enough."

I stopped having that problem altogether when I put in an engine brace! With the stock floppy engine mounts the engine and transmission can move around a lot when you accelerate or let off, so you have no idea where the shifter is going to slot in when you shift. Once it's locked down with a brace, it ain't moving!

How much did it cost you to put in the engine brace?

1FAST7

Well I did it backyard engineering style on my SA. I bought a 3' or so length of steel cable (I think it was 3/16", might have been 1/8")and a couple cable clamps, made a loop at one end and bolted it behind the lift eye at the front housing, then made a loop at the other end and bolted it to one of the left side strut studs. I put a good amount of preload on it so the engine wouldn't torque over on acceleration, but the cable stretched over a couple drag nights so I had to make the cable shorter again. Total cost - $2. RB will sell you a torque brace for something like $50-80 (not sure at all) but this does the same thing.

Another side-effect it had was reducing GREATLY tirespin on the 1-2 shift. Since the engine doesn't bounce side to side anymore when you let off and get on it again, it doesn't shock the tires as much.

Before you do any of that though, try relaxing and focusing on shifting quickly and smoothly instead of jamming it in gear. (the best description I heard was "The shift knob is a raw egg, don't break it!") A lot of the problem is the way the shift rails and forks are designed in the transmission, too, but if you shift cleanly you'll go through OK.

Thanks for that. I had plans to get a brace/strut bar from Mazdatrix sooner or later, but that just bumped it higher on the list. Makes sense to me, never really thought about that. RX-7s (mine, my roomate's, and an '89 TII) are the only cars I've driven, that I've had problems with shifting. They all seem somewhat notchy, and have a certain timing you have to get used to for optimal shifting.

On topic, I use the Mazdatrix shifter (shortened a bit further), and I love the feel of it. Throw is very short. I'll also have to see if shifting is somewhat smooth now that my clutch is back together... as it was getting harder and harder as the release bearing got worse...

I have the Mazdatrix and I think its decent but there has to be a better one out there. I has the Hurst Comp Plus in my Mustang and that thing was the best shifter I ever used. If there was a Hurst for the FD I would buy it. Even if it was 400 bucks. The Hurst was just THAT GOOD! When I saw B&M made one I was interested but already had the mazdatrix unit.

I have the C's and LOVE it! It is sooo smooth and crisp! Noone else has this one?

I have Guru one from gurumotorsports (Australia), the guys over here rave about them!

Just got my B&M installed - very tight and crisp - no rattle! You have to take the rubber/plastic bushing on the end of the old shifter and pop onto the new one - no rattle. 2nd to 3rd is amazing - feels about like a 30% shorter throw.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=51405

I took a pic of the stuff that comes in the B & M kit it is at this link. The box says 25% shorter shift. 160$ shipped.

i also have the mazdatrix shifter. works great! installed in about 25 mins. i had to chuckle when i read the post about the shortness of the stock shifter so he didnt want to get a short throw shifter. hehe they are the same lenghts just the throw has been reduced due to repositioning of the pivot

Mazdatrix
 

I have a Mazdatrix one for my TII. My FD never had a short shifter......
No problems with the install, no rattle, and it's the best $200 I have spent on my TII. I think the FD has a decent stock shifter.....

I just installed the b&m this morning... unfortunately, I get the very annoying rattle at anything over mid-throttle. I'm going to try a couple small circles of dynamat on the metal base to see if that helps...

The reduce in throw is amazing though....

-Matt
'93 Touring

I used 3 small strips of dynamat on the shifter base and it completely eliminated the rattle.

So far seems to be a good investment for $170.

-Matt

you have any pictures of the dynomat, and do you mind explaining were you put it and how big the strips were.

Sorry, no pictures without taking my car back apart.

You can get a couple small sheets of dynamat for nothing from Crutchfield:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...890&I=15410115

The base of the B&M shifter is about an inch tall perhaps... I used a small ( 1/2" tall by 2" wide ) strip on each side. It would be easier to do it before you mount it in the car.

-Matt

Just read this thread and thought I would throw out a picture of the engine brace (aka torque arm) that I have sold to about a half dozen FD owners. The response to the brace has been very positive ... zero side-to-side shifter movement and less mis-shifts, improved driveability and reduced drivetrain jerking/lurching especially at low speeds, improved throttle response, quick install, and it looks cool too. The down side is the need to tune the length of the arm to prevent chassis resonance (this brace is stiff, that's why a bushing is used to mitigate fatigue). Each end of the arm has an adjustable rod end with threaded male end, just loosen the lock nuts on each rod end and rotate the internally threaded aluminum arm, one direction lengthens the arm the other direction shortens.

I have parts for three more engine braces if I can get three confirmed orders, just PM me. Oh, the punch line, I charge $170 delivered (to mainland US).

I have the Pettit short shifter and it's the best short throw I've ever had for any of my cars. It is really short though (60% shorter). It took a while to get used to at first, I almost couldn't tell if I had upshited from 4th to 5th or 3rd. It's tight though. Now I love it, anything is better then stock. My friends stock shifter feels like you're shifting through tar or bubblegum, it's horrible. whatever you get, you'll like it.

You guys looking for an engine torque brace for the FD? Jason is selling these items through the RX-7 store.
Details can be found at:
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=76319

And more pics on my homepage:
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/powrbar.htm
If it goes down due to excessive bandwidth (sorry) keep trying or check it agan later when it comes back up...Thanks
Crispy

If you want to make your own engine brace, go to a go kart shop and get a steering rod with the rose joints on each end cost about $20 and then bolt it on and away you go, cost less than $30 by the time you buy the bolts and stuff,
or do what i did and make solid engine mounts.

Go with hIGGI's. It's definately the best for the money. I've tried several short throw shifters.

I've driven cars with both the C's and Gotham Racing short shifter. The c's ended up biting the bullet b/c of a bad installation. The Gotham racing shifter seems to be a very well made piece. Short shifts and pretty quiet. The best part is it's only $140.00 at GothamRacing.com.

:bigthumb: Gotham Racing Short Shifter.

dude, the mazdatrix is best for your money, shorter throws and you dont have to fight to install the screws, people with the b&m know what im talking about.

spend the extra 40 for the mazdatrix so you dont have to spend 400 for two like i did.

I skpped the second page all toghether but I have the mazdaracing short shifte in my FC and it rox! It shortens the throw over 60% from what their add says. :D


Santiago

It was 169 plus ~8 dollars for shipping.

I got one from hIGGI...and i love it:)

How would I find out what type of trans is in my repu. It’s a 5 speed out of a Rx7. I just don't know what year. I would like to get a short shift for it, but have to know what year it is first

I have the B& M and now that i have installed it, it squeeked a bit but i used something similar to that dynomat and that when right away :D