Anyone using short shifters?

euser1984

Are petrols are a pain in urban areas?

Thanks.

Alanstrainor

What car are you talking of? I thought of fitting one to my e46 for the laugh. Never bothered in the end, but my reasoning was nothing to do with comfort...

passatman86

Have fitted them to 3 cars... they are a great upgrade for little money

euser1984

Alanstrainor wrote: »

What car are you talking of? I thought of fitting one to my e46 for the laugh. Never bothered in the end, but my reasoning was nothing to do with comfort...

A VW still in warranty

biko

What is the connection between petrol cars in urban areas and a short shifter gearstick?

colm_mcm

What’s a peril card?

dr.fuzzenstein

colm_mcm wrote: »

What’s a peril card?

Must be some street racing therm those kids today use.

The Bishop Basher

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Must be some street racing therm those kids today use.

I had to google short shifter.
I must be getting old..

biko

Autocorrect messing, updated post

tossy

euser1984 wrote: »

Are petrols are a pain in urban areas?

Thanks.

A short shifter just shortens the throw of the gear stick on a manual it doesn't actually make the car change gear ealrier which is i think what you may be getting at.

ION08

tossy wrote: »

A short shifter just shortens the throw of the gear stick on a manual it doesn't actually the car change gear ealrier which is i think what you may be getting at.

I interpreted it as him inquiring about short shifters believing they made lighter work of shifting gears in traffic.

i.e shorter throw = less strenuous gear changes ... or some other form of flawed logic along those lines

euser1984

sorry guys - was referring to the hastle of not having to move the gear stick around so much.

i only know about them cos a fella showed me one b4 - i'm really happy he did too

euser1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6tMReibH7I

I don't have a gti btw

ION08

euser1984 wrote: »

sorry guys - was referring to the hastle of not having to move the gear stick around so much.

i only know about them cos a fella showed me one b4 - i'm really happy he did too

As mentioned above, it has nothing to do with frequency of gear changes or "hassle of moving the gearstick around so much"

A short shifter modifies the pivot point with the intention of giving a shorter and therefore notchier/sportier feel to the gear changes.

Nothing to do with improving the convenience of driving a petrol car in urban areas..

TheBoyConor

If you have an accident your insurance won't cover you because you'll have modified the car.

You need to inform your insurer that the car is modified. And if you do they will load a fairly big premium on it for that and that is if they even quote you at all. Their logic would be that someone who puts a short shifter in would be a boy racer type and therefore a much higher risk than Mary doing the school run.

ION08

TheBoyConor wrote: »

If you have an accident your insurance won't cover you because you'll have modified the car.

You need to inform your insurer that the car is modified. And if you do they will load a fairly big premium on it for that and that is if they even quote you at all. Their logic would be that someone who puts a short shifter in would be a boy racer type and therefore a much higher risk than Mary doing the school run.

That's absurd.

what if I put a sticker on my car or hang an air freshener from my rear view mirror, would my insurance go up too because they will think i'm a "boy racer" type?

The Bishop Basher

ION08 wrote: »

As mentioned above, it has nothing to do with frequency of gear changes or "hassle of moving the gearstick around so much"

A short shifter modifies the pivot point with the intention of giving a shorter and therefore notchier/sportier feel to the gear changes.

Nothing to do with improving the convenience of driving a petrol car in urban areas..

Everyday's a school day

ohnonotgmail

ION08 wrote: »

That's absurd.

what if I put a sticker on my car or hang an air freshener from my rear view mirror, would my insurance go up too because they will think i'm a "boy racer" type?

Does an air freshener or a sticker mechanically alter a car?

TheBoyConor

ION08 wrote: »

That's absurd.

what if I put a sticker on my car or hang an air freshener from my rear view mirror, would my insurance go up too because they will think i'm a "boy racer" type?

No because it would need to be a material change to the car.
ie, something that could have the potential to alter the handling, performance or control of the car in any way.

a short shifter could affect the controlling of the car because it is a modification to one of the main means of control of the car.

dar83

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Does an air freshener or a sticker mechanically alter a car?

Does a software remap?

tossy

TheBoyConor wrote: »

No because it would need to be a material change to the car.
ie, something that could have the potential to alter the handling, performance or control of the car in any way.

a short shifter could affect the controlling of the car because it is a modification to one of the main means of control of the car.

I'd love to meet the assesor who could spot a short shifter

ION08

TheBoyConor wrote: »

No because it would need to be a material change to the car.
ie, something that could have the potential to alter the handling, performance or control of the car in any way.

a short shifter could affect the controlling of the car because it is a modification to one of the main means of control of the car.

Yeah , I suppose shortening the throw of a gearstick is exactly the type of bullshlt insurance companies would mercilessly load you for ... but putting sh*te Chinese tyres on your car which can severely impact handling and braking they wouldnt care about ... insurance companies, gotta love them. :rolleyes:

ohnonotgmail

tossy wrote: »

I'd love to meet the assesor who could spot a short shifter

About 2 seconds after sitting in the car is about all it would take.

tossy

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

About 2 seconds after sitting in the car is about all it would take.

How many assesors sit into a car (if you still can after it's been damaged) and change gears on a stationary car as part of the assesment. Even so they would have to know how it was before to relaise it's a shorter throw.

ohnonotgmail

tossy wrote: »

How many assesors sit into a car (if you still can after it's been damaged) and change gears on a stationary car as part of the assesment.

I have no idea but if they did it would be obvious.

tossy

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I have no idea but if they did it would be obvious.

I don't think so. how would it be obvious?

ohnonotgmail

tossy wrote: »

I don't think so. how would it be obvious?

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

tossy

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

I reckon if you were unlucky and the assesor had the same car they might realise - otherwise no.

Del2005

Why go to the bother of modifying a car to a short shifter for urban traffic when manufacturers make suitable cars already, get rid of the clutch.

Cee-Jay-Cee

euser1984 wrote: »

sorry guys - was referring to the hastle of not having to move the gear stick around so much.

i only know about them cos a fella showed me one b4 - i'm really happy he did too

I have no idea what this fella showed you but a short shifter doesn’t lessen the amount of gear changes, it only shortens the distance between gears by typically 15-20%. Year I still have to move the gearstick the same number of times you ever did.

I think you actually need an automatic if your concerned with the amount of gear changes you have to make while in slow moving urban traffic.

Dardania

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

tossy wrote: »

I don't think so. how would it be obvious?

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

the pivot point could be moved up (leaving the gearstick visually the same)?

The length of the gear stick is also probably there to reduce the human force needed to shift it. Also, the longer the moment probably means it's easier to distinguish between gears.

tcawley29

TheBoyConor wrote: »

If you have an accident your insurance won't cover you because you'll have modified the car.

You need to inform your insurer that the car is modified. And if you do they will load a fairly big premium on it for that and that is if they even quote you at all. Their logic would be that someone who puts a short shifter in would be a boy racer type and therefore a much higher risk than Mary doing the school run.

Not always actually. I remember speaking with another boards member before who declared coilovers and alloys and possibly more but I cannot recall what. He said the difference in the policy was small enough too.
I also cannot remember the figures here but when he said the policy price and with and without modifications it did sound very reasonable.

ION08

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

Well no I wouldn’t think so either. Do you think every assesor has encyclopaedic knowledge of what a standard gear throw should feel like for every model of car versus what a 10% shortended throw would feel like??

Insurance accident assesor:

AHA!!!! This gearknob for a car I have never driven before feels like it has been shortened by 10%!! This is undeniably the root cause of the accident as such we will not pay out

tossy

Dardania wrote: »

the pivot point could be moved up (leaving the gearstick visually the same)?

The length of the gear stick is also probably there to reduce the human force needed to shift it. Also, the longer the moment probably means it's easier to distinguish between gears.

It's nothing to do with the pivot point of the gear stick or altering the gear stick in anyway- a short shifter is fitted inside the engine bay on top of the gearbox on the selector.

ohnonotgmail

ION08 wrote: »

Well no I wouldn’t think so either. Do you think every assesor has encyclopaedic knowledge of what a standard gear throw should feel like for every model of car versus what a 10% shortended throw would feel like??

Insurance accident assesor:

AHA!!!! This gearknob for a car I have never driven before feels like it has been shortened by 10%!! This is undeniably the root cause of the accident as such we will not pay out

There is more to a short shifter than cutting down the gearstick. You do know that, right?

euser1984

ION08 wrote: »

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

Insurance accident assesor:

AHA!!!! This gearknob for a car I have never driven before feels like it has been shortened by 10%!! This is undeniably the root cause of the accident as such we will not pay out

Jaysys

ION08 wrote: »

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Really?? you dont think the shortened throw on the gear stick would be obvious?

Well no I wouldn’t think so either. Do you think every assesor has encyclopaedic knowledge of what a standard gear throw should feel like for every model of car versus what a 10% shortended throw would feel like??

Insurance accident assesor:

AHA!!!! This gearknob for a car I have never driven before feels like it has been shortened by 10%!! This is undeniably the root cause of the accident as such we will not pay out

jaysus, everytime a person drives another car they have to get used to the gears - will ya stop

ION08

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

There is more to a short shifter than cutting down the gearstick. You do know that, right?

Yes I do know that. By “shortened” I am referring to the shortened throw not the size of the gear stick.

biko

I wonder if it similar to "slick shifter"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt2SXs89W_c

Spook_ie

Would you not be short shifting as a driving technique rather than utilizing a short shift to decrease the gearstick throw, many drivers short shift in diesel cars and more "torquey" cars because it makes for a smoother drive.