Hi Jeremy,

Wow, I'm very honored to hear how much you like our short shifter. I think they are really nice, but I'm a little bias. lol.

That would be great if you could change the rules to allow short shifter, they are really needed on the 944. The stock shifter has to move SO far to shift. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

I believe there is someone that already makes the OEM linkage out of metal. The part on the top of the linkage that's plastic. But I think it still has the same issues as the OEM part, I think it's still metal on metal, but I can't really remember.

Thanks for the suggestion for converting the short shifter to OEM specs. It's something I've already thought about. It was actually the original goal when I started making them. The idea was to be able to have both options on one part, but it didn't work. I had a taller block of aluminum that attaches to the transmission shaft, and that caused problems, so it had to go. The problem is that it raises up the whole linkage assembly, this in turn raises up the black tube that it attaches to. That tube travels through a cutout in the transmission case, and also through a cutout in the body of the car before it reaches the shifter. This caused the black rod to bind on the transmission case and the body of the car, obviously not working right. lol. So I just turned it into a short shifter only. I was actually thinking about removing the bottom slot on the short shifter the next time I order the parts(very soon). People get confused as to what slot to install the bolt, and I don't think anyone really uses the bottom slot. But, there could be a need for it again.

But you got me thinking again about this. I think I have a solution, but it would require making another part for the short shifter, which would also raise the price. Hmmm, I will have to think about this more and make some drawings. That linkage moves in some really weird ways.

Please let me know if you don't get the rules changes and I will see what I can do for you guys.

I'm always happy to help out if possible. Also, if you guys need anything else please let me know, I'm always open to new idea. I have also made a few custom leather shifter cover for other 944 racers, so if you guys need anything like that, I'm open to helping out(normally no extra charge for custom covers).

Thanks,
-Kyle

I personally think decreasing the fore and aft throw would be a great thing. I mean these are racecars, what's the big deal? There's even a free solution if you want to modify the stock part to do the same thing. Just allow a full on short shifter and we can just use the tried and true design if we are so inclined.

The throw on the shifter is the worst part of driving a 944 and it seems to me that we should take steps to fix the problem instead of worrying about not changing the rulebook. The $90 isn't going to break anyone's racing budget and you don't have to have one to stay competitive. It's mostly a reliability mod.


It's not like someone with a short shifter is going to beat someone without just because they shifted a few milliseconds faster than the other guy. What they might do is keep their motor under the hood for a bit longer than the other guy.

FDJeremy wrote:


I've beat and been beatin' by a bumper. I know of others that were as close. And yes, a short throw shifter is a performance advantage. I don't care if it's "only" a $90 part, it all adds up in the end. A few bucks for this part and a few for that one. Let's not forget, this is the least expensive class to race in and I think we need to keep it that way. Yes our cars are old and maybe they don't shift like new but it's equal for everyone without spending money!

The only944 rear shifter piece changes the fore/aft throw 30%, the side/side throw is unchanged using the lower slot and 30% decrease of throw in the top slot.

I believe the piece in the link I posted is covered, but the issue is that this currently available "direct replacement" piece is still plastic and as such, in a hard use scenario, probably only temporarily addresses the sloppiness issue. I believe that finding and using a direct replacement made of more suitable material requires no change in rules.