I heard that a short shifter is bad for your transmition, is this true. also does a short shifter really help your quarter mile time?

 

Its pretty much just a cut-down stick. Most manufacturers like Skunk2, Spoon, Neuspeed, B&M, etc have different pivot points which I guess helps shifting. The point is to simply reduce the time it takes to shift or "throw" the shifter. I've heard that it can be a real bitch to install though, with a heat shield right under the shifter or something...

 

yeah I heard that they are pretty had to install to. thanks for the information.

 

heat shield is easy to get around, cut a square hole in it that gives enough room for the bottom of the shifter to move...

i did mine and it wasnt too difficult, used a high rpm grinder to cut the hole.

 

I have the repair manual for the G2 and it doesn't say anything about any cutting. It actually looks pretty easy to do. Me and my friend plan on installing short shifters in our cars without any outside help.

 

My friend just installed a short shifter in his civic, and he said it was really easy to do, he didn't have to cut anything though. at least he didn't say anyhting about cutting, ill have to ask him. So is it for sure not bad for the transmition? has any one had problems with it?

 

there is no fitment problem with any of the civics/crxs. its just the g2 tegs that have that problem cause the exhaust is right beneath the shifter so you have to drop the exhaust. (maybe the g3's too, i dont know) when i did my short shifter on my 92 i just removed the heat sheild altogether. ive had no problems with it so far (had it for 2 years now)

 

Short shifters don't destroy trannies. Bad shifting destroys trannies. Changing the shifter does absolutely nothing to the transmission. You can only slam the shift forks around so fast. Drop your tranny, open it up, and push through the gears so you can exactly see how your tranny is working. You'll understand how people are ruining synchos, shift forks, and such. HTH

 

I agree that short shifters don't destroy transmissions by themselves (well, in that case nothing actually ruins your car by itself, right?). But there are a few reasons why I don't really care for short shifters. Firstly, installing and having a short shifter encourages more aggressive and sloppy shifting, and there's a small period of time where you have to get used to it. Secondly, there's absolutely no benefit to be gained in city driving, and if you do participate in motorsports (like SCCA Solo II or whatnot) then there is much more room for improvement in your driving technique that needs to occur before you will be able to trully reap the benefits of slightly quicker shifting. Plus, after all, short shifters are somewhat annoying to install.

 

I just installed my short shifter 2 weeks ago. Not to hard at all. Just make sure you jack up the front tires. You will have to pull the exhaust off from the catalytic converter, which can be a bitch b/c the bolts are rusted on, but other then that, it was just a matter of taking out and putting in. I got B&M. I paid 130 for it, but it has a lifetime warranty. Id give it a 2 out of 5 on install difficulty.

And i noticed quite the difference from a stock shifter. Its fun as hell!