Z3 Short Shifter

[Salvatore Grijalva]

Whensome years ago, I started looking for an RWD car which was fun and had a good amount of aftermarket parts, theMazda Miata was the obvious choice. At that time they could still be found for a reasonable price, and once I found onethat matched what I was looking for, I went ahead and bought it.

To install the shifter, both the knob and center console need to be removed. Once you gain access to the shifter boot,the 4 bolts that hold the outer boot (M10) also need to go. Another 3 bolts hold the shifter in place. Once those 3 areremoved, the whole shifter comes out in one piece.

See, I have this sickness for steering wheels. I have a good dozen or more posts in this blog about them. I love changing them out at random times throughout the year. Swapping steering wheels gives the whole car a different feel. I love that.

I also picked up a Moddiction Anvil shift knob to go with the new stick. I actually planned on pairing the last MR shifter with a round knob, but I really liked how the Joyfast looked and felt. I held off. But since I had another stick on the way and Moddiction was running a Christmas sale, I decided to jump.

Sorry for not taking more photos. I did so many with the first MR shifter review that I slacked off on this one. Everything comes apart so easily in these little cars. The whole shifter swap took only 10 minutes.

Hey Adam, any chance you have photos of this particular shifter installed before you put the center console and boot on? I should be placing an order next week for one of these. I have deleted the console so just wondering how it would look.

Thanks!

Ive done the APR shifter 42D shifter bushings and the shifter bracket and bracket bushings. Don bother with the bracket and bushings, as I didn't notice any difference with those. The shifter and shifter bushings make a great difference. Fitting is simple enough, but fiddly, so you need to take your time. It also takes time to just the shifter cable afterwards to get the gear lever in the right position, so allow for that too. If you need any advice PM me - happy to help.

Done The Racingline shortshifter comes with a new sidshifter which means you actually don't need much of the 42D bushings kit. I only used one of the metal fittings as the other looked like it wouldn't fit the new arm that came with the sidshifter. Already had the bracket bushings so replaced those as well any way as it was a quick and easy job.

Love the new feel though. Short precise shifts that click into place. Much much nicer than the original. Not sure whether the side shift has changed much but wasn't worried about that any way. Great mod and really pleased with it.

Cheers for the reply Mart/Caveman. I had a look with the battery and thought, no way so battery and tray came out and everything was easy to access. Pain in the behind getting the original shifter off but came up with a great technique that did the job so all good in the end!

One of the popular mods for many people after they have picked up a high performance car is to upgrade the shifter in some form or another. Factory shifters often leave a lot to be desired in terms of crispness and the length of the throw. So which method of shortening that throw and improving your shifts is best for you?

A short shift plate, or shifter adapter is a device that attaches to the shifter cable that goes from the shifter arm or lever to the transmission. It moves the ball that the cable connects to a little closer to the input selector fork and this reduces the amount of throw necessary for changing gears.

The Short Shifter is a little bit more in depth than the Short Shift Plate. With this upgrade, the shifter assembly itself is changed, usually to a shorter shaft with a slightly different leverage point. Often, these are adjustable and allow you to change how short the throw is based on where you connect the shifter cable to the shifter lever.

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