Installed a short shifter

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 10/21/2013 at 21:49 • Filed to: FR-S

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It always scares the hell out of me to pull off pieces of the interior, but my god what a difference! The soft rubber bushings have also all been replaced with nice poly ones, and now each shift feels so like I'm reaching into the transmission and interacting directly with the gears. I didn't even have any bolts left over like I usually do when I work on cars. Although I'm pretty sure my fiancee and my neighbors all think I'm crazy to be tearing into a new car like I have been.

My trunk acted as the staging area for the parts.

and here is the OEM shifter I liberated.

Sn210 > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 21:52

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Sweet! How long did the install take? How easy was it?

scoob > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 21:53

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As we all know, short shifters save lives !

Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 21:56

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Nice job man, how does it feel?

POD > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 21:58

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That's awesome! Glad to hear it made such a difference. CS is working on one for my Speed3, I'm counting down the days till they release it.

Decay buys too many beaters > Sn210 10/21/2013 at 21:58

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Just the shifter took me about 2 hours in a cramped dark single car garage. If I had to do it again I could probably do it in an hour though, I was really paranoid about removing some of the interior.

The bushings I did yesterday at a friend's house on a lift, you can do it on jackstands, but a lift makes it way easier to drop the drive-shaft for better access.

Install was pretty easy and there are some great tutorials online.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 21:59

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Nicely done, I am also scared to pull things out of the interior, so that is probably why I won't do this.

POD > scoob 10/21/2013 at 22:00

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That is an amazing story.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom 10/21/2013 at 22:01

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I'm going to use a giant cliche here, it feels just like a bolt action rifle. Well not exactly like it, but there is a very similar feeling of mechanical involvement.

Sn210 > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:01

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Nice, a short shifter has been on my radar lately

Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:02

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Ahh, so do you get that clink-clank when you shift? And how much did it reduces the throw by you think?

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 22:04

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Do it!! It makes the 2nd to 3rd shift sooooooooo much better

Compared to other cars I've owned, the FR-S's panels are very easy to take off. I mean the whole center console is just 6 screws!

Decay buys too many beaters > Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom 10/21/2013 at 22:09

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It's more like a very satisfying 'thunk', there is still a lot of sound insulation over the actual linkage.

I'm not going to get caught up in guessing percentages (the MFR claimed like 30%), I will say that it is much shorter than stock, but not so short that I think missing shifts will be an issue.

Decay buys too many beaters > POD 10/21/2013 at 22:10

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I always thought they were a little gimmicky, but damn was I ever wrong.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:12

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If it is really that easy then I might do it. As for now, JDL has a sale on their headers and I want in!

Dunnik > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:12

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So, am I the only one who kinda likes long throws? On some cars, anyway?

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 22:18

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What?!? Where?

I've been waiting on nameless but if the JDL can be had for cheap, that might just sway me

Jeremy H formerly Kalakaboooom > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:19

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Nice, I always loved the sound of the gears coming together.

And only reason I ask is because I have a SS for my car that I have yet to put in, it'll be my first SS so I'm pretty excited for how it'll feel

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:21

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Well generally they are about 1000 bucks, but right now the UELs can be had for about 870. The ELs are close to 1100 and can be bought for 970. So it all depends if that is worth it. The quality is top notch, and it does have a lifetime warranty. The only problem is, is that it may take a bit to make.

Decay buys too many beaters > Dunnik 10/21/2013 at 22:22

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I agree, my main reason for changing was not to reduce throw, but to increase the drivers mechanical interaction. The stock linkage used soft rubber at each friction surface in order to cut out NVH, and it felt good, but one thing people always say about the FR-S is that it's transmission does not feel as good as the miata/s2000/rx8 one.

This modification remedied that.

Burrito de EJ25 > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:24

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I desperately need to replace the bushings in my WRX's transmission, but I'm a fraidy cat.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 22:25

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Yeah, one of the other 86 owners around me just got a set. It looks like JDL is the best american one right now from a design/manufacturing standpoint.

Dunnik > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:26

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I see, makes sense.

Decay buys too many beaters > Burrito de EJ25 10/21/2013 at 22:27

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Gotta learn somehow! I'd never done any transmission work before this, but I was methodical and went slowly.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:29

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When they first started, they had problems sending headers out and the redesigned the header midway though making them. . . but everything has been sorted and so far all their customers are happy.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 22:41

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hmmm, now I've got to decide between headers and a set of RPF1s.

And BTW, headers are super easy to do on the FR-S. I replaced my frontpipe on sunday, and we ran into some "issues". We had an exhaust leak, and then the nut on the front pipe crossthreaded on the way out.

Long story short, after breaking off the bolt at the connection point, I now have my friends OEM header on my car left over from when he installed his revworks header.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:43

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Did you hear the exhaust leak? I feel like I have one too, but I am not 100% sure.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 22:45

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Yes, i heard it. But it is really hard to tell over the sound of the goddamn DI system. At idle the engine sounds like an exhaust leak.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 22:46

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I checked and it doesn't feel like I have a leak, I guess it is best not to worry. I will check once I get my headers.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 23:19

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Yeah, I feel the same way. I'll check mine really close once I get headers in, but until then it's not really important as the OEM headers will only be on for about another 3 months max.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 23:20

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You getting new gaskets with the headers?

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 23:21

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By the way were you talking about the cat back, the front pipe or the overpipe? Mine was at the header/overpipe interface, but that is only accessible after removing the under body panels so I have not really re checked.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 23:22

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Probably should, I've already re-used this set once!

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 23:26

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I feel like it at the frontpipe/overpipe. I reused the OEM gasket instead of the supplied Motiv one. Once I get the Motiv overpipe, I will probably replace it. I was thinking getting some Grimspeed header gaskets, I heard they were pretty good.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 23:34

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Yeah, I figure I'll cross that bridge once the headers are sitting on my living room floor, grimmspeed looks good though.

I ended up doubling up gaskets at the header/overpipe interface just to be sure.

My unit was the nameless frontpipe, overpipe combo, pretty interesting how they eliminated the stock overpipe.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 23:38

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Now that I see the nameless piece, it looked like the best choice. Less places for leaks and it is cheaper than buying an overpipe and frontpipe separately.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/21/2013 at 23:43

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And a very intelligently designed resonator, my exhaust is definitely louder, but I actually am getting less drone then with the stock frontpipe. Plus since it works in parallel, it adds absolutely no flow restriction.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Decay buys too many beaters 10/21/2013 at 23:51

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Do you have a cat in there? I would think it is the first "bludge" but it looks too small to be a catalytic converter. I will only have one resonator, but I will still have a cat so there should be no rasp and it shouldn't drone. . . hopefully.

Decay buys too many beaters > YSI-what can brown do for you 10/22/2013 at 00:10

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Yes, it's a long taper high flow cat (the first bulge), the resonator is the little cylinder on the back. I have two helmholtz resonators in my current system (basically they operate in parallel so as to not impede flow) one on the front pipe, and one in the catback.

It sounds quiet and civil below 3k rpm, after that not so much.

DrJohannVegas > Decay buys too many beaters 10/22/2013 at 01:08

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Subaru (ok, Toybaru, whatever...) + short shifter = http://jalopnik.com/5786877/how-a-…

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Bruno Martini > Decay buys too many beaters 10/22/2013 at 11:47

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Everything is better with a nice COB.......

Decay buys too many beaters > Bruno Martini 10/22/2013 at 11:56

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Sorry, COB?

Bruno Martini > Decay buys too many beaters 10/22/2013 at 12:30

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Decay buys too many beaters > Bruno Martini 10/22/2013 at 12:41

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Unfortunately Cobb is not offering any support for the FR-S/BRZ platform.

Mine is a Kartboy.

GRawesome > Decay buys too many beaters 10/23/2013 at 20:38

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Have you noticed that it is any louder then your stock shifter? I installed one in my car and it was so well connected to the transmission that it acted as a giant timing fork sending noise into the cabin. The difference in shift was so much better I didn't want to get rid of it though so I dyna-matted the hell out of the transmission tunnel cover and that helped a lot. It's bearable now.

Also these are awesome for interior trim work, if you ever do any more trim work they are worth every penny.

Decay buys too many beaters > GRawesome 10/24/2013 at 01:03

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Yep, went to harbor freight about 10 minutes before starting and picked up a small set of trim tools, awesome purchase. I'm pretty sure they saved all of my trim clips.

I do notice a bit more noise (some gear whine), but that was more a function of the spacers and bushings I installed. The noise does not bother me though (actually kinda like it... because racecar). The FR-S is not strictly speaking, my daily driver otherwise I might get a bit annoyed, but to be perfectly honest even after the mods I get WAY more gear noise from my stock Jetta than I do from the modified FR-S. The kit quality is very good (methinks better than OEM), so somehow noise and vibration above about 3000 rpm is somehow less than stock.