At last!! the TRD ShortShifters have finally arrived. TB2 and I have been excitedly anticipating its arrival. :woot:



As expected, the instructions only comes in Japanese (gonna get it translated by my sister-in-law like how she translate JP PS2 games we have) but I'm not worried as the team at ISMR installed it for me. ;)

It took them about 15mins and before I knew it - walla!!!



Now the IS is so fun to drive...the short shifter very much compliments the TRD clutch and Jun lightweight flywheel I got installed two Saturdays ago which btw I'm still getting used too. :rolleyes:

The travel is very closed and quite easy to get used too but I should not judge the easeness of it to early as I have a habit of down gearing and might find myself in strife with the close travel which I stupidly call Reg's PANIC GEARING :blink: - i've done it twice and I'm assuming can happen again. This especially when near the 1st and Reverse side of things or the other one from 5th to 2nd instead of 4th :unsure:

But all in all, learning and practice make perfect (or close to perfect).
Another happy customer - two thumbs up.

man i think the short shifter is probably my best mod to date in terms of funness to drive! it feels so much more solid and almost clicky to shift!

its actually needs a bigger effort than before to accidentally put into reverse now. :D

LOL! i was the same when i first got my car, im ready to get iit again when my shifter goes in!!

Although that reverse gear beep is annoying, it has saved my rear bar and bootlid a few times! :rolleyes:

hahaha I had some virgin IS passenger on the weekend and made this comment when I was backing up.

"Reg, just because you work in the Ports doesn't mean its cool to have a truck reversing sound on your car." <_<

I had to explain why the sound is there...aahh Uninformed Fools rofl

yea i have to say its saved my behind a few times.... :rolleyes:

i quite like the beeping..annoying at first then you learn to love the little quirks our cars have

What I'm having a hard time are smooth launches and a smooth change to 2nd...getting a bit to a thud/pull/jerk when I don't do the transition correctly

yeh..you just have to put a bit more effort into it thats all
2nd to 3rd is sweeeeet

3rd onwards are a breeze compared to the first two.
My reverse skill is coming together now...its like trying to balance oneself on a 4x4 plunk of wooden platform. :unsure:

hmm i think i got a 'easy' clutch... :unsure:

mine isnt as heavy as matt's and doesnt sound as near as hard as yours is trying to reverse

Mine should be almost identical to TB2 except for the Shortshifter but that will get sorted on Friday.

What I do miss but is the cold feel of the original gear knob. But its also a good thing. The leather goes well with the rest of the car.

Im keen to try one, whats the best way to get hold of one and whats the price? They sound like quite a treat.

You just missed a groupbuy but ask Greeneyes if he can get you one.

http://forum.altezzaclub.org.au/index.php?showtopic=1679

just put your stock gearknob back on reg?

I love the cold feel of the stock knob, but HATE the burn in summer. TRD Duracon FTW

Its all good..leather feels better and also my original has a lot of ring scrapes on one side of the ball...previous owner.

I have a TRD leather knob for sale if anyone is interested.

Anyhow, I have been using my short shifter for a few days, and it is great. A little mushy at first, surprisingly, but it tightened up after a day or so of driving. The 1st/2nd change is improved a bit, but still quite clunky. Overall, it's much faster than the standard shift, but also requires a little more brute force, and with this, you have to be more positive where you point your change, so you don't grab the wrong gear. Certainly a worthy upgrade for manual drivers, though. Over the weekend i took the car for a proper run on some country roads and it is here the changer really excels. I find i'm much better at changing down into first for hairpins now, and it works really well with heel and toe changes.

Pro's - faster, more 'positive' gear changes
Con's - faster gearbox wear, more direct changes required with more effort.

i've got a similar verdict.

The short shifter isn't so great for low speed driving, Especially when the car is cold. Driving after a cold start makes for near impossible gear changes. After the gearbox oil is warm, the changes are fine, but still difficult at low speed.

but the shifter is GREAT for high speed driving. If you're rough with your're changes, you will never have a problem.

the shifter comes with an extender sleeve! so wear is effectively the same, if not less, as hard shifts are more direct with the shortshifter, than with the longer, 'clumbsier' stock item.

I.e. top half of the shifter is slightly longer, bottom half is also longer, however with the sleve, the 'stoke' on the bottom half of the shifter is exactly the same length.

i've spent 40 minutes trying to apply it to a mathermatics foruma, (pythagoras) to no avail. So i hope it makes sense what i said!

Errr... what he said. Well, i should point out that in every case where i have thrashed my car - at the last Ian Luff Advanced Driving course, for example - my gearbox has always felt better to shift afterwards.

do you have to remove the whole centre console to install the shifter?
and anyone got english instructions ?? :unsure:

you need to take out the part which includes the part which encompasses the gear boot, as well as some of the centre console. There are two screws on each side (if i remember correctly) that need to be undone, down next to where the seat goes, where the transmission tunnel is!

You unscrew and take that part out, then unscrew the actual shifter stick itself, then grab your new shifter stick, put some allpurpose grease on the rubber bushing at the bottom of the stick - then threw the spacers where the shifter sits - its a perfect fit. Then the shifter sits ontop of that spacer.

i hope you can make some sense of that.... :P

I have had this shifter in my car for over 2 1/2 years and it feels just as good as the day I installed it. The only thing I wish was different was the height of the shifter. I personally like the shorter style shifters better, kind of like this one from the IS300......

Blue99altezza, meet my friend, Mr Hacksaw :-D

Most workshops will be able to cut the gearstick down for you and even re-thread it so your gear knob can screw back on properly.

I have thought about doing that, but I live in the sticks so it is hard to find someone that can re-thread it for me..... The short shifter in my old car had really long threads so I was able to cut half of them off and still screw the knob on..... Thanks for looking out. :)

Blue99, i know what you mean re: the height. After you drive something like an MX5, for me at least, the shorter shifter feels nicer. HOWEVER, this is in a coupe where you sit lower, with your knees higher. You see, it's all to do with distance from the steering wheel, and after driving my car in anger a few times, i LOVE the TRD short shifter, because it gives you a short throw without compromising the distance of the shifter from the steering wheel. = best of both worlds.

Guys im loving the sound of these more and more everyday. If i was to get one do you know if it would void my warrenty?

TRD Quick Shift = :woot:

To answer your question - depends upon the dealership. Ask them. Speak to a manager if you can, and simply ask the questions:
1. Will you install a TRD Quick Shift
2. Will this effect my warranty?

If they are reasonable, they will so "yes" to question 1. and "no" to question 2.

If they are not, shop elsewhere (another dealership) or do without.

hmmm i might just have to just do that soon then. thanks TBird..... (BTW i get it serviced at Parramatta)

Short Shifter now installed and let me tell you everyone HAS to get one of these! This would have to be the best mod so far on the car, Makes the gear box feel like new.
The shift is only about 2cm from 1st to 2nd. for those who are worried about mis-shifting dont worry cause if anything it is alot easier to drive with the TRD shifter in.

NOW GO AND GET ONE!!!!

If you have any questions please ask.

i sold mine
hope the buyer reports back on it

I havent put my altezza gearbox completely back together yet, and I've never driven with it.

So you'll have to excuse the noob question, but.... Where is reverse? Is it to the right of the H pattern, or is it near 1st or something?

Left of first. Give it a good wack and listen for the beep.

What he said. At first I had trouble finding reverse, you have to push fairly hard or you wind up in first. After a while you don't have to think about it

yes I love my TRD shifter to bits as well. Easy as mustard to install, every one that drives my car can' get over how nice the notchy gear change feeling is. Its great when in 6th gear your knee doesn't rub on the shift knob either. Also people always seem to comment on how it looks like i am in nutral when in 5th or 6th to lol

how much does the shifters cost?

installed my trd shifter a few weeks ago and overall i'm very impressed, needs a little effort for reverse, my only complaint is that it sits a little high for my liking. Thanks to beerbaron for selling it to me.

cheers

I picked mine up for $400 off ebay new...

i agree it does sit a bit higher

what do you think of the shifts ?

shifts are great!

just a little more strength needed to go from fourth to fifth.

I'm only reading good about this shifter... I think it will be one of my next mods!

I was reluctant to try charlies one when he told me "have a go" cos I didn't want to make my self upset when I got back in my car! rofl half the reason I held off on doing it was I was considering doing a conversion and If I changed the box then I wouldn't be able to use the shifter....now that I'm staying 1G its not a problem!!!!