Short Shifter and Shifter Height

["Stroes, Gustave" <Gustave.Stroes@xxxxxxx>]

<snip>
>As an added bonus, the 
>lever I used is about 1/2" shorter than the original lever which looks and 
>feels better.  Why has no-one ever addressed the impact of the BL/SS ERK, 
>which raises shift lever height by about an inch?  I guarantee that the 1" 
>will be immediately noticed, and not appreciated.  The words "sticks out 
>like a sore thumb" comes to mind. 
<snip>

>Andy
>'84 318i


Andy,

I have seen this point mentioned many times now in the various discussions
about short shifters.  There seems to be a general conception that a shift
lever should be as short as possible.  This is presumably to reduce the
shift throw.  True enough, with all else equal, reducing the length of your
shifter will indeed reduce the length of your shift throw.  In the 60's and
70's "cutting down" your shift lever was a common trick employed by
enthusiasts in an effort to achieve shorter throws.

However, I would argue that this is no longer necessary.  You are installing
a short shift kit to reduce your throw.  There is no need to shorten your
shift lever to further reduce throw.  The throw can already be made as short
as necessary through lengthening the lever below the ball joint.

Furthermore,  I am fairly sure that the transmission's internal gears and
synchros ultimately limit the speed at which a shift can be executed.  If
one exceeds this built in limit then mechanical damage will result.

But the time it takes to move the lever between gears is only part of the
total time it takes to execute a shift.  The remaining time is dedicated to
moving your hand from the 3 o'clock position on the steering wheel, down to
the shift knob - and then back again after the shift.  Now as the shift knob
is moved farther away from where your hand should be when driving, the time
it takes to finish a shift will increase.

Is this splitting hairs?  Of course it is.  But if one's rational for
installing a short shift kit is that it will speed up shifting times, then
one has to consider all relevant factors.  The time it takes to move your
hand down (and back up) is a big part of the total shift time.  Thus it
helps to reduce this time by bringing the shift knob as close as feasible to
the 3 o'clock position on the steering wheel.

Examine any factory (big $) race cars.  European Touring Cars, World Rally
Cars, Indy Cars, World Sports Cars etc...   All have the shift knob
positioned within 2-3 inches of the 3 o'clock position on the wheel.  Heck,
F-1 just went ahead and put the shift paddles right on the steering wheel,
so the driver does not even have to move his hand when shifting.  Shift
lever execution is one of the first things I look at when I poke my head
into any race car.  If the car is well thought out, the shift knob will be
properly placed.  It still amazes me how often low budget teams overlook
simple things like this.

Now, if one has installed a short shifter purely for reasons of ergonomics
(i.e. if just feels better) then disregard all of the above.  However, do
not delude yourself that you have reduced your shift times just because you
have a shorter throw.

Just trying to clear this up.

Gustave Stroes
88 M3
Redondo Bch, CA

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