This is the best mod to this car I ever did... OK, it's the only mod I've done (besides window tint which is a no-brainer in Texas), but after a week of daily driving I'm still pumped about it.
Here's the reasons why I decided to tweak my virgin car with this mod: 1) Ya'll's positive comments on HPA's SS (and there are a lot of negative people on this thread...)
2) The stock shifter, though almost effortless caused me to be lazy with my shifts. I would tend to gently slip through the gates with the least effort possible. The result was, every now and then the shifter didn't quite make it into gear, causing a "gear scratch". This is very embarrassing to me, so when I considered all the other things I could do to the car, this was the issue that bubbled to the top.
3) The price @ $150 was right it my "threshold of pain" for a mod that doesn't improve performance (this can be argued).
4) The design process as presented by HPA was sound and it looked like a quality piece.
The Install:I was very pleased with the quality of the packaging, documentation and the product itself. This first impression is important to me and HPA should be commended for the extra effort they went through to produce this impression.
That said, I do have a couple suggestions on how to improve the docs. but they still get the job done.
The mod took me 45 min. and part of this was because it was probably the 2nd time I ever looked under the hood. You can see the lever that needs to be replaced without taking off the Airbox, which makes you almost wonder if you could do the swap without removing it, but I'm glad they recommend the removal.
I spent another 45 min. playing with the shift cable adjusters to optimize the shifter location.
My legs are short which means that when I execute the 1-2 shift, my elbow naturally hits the seat bolsters, so I have to spread my "wing" out to make an uninhibited shift. I was hoping that the SS would cause all the shift points to move toward the dash, but it doesn't, so even after the install I was still hitting the bolster with my elbow. I found that I could adjust the one cable to move the shift points closer to the dash. Of course it's not as easy as it seems, because too much adjustment one way, causes you to not engage Reverse. So, 45min was spent finding the spot that moves everything as close to the dash as possible and still get a clean Reverse. The result is near perfect for me (short legs), so that 1-2 causes my elbow to just come to rest on the bolster.
Operation Observations: 1) It felt perfect to me. It fits the demeanor of the car, tight and precise. The effort to shift is increased, but it's the increased effort that ensures complete shifts.
2) I can see why this is considered a performance mod - Shifts can be faster (keeping the turbo spooled) and consistent (which is the mantra of drag racers).
3) The only negative that I noticed was during the 1-2 shift with the window down. I can now hear the click-click of the gear selector where I didn't notice it before. The 2 other people that drove it since, commented on it too, so it wasn't just me. It might be caused by the adjustment I made to the cable, but it's not annoying enough to change.
I strongly recommend this mod to everyone, even those folks who plan to leave their cars stock.
Below I've attached pictures of the actual difference in shift distance from 1-2:Before - Gear1:
After - Gear1:
Before - Gear2:
After - Gear2:
Below are pictures related to adjusting the cable:SS, Cable adjusted to move shifter towards dash - Gear1:
SS, Cable adjusted to move shifter towards dash - Gear2:
Cable Adjuster shows adjustment to left (original location at white spot, in middle of thread):
So if you were wanting to do this, making the spring tighter, causes the shift lever in the "cabin" to move closer to the dash.
BTW: Here's what the original shift linkage looks like:
Documentation improvements: 1) Add page numbers. There is a reference to "continue to page 10" but there are no page numbers to refer to
2) Tools Required: Wrench <- would be nice to know what kind of wrench this would be. I used a 5/8 deep socket to mount the pin to the new part.
3) When mounting the pin, some locktite might be good since there is no lock washer or equivalent in the kit.
4) There is no directions specific to the 20th AE car so when the pictures didn't match, I was a little confused. The R32 section looked the closest, but it would have been nice to note somewhere which directions to use for the 20th AE car.
5) The most difficult part of the install for me was disconnecting the MAF sensor. Do you push, pull, use a screwdriver what? I've attached a picture that shows how to use your thumb to do this. The picture on page 1 - step 1 does not help.
6) Page 2 - Step 4: does not apply to my airbox
7) Page 3 - Step 8: When wiggling the airbox out, it helped to pull the battery cover off too.
After Page 3, jump to Page 7 for 20th AE owners
9) After Page 8 the pictures are inconsistent. The SS does not look like ours. It kinda makes you scratch your head.
10) Once the shifter is mounted, you're left to re-assemble the airbox. While it may seem trivial, don't forget that at this point we just want to try it out and or it's after work and we're not as alert as we should be... so things get rushed. I'd recommend adding a couple steps at the end to walk the owner back through installing the airbox. This works like a check-list so when the owner does try it out everything is back as it should be. Just adds that extra bit of completeness. (I forgot to tighten the clamp on the airbox to the engine side intake).
