Dave B

I few days ago I ordered a Pacesetter short throw shifter from Spider Performance for $120 shipped. It came in today and I had to install it right away....as usual (wife rolls eyes and laughs at her childish husband).

Pulling out the old assembly was pretty easy, but Pacesetter's directions are pretty vague. If you are not mechanically inclined, this project might confuse you when you disassemble the shifter assembly. You have to remove the cat converter, remove the upper heatshield, remove the shift linkage bolt and nut, remove the shifter return spring, and remove two bolts holding in the shifter assembly. From inside you pop out the shifter interior panel with boot and pull out the shifter and the associated assembly. You simply replace the old unit with the Pacesetter shifter and install in reverse order. It took me about 1.5 hours working slowly and learning.

I set the shift ball at the middle setting (50% of max reduced throw). Upon test fitting the heatshield, I found out the linkage and shifter was rubbing the top of the shield. Pacesetter says that you will have to cut out a portion of the shield if you set the shifter for a shorter throw. I thought about it for a second and realized why put the heat shield back in if you cut into it? I left it off and bolted the cat back in. The clearance between the cat and shift linkage is about 3/4". I figured the shifter could get pretty warm, especially with the alumninum ball shift ****. I risked it anyways. I cleaned up and then went for a spin.....

Wow!!! This thing is pretty short, especially for only being adjusted to 50% of max. From 1st to 2nd, the throw is short 3". With my old 2" cut shifter setup, the throw was 4.7". The shifting is a bit notchy, but that usually seems to be the downside of all short throw shifters. I noticed that perfect rev matching reduced the notchy feel dramatically. The overall feel of the shifter is MUCH MORE substantial than the stocker mostly because the linkage bushing is a hard plastic where as the stocker had soft plastic along with rubber bushings on the edges. Your feel very connected to the tranny. I thought for sure that the new shifter would vibrate a lot more than the stocker, but oddly enough the vibration is less than stock. I went out and banged some gears, especially the 1-2 and 2-3 and I'm hitting each gear quite a bit quicker (especially the 1-2). My 3-4 is also MUCH quicker. The trick is to push it into gear, not slam it. If you slam it, you'll potentially get hung up on gate on a 2-3 shift. As for no heatshield, the outside temp was 89 at the time and I was doing WOT runs and then a bit of stop and go. The shifter assembly never got warm. Later after parking the car for 15 minutes, the shifter had warmed up slightly, but nothing "hot" at all. The notchiness will take a little getting use to, but overall I'm very pleased. THis is one of those mods that really made me think, "why in the hell didn't I get this earlier?".


Dave

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Try some synthetic gear oil. It might reduce the notchiness a tad.

CKNY

iTrader: (1)

Dave, please keep us updated on how hot the shifter gets. I installed the SMC unit and didn't feel like cutting out the heat shield so I banged it. I didn't bang enough and the shifter hits the shield and I HATE it. It sounds like something's broken and just generally sounds crappy. If I can remove the heat shield without causing much trouble perhaps i'd be better off. The only problem I can think of is long trips... sometimes I'm in 1.5 - 2 hr traffic on the way home from school and that might get pretty toasty. hehe.

Anyway, congrats on the shifter... I thought the same thing, why the hell didn't I do this sooner ( although I had the shifter sitting in my house for a year =P )

Chris

Vinipux

no, I have the same shifter, got it for $64 shipped
I have it on the lowest shortest setting and I smashed the hell out of the heatshield to make it fit, but the shifter rod get warm, not hot, but more then your average temp, it hasn't caused any problems yet, but I would like to cool it down a bit, maybe I'll bend the shield back a just a bit so it's further away from the cat

Konstantin

Dave B

The reason I didn't put the heatshield back in is because if you cut it, what's the point of it being there? From what I can tell, the heat shield is only there to protect the shifter and linkage from heat. When you cut it, you've pretty much taken away it's point, from what I can tell. The cat does get extremely hot, but it's too far away from the car body to cause warm feet and such. I thought the 3/4" clearance between the cat and linkage might be a problem, but it's not. Even when I had my stock shifter and heatshield in place, the shift lever would get warm after parking. It should be noted that I have the RT cat which has it's own heat shields, but they are small and thin.

Dave

Vinipux

well, just bend the headshield so it can accomodate the shifter movement and put it back, I feel that you need the shield, they put it there for a reason

ejj

iTrader: (5)

I don't know that you need the heat shield, but I did this when installing my STS. I have a SMC STS, installed on the shortest setting, and all it took was a few good whacks with a rubber mallet to create enough clearence with the stock heat shield.

Couldn't hurt to have it there, but I don't think it will cause problems.

matt calder

iTrader: (2)

Dave,
I did the exact same thing you did. Set it in the middle and did not feel like cutting it, so i left it off. I have had it on for about a month now and everything seems to be alright. Also The notchiness of the shifter should go away after awhile, mine has now loosened up a bit and almost fells like stock.

BottleFedMax

Does anyone have the Pacesetter STS on a 5th Gen.? Or does anyone know if it fits? Thanks for any info.

VQdriver

vinipux, where can i find a STS for that price?

ohboiya

iTrader: (3)

when u say 'lowest setting' do u mean shortest throw? if so ... do I move the ball up or ball all the way down? I'm going 2 try this 2nite ... wish me luck!

Vinipux

yeah, move the ball ALL THE WAY UP, it's easy, you don't need luck and I've done some "experimenting" this weekend, I went to NY City from boston and i've noticed that if I'm driving in traffic then the stick would heat up and there would be hot air under the center consule, but when I'm at highway cruising speeds the temperature goes down to normal, cool metal temperature so I guess it should be fine at least for me to have the heatshield so close to the cat

Kevin Wong

Did the shifter ever get smoother? I'm going to be putting my STS when it gets here. Also, does it come with a replacement bushing, or is just the shifter and delrin ball? Thanks

Victim64

did some diggin Think I am ordering mine this week too. Let me know how your install goes.

MAXINXS

Good write up Dave. I've been considering getting a sts for awhile now and your thread sold me on one. Thanks for the info.

Mishmosh

iTrader: (3)

Have my Pacesetter STS ($70) on the shortest throw and left the heatshield off too. It gets warm but never hot. There is no problems with leaving it off.

I'd also recommend the shortest throw. Although initially very short, the throw loosens up a bit after break in. It also becomes less notchy depending on how tightly you torqued the shifter linkage bolt.

For those with a 5 speed, definitely get a STS. It makes driving sooooo much more fun!

xHypex

iTrader: (1)

I installed my SMC last week on the lowest setting, and I decided to leave the heatshielf off as well. The shifter gets a little warm but it's not too hot. I really like it but I have 2 questions.
1) What does regreasing the ball do?
2) Any concerns with water, etc. coming from under the car. I washed my car tonight and noticed there was a little water on the top of the ball. The undercarriage wash must have sprayed pretty hard, and there was no heatshield to stop the water.
-hype

Dave B

I've still got my shifter set at 50%. I love the shifter because it feels worlds stronger and solid. The throws are perfect too. Rowing the stock shifter feels like you're churning butter and the STS feels like you've got something mechanical in your hand that's connected to the heart of the car. My only gripes are that you can feel more engine vibration and the shifter is still a bit notchy, especially 2nd. I shift slowly around town so it's not much of a problem. At the track, the shifter is a God-send. I never feel any notchiness when I'm slamming the gears


Dave

VQdriver

do you think it might make you faster down the 1/4 mi? even if it's just a little bit.

j_bryan

iTrader: (1)

i would love to get one, but can't find a sts anywhere in stock. Suggestions??

Dave B

Probably not on the 1-2 (because of the spin), BUT my 2-3 and 3-4 shift is definately quicker. This drop on time probably isn't measureable on tenths of a second, but I'm sure it helps some in the 1/4 mile.


Dave