B & M SHORT SHIFTER INSTALLED

Last friday i had a B & M short shifter installed in my car, and i must say it is night and day from stock, the throw is so short, so far im happy with it, anyone else have experiences to share if they have one TIA JAS

Jas, Have the same on my '02 996. I love it! Give yourself a little time to get used to it. Hope it works out. regards Buck

Best bang for the buck mod I'd done. Short but sweet. Regards. Mike

Mike, how do you like the ROWM030? can you share any personal experiences about it? i was thinking about going with it, thanks JAS

The ROW 030 suspension is another great mod. Offers a perfect balance for street/track use. It is on the firm side but man when it is on the track- corners are tite and much less roll. It's like nite/day compared to stock. If you get it done it doesn't look like it got much lower but it'll settle more and if you compare a stock suspension with a settled row 030 it's very noticeable but not really at the begginning. I would recommend it if you plan to track it. The new PSS 9 ssupension for the 996 sounds good too and if they had it earlier I'd probably gone for that. Regards. Mike

What does the short throw help with? Wael 996 C2 99

The B&M, or any other short shifter, shortens the shifter throw between gears. Instead of approx. 4 inches between gears it decreases to 2.75inches (numbers are not actual... just an example.) I like the Tech Art unit; it will not increase notchiness while decreasing throw like the B&M or EVO kits. However, the price is quite a bit more. Good Luck Ciao, Elias

does the short shifter make the gear-entry gate feel more like the aluminum shift gear of the ferraris? like does it make it more direct and exact? wael

It doesn't look like that beautiful Ferrari gate but it definitely feels precise in every gear. Regards. Mike

996FLT6, By logical deduction of leverage dynamics, if the shifter throw is going to be 60% shorter, then the moment you will have to use to operate the shifter will be 60% more.. meaning it's going to be stiffer, right? doesnt make any limitation? wael

I got this from the 996 turbo forum: Short shifters are for the drag race crowd . Some have very strong centering springs so you can ram 2nd to 3rd gear . They wear out your syncros due the short throw . They are tiring on a road course if very notchy or stiff . Just my experience with them. The shorter lever arm of aftermarket shifters forces synchros to engage faster than engineers figured. In some car lines , this has led to premature synchro failure and the dreaded " car popped out of gear " or grinding noise while shifting. Even with stock shifter , it's not good to ram the lever as fast as possible between gears . Porsche won't fit a short shifter because they don't want to pay tranny replacement costs - don't you think they could do what B&M or TechArt could do even better ? You can't get that OEM " snik-snik " feel like on a Miata or Honda S2000 on trannies that have beefier higher mass internals on high TQ cars w/o consequences - there's no free lunch. I'm just offering my opinion as a former B&M user . No one will deny any car feels more " racy" with it . Ok, i wont think about it anymore! Waz

[quote]Originally posted by Waz996: <strong>I got this from the 996 turbo forum: Short shifters are for the drag race crowd . Some have very strong centering springs so you can ram 2nd to 3rd gear . They wear out your syncros due the short throw . They are tiring on a road course if very notchy or stiff . Just my experience with them. The shorter lever arm of aftermarket shifters forces synchros to engage faster than engineers figured. In some car lines , this has led to premature synchro failure and the dreaded " car popped out of gear " or grinding noise while shifting. Even with stock shifter , it's not good to ram the lever as fast as possible between gears . Porsche won't fit a short shifter because they don't want to pay tranny replacement costs - don't you think they could do what B&M or TechArt could do even better ? You can't get that OEM " snik-snik " feel like on a Miata or Honda S2000 on trannies that have beefier higher mass internals on high TQ cars w/o consequences - there's no free lunch. I'm just offering my opinion as a former B&M user . No one will deny any car feels more " racy" with it . Ok, i wont think about it anymore! Waz </strong><hr></blockquote> That's only one opinion and it's the first time I've ever heard anything negative about short shifters. Search Rennlist, CFG's boards, and PPBB for "B&" to get more feedback.

With the B&M for the 996 reduction is about 25-30% so yes it would be a tad stiffer/notchier then stock but not overbearing at all but I would agree anything more then 45% and up is going to be way too much reduction. I like the tranny type mounts like RUF/Techart but with the issues with tranny recall would you want to put one in and mite make it a warranty issue but love the idea don't have to mess with the center console. By the way WAZ-has the drag race with the M5 been done? Win baby!!! Regards. Mike

FYI, the B&M ss doesn't have a centering spring, it utilizes the stock centering spring. The spring feels exactly like stock because it is stock. The stock shifter IMO is very sloopy, the throws are huge and the side sloop is too vague. And the stock version seems to become sloppy over time due to the materials losing tolerances used in the shifter. Personally, I like the feel of the B&M ss and it isn't that much more effort to shift, the shift pattern is much more defined and solid. I suspect that if you have problems with the effort of the shifter that it wasn't installed correctly.

Oak, hit it right on the nose. Nothing gets changed on the B&M kit except the shifter rod and bushings. The Evo kit replaces the bottom cup (lengthening it) that attaches the engage/disengage springs. The Tech Art unit mounts underneath the car. Takes about 30 min. to install and has 3 settings... mine is at ~30% setting. The other two only have one setting. If something happened to the tranny I would uninstall the Short shifter prior to taking it to the dealer. However, all mechanical devices will fail given enough time... Maybe a little faster with the short shifters; but it is a helluva lot more fun to drive with them in!!! My thoughts are... sell or trade it after the warrantee period; and get a new one. Keep the economy going.

Waz, Ref- Porsche won't install them is not quite correct. The Factory might not...but my local dealer here in Ct. did on my new '02 C-2..& with there( in writing)blessing. They Will honor tranmission warrentee! Perhaps it's because they loused up my original order & it didn't come w/ the "Sports EX" installed, & I was a bit PO'D. buck

Waz, an hour of your free time and you can have that car shifting like a champ. It takes more time to remove the center console and trim pieces; than it takes to install the B&M shifter it self. The only real hard part of the B&M is getting the stock plastic bushings out. I actually cut them out with a Dremel Rotary tool (like butter). Just mark the factory setting on the engage/disengage springs... I didn't do that so I had to readjust the reverse rod a few times before I got it right. (I actually thought it was better after I adjusted than when it came off the boat.) Here is when my story gets a little twisted... I always thought the new shifter required an extra amount of force to get it in gear (especially in the cold)... Then after I had it for a month; My wife drove the car and asked me why it was so hard to get in to gear? So, I ordered the EVO kit... Intalled this one. It didn't really increase the force required to get into gear... just didn't reduce the throw enough for my likeing. Also, with the Evo kit, the shifter rod would lean more to the right side of the car; not cantered like stock (or B&M...Not acceptable) Out went that one. Lastly... the Tech art. No problems and easy install. Elias