Short shift kit?????

looking to install a short shift kit in my '99 996. Any advice on which one to go with...pro's & con's of available ones?? Thanks Jim

I've been looking hard at this same issue... Far to much play in my stock box, which I might add has helped me miss a few. I've heard the name B&M often. My problem has been I haven't been able to find a place to get the feel for one prior to buying.

Make sure you try short shifters really well before you install one.. the gears tend to be stickier when cold and generally you need much more force and mostly: more precision.. one COULD go wrong! ..but in all, i just love my short shifter. Driving is much more pleasurable.. Waz

Jim give me a call I can help you out.

The sticky problem is one reason why people like the techart and ruf one as they don't increase any resistance to the throw, whereas the other do- bottom mount v. top mount etc. Another consideration is that some decrease the for throw more than aft and vice versa or something akin to that which is a bit odd. I don't exactly remember what the deal was or with which but just another possible consideration.

The inside the car (B&M type) shifters decrease the fore/aft and side to side travel by about 35%. The under the car units (RUF type) only decrease the fore/aft travel. The width of the shift pattern is the same. I believe B&M also makes the various RUF type shifters, which are sold under several different brand names. B&M also makes the new OEM short shifter for Porsche.

good to know,but I remember there being some issue with some kit only doing a fore reduction or something wierd? maybe that was just because of the adjustment? dunno.

ALL nonsense. go out and buy yourself a B&M SSK. if i can install one so can you. makes a world of difference, more ways than one. foreign affairs in florida is the place to purchase it from (online/phone sales). much happier because of it. cheers

personally, i would go for the under car SSK. B&M makes one now. i had the in car B&M on my boxster and i felt that it was OK except for the 1st to 2nd shift. it was hard to do a quick 1-2 shift and the other shifts tended to be a little harder than stock as well. became notchy. with the under car kit i have heard that there is no notchiness and feels just like stock. keep in mind that side to side throw is reduced too (in car SSK), increasing the chances of of a 5-2, 4-1, 6-1 shift causing a overrev and grenading your engine. might be a remote chance but the chance is still there. having said that, porsche's SSK is exactly like the B&M and is actually designed and manufactured by B&M, and is probably safe. EDIT: also, the under car SSK installs in less than 30 minutes and the in car SSK can take up to 2 hours.

I took the B &M SSk out of my car because I felt it was not an improvement (way too notchy and stiff), a different feel certainly. I have no comment (but curiosity) about the under car mount. "A chaque son gout"

FWIW ALL shifters have to accomplish the same objective. They must rotate the selector lever a certain amount for the selector mechansim to travel a predescribed distance within the transmission. This distance is the distance required for the selector forks (or whatever mechanism) to engage the synchros. The engagement of the synchros requires a specific force regardless of the rest of the shift mechanism. So you now have a prescribed distance to be traveled by the fork x the force required to move the synchros. That Force x Distance = Work. Now, at the other end of the system you have the lever. It must provide the same amount of Work (not accounting for frictional losses). So IF you reduce the shifter distance by 30%, you will have an increase in force required of 30%. Force (shifter) x Distance (shifter) = Force (synchros) x Distance (forks). As the Force (synchros) and Distance (forks) remains the same, all you are doing is very the amount of Force (shifter) and Distance (shifter). This is precisely what happens with the Under Car short shifter. I expect that it is the same for the In Car short shifter, but I do not know if the In Car shifter is also changing the lever ratio for the other transmission selector cable. For this reason, I can offer no opinion on the possible reduction of the LATERAL movement required of the In Car shifter. Does this Work In = Work Out explanation help? It's been around since Da Vinci or before. Regards,

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...t=0&#entry3248

Had the Porsche short shifter installed this week and couldn't be happier. Very direct, precise throws that seem shorter than the 35% reduction Porsche claims. The increased effort at first seemed a little heavy, but now feels just fine. With the stock unit I would occasionally get a 2-5 when trying a quick 2-3, but this unit seems to have cured that. Personally, this is the way the car should come from the factory. MSRP is about $485 and it took the dealer a couple of hours to install. Take this with a grain of salt, but the service writer at my dealer has tried cars with both the B&M and the Porsche units and says the B&M is "notchier".... I personally haven't been able to compare a B&M equipped car.

I have the B&M and while cold, it takes some effort to shift from 2 to 1, but it warms up in 2 minutes, and after that, the shifter is just wonderful, short & precise shifts.

I have the B&M under car SSk and it's perfect for me. Front/back throws from neutral are all shortened 35 % . Left/right throws are same as stock , giving me absolute confidence in downshifts that I'm not going from 5th to 2nd at 80 mph Shift effort is smooth as butter , like stock but w/o the slop . I had a B&M in car unit on prev 911 and a C5 Vette and though they felt "sporty" in a notchy way , they were actually a pain to use in brisk canyon drives . It takes about 10 minutes max to install if you jack the car up high enough.

I would go with the in-car B&M style as it's the same one the factory uses.

lomcevak how much did the porsche short shifter cost? please also include installation cost. thanks!

MSRP is about $485 (dealer gave me 10% off for being in PCA) and they charged two hours labor to install........

The book time to install is 78 minutes according to the Porsche bulletin. Our local group filmed the B&M installs on a Boxster and 996 side-by-side for the DVD. The run time for the two installs is 54 minutes - but I would give a few more minutes to install it the Porsche way. Jeff

B&M does not sell the under car shifter directly or through their retail dealers. I think it can be found for under $200 (?) from various tuners or Suncoast.