Best aftermarket shiftknob

I had a Raceseng in my V6 Accord Coupe MT and loved it. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have sold it with the car!

Agree that the stock shift knob is so cheap-feeling it is out of place. I spent a lot of time looking at shift knob options for the 987/997. Options basically came down to these: 1. OEM Alcantara - same cheap plastic without any weight, hella expensive for cheap plastic knob. For the purist. $$$$. 2. Raceseng - love the knobs but out of business now. Impossible to find the necessary non-treaded adapter (NTA) required to fit a Raceseng knob in our cars. Raceseng knobs won’t fit any other adapters. $$. 3. Black Forest industries - lots of options to customize. Just hate the coin design on top. The knobs just don’t feel well-matched to the 987/997 interiors. Feels way outta place. $$. 4. Sportshifters - lots of options for customization. Designs much more appealing than BFI. $$$. 5. Manuel retro wood knobs - meh, don’t care for the wood design (don’t hate me!). Not weighted. $$$$. 6. Rennline - very plain, unweighted. $. I just discovered IXI Gears. I liked the design. It is simple and clean, not gaudy. Weighted so it pairs well with my Numeric shifter . All aluminum so has a nice feel to it (however, will get hot/cold depending on ambient temp). Direct fitment on our cars without the need for any silly adapters. Best of all, only $90. Fast shipping — got it in 3 days after ordering. $. OEM shift knob Materials: Plastic/leather Weight: 68g IXI Gears Original Knob Materials: aluminum Weight: 250g

I went with this one as well. I ordered it with the black leather boot, red stitching, and red lighting, so that it would match my car. My car is guard's red with a black interior (and red accents).

I installed the Numeric shifter and cables a couple weeks ago and went with a Black Forest knob, what a difference!

Love the numeric but I get this weird notchiness when shifting into first gear compared to how it feels in a 911 possibly routing of the cables causes this but do you get this same notchiness specifically in first gear?

Yes, it does seem like it has multiple points of resistance before the final snap into gear, especially 1st. There is certainly nothing smooth about the shifter feel in my installation, that's for sure. But then again, there is no doubt about what gear I'm going for and very little play. Not that I doubted the factory setup much or thought the play was necessarily a bad thing.

I’ve found a lot of the shift knobs available for the Porsche -specific flat bar stalk are not really to my liking and there aren’t really any adapters available, so I decided to try my hand at 3D modeling an adapter that will allow for a standard screw-on knob. I’m going to have the part produced in steel once I test fit the 3D printed prototypes. I’m planning to share the 3D files once I’m done, in case anyone spotted a screw-on shift knob they wanted.

Cool! Print up some nice pillar gauge mounts while you're at it!

After a little Sat. morning romp, I have to follow this up with an observation - the shifter feel while driving and under power is way better than the feel of going through the gears sitting in the garage with the motor off. I'm a big fan of this setup.

Diamond

Looks like the GReddy shift knob that I had in my SW20 MR2T back in the day. Different flavor in the Cayman, I haven’t seen this before.

Raceseng in my ‘06

That sounds like an awesome upgrade! I totally get the frustration with OEM knobs feeling a bit cheap, and it's great to hear the sport shifter and customization worked so well for you. I’ve been considering an aftermarket option myself and I am seeing some of them here.

I like the function first knob. Feels great.

I need a sport shifter. Anyone interested in my Raceseng Stratose?

Love the look of this one. Who makes it, and where did you purchase it?

Any issues wiring up the lighted shift pattern wires? Where did you tap into?

I also have a Black Magic Industries knob. Love it.

I just ordered my replacement knob from ICT Schaltknauf. Can’t wait to receive it and install it. The numbers on my original are so faded and I have been searching for a replacement but OEM is outrageously priced. And the illuminated version is an amazing upgrade. I went to their website and you can choose the color of the LED, the shape of the knob, the trim, the boot material, and even the stitching color of the boot. And they have a video of the installation and wiring. I was anticipating having to source a feed and dismantle half the console to tap a wire, but in actuality it is waaay simple. There is a tiny light in the coin tray just rear of the base of the shift boot, and by removing a couple of screws one can tap that wiring to illuminate the knob. Eagerly awaiting it’s delivery.

Finally got my new shift knob from ICT Schaltknauf and couldn’t be happier. The original was so beat up and the numbers were barely visible. Love the look of the illumination at night.

OEM shift knobs look great but the lack of build quality makes them feel like a toy. I went another route and tried sport shifters cylinder shift knob which I was able to fully customize to match my oem Alcantara interior. Paired with the numeric shifter and cables it just enhances the feeling of rowing through the gears. Anyone else got any aftermarket shifters? Show them off!

Thanks for this, I've been looking for a good aftermarket shifter for a long time. Raceseng has now folded (and the knobs that I liked from them were never in stock). Going to check out the one you suggested!

Build quality is just amazing to put it simply. The only downside is the wait time but other than that it’s the customization that’s a game changer unlike the “send” in your part and get it rewrapped shops.

ICT Schaltknauf . Found it on fleabay. They have various options, including backlighting and come with a shiftboot and frame. It feels really good in my hand when shifting, and the price is right, too. Came from Germany, but was pretty quick.

I have a Black Magic Industries on mine. Very happy with it.

I think you meant "Black Forest", lol. Semi-related: Anyone know a good short-throw shift kit for my 987 6spd? Looking at the Schnell kit on Pelican ($170), and a few others. The Suncoast kit is $550, eff that.

Nice! Weighted shift knobs just enhance the driving experience.

Custom made by Manuel in Mexico from Maple and rosewood. Chosen to match some of the wood in my banjos. Manuel Campuzano < [email removed] >

I brought this up before and somebody said it no longer applies, but I remember my dad discouraging me from putting a heavy shift knob on my Fiat spider because he said even in neutral it wears on the transmission. I can’t remember exactly why because he told me that 35 years ago. I would love to get a fancy PDK shifter, but I am dedicated to keeping my car bone stock.

I can see that being the case with shifters directly mounted to the transmission but with cables especially heavy duty numeric cables the weight shouldn’t affect anything.

The Numeric Racing one is good (I have this one), the OEM GT3 kit is also good.

Good call king987, I never even thought of that, I’m sure you’re correct. I have seen some very cool PDK knobs. I guess because I’m old. I always think that that is a lot of money that could be used for more important things like fresh rubber always replaced on time.

That looks great. I went with Black Forest, I think it's called, but I like yours better.

I had a function first one in my 987.1 and liked the feel of those. FUNCTION-FIRST Performance They also make various shifter upgrades. Personally I’m not a fan of short shifters but really liked the improvement in shift quality I got with the FF shifter cable end upgrades.

I really like the feel/shape of those function first knobs and great for the price.

I can’t wait for mine from Sportshifters! I also went with (300g) cylinder style. Their selection is awesome -but it did take some weeks to ship. How’s the quality?

Installed a Sportshifter knob just about a month ago. Took about 8 weeks to arrive, but it was worth the wait. I went with 309g, and it feels great with the Numeric shifter (no cables yet. I think that’s next year). Also added the black and red Coco mats. Very pleased with the snazzier appearance of the interior. update: added Numeric cables last season, and, wow, what a difference. Can’t recommend highly enough!

In my 987.2 6MT, I originally had a cracked sand beige leather boot and OEM. I did a major upgrade last year with a DIY Alcantara boot, plus a used kit that included a (1) Numeric shifter -- original design), and (2) the heaviest Raceseng shifter knob available. I LOVE the setup and I feel stupidly lucky that I got the Raceseng before they went out of business. Yes, the shifter knob can get hot in the summer (I think I remember that?) and definitely cold in the winter -- but that's what driving gloves are for. It's an absolute beast and I feel totally connected with the car. The extra weight of the shifter knob and the precision of the Numeric shifter is insane. In the 981 Outlaw 6MT, I left it as bone stock. Curious to see how that all feels when I have it back on the road later this year. I'll probably leave it alone (particularly as none of this is cheap) and just enjoy the driving contrast; we'll see. @king987ca is correct. Heavy shifters in older cars is likely ill-advised. However, I researched the heck out of this before jumping in and the weight should introduce no extra wear given it's a cable mechanism. Did I say that I love the lower shifter height and extra shifter knob weight?

Re: shifter weight keep in mind there is already a dead weight attached to the cables on the transmission end to do a similar job, at least on one of the movement axis, so adding extra weight on the shifter itself should be fine.

I've been on a hunt for the ultimate shift knob for my Boxster . The hunt is now over. The Sport Shifter GT3 style shift knob I have is far and away the most expensive shift knob I've ever bought, but given that this is a piece of the car I handle all the time, in my mind it was well worth it. It has a wonderful heft, and it sits lower on the lever than any other knob I've tried. The combination of machined metal and leather is beautifully executed. I also have to say that the installation was extremely simple and straightforward. I've actually been surprised at how some of the shift knobs I've tried are overly complex and fiddly to install because of all the parts and screws and adjustment pieces. The Sport Shifter knob has a collar for the shift boot and the knob itself. Both pieces are held in place on the shift lever with set screws. You pick the height at which you want the knob to sit, tighten the screws, and you're done!

No PIctures?

I was fortunate enough to locate a Raceseng shifter adapter and switched to the Raceseng Contour knob. Very nice weight. I like the engraving on it a lot more than the IXI laser etched knob I had before. Feels much nicer in quality.