Short shifter installed and loving it!

The Hot Bits Echo welcomes another fantastic sponsor on board... with an amazing product.

TWM Performance.com has come on board and has provided the Hot Bits Echo with their short shifter that they have available for the Echo / Scion Xa / Xb and an incredible shift knob.

Generally speaking... short shifters can be a hit-or-miss thing. Sometimes they just cut down the top of the lever... or even when they "do it properly" by moving the fulcrum, they then end up makin ghte shifter too notchy or with WAY too short of a throw making it impossible to know what gear it's in simply by feel. The TWM Performance short shifter is the exception. It is of very high quality... and ont he Echo... reduces throws by 35%. This tightens things up VERY nicely.. and makes the car also feel that mush more sporting.

The real reason why I wanted this for the Echo... was because 2nd gear is a LITTLE on the tall side... and although the Echo has a low torque peak, the RPM's can drop a bit below this point when shifting, because the stock shifter is so long and rubbery. Now, shifts seem to take one fewer "motions" (1 motion straight into the next gear, instead of 2) and I'm back on the gas 1 or 2 tenths of a second faster... every shift. In auto-x... this all adds up... and WELL worth the install and investment.



The shift knob that I chose was the Gun Blue Classic seen here. Not only are the knobs of a very high quality and well-weighted to provide a smooth shift... but their site is quite impressive: www.twmshiftknobs.com

The bain of the aftermarket shift knob is the DREADED set-screw. What a srappy system... See the ingenious method that TWM has pioneered with their "NTIS" system... COOL!:
http://www.twmshiftknobs.com/column/index.html

Simply brilliant. (wish I had thought of it)
In practice - for me this means that I can adjust it .75" lower than stock for now... but when I put in some aftermarket race buckets that will sit lower, I can lower it down another inch or so to suit my seating position! PERFECT!

The install took about :45 or so with the right tools... I did scrape a few knuckles... but man... I LOVE this shifter! Best short-shifter I've felt in ANY car, ever.