What Is a Short Shifter? What are the Benefits?

Manual transmissions used to be found in most vehicles, but as automatic transmissions have grown more and more popular, drivers are now looking at the process of shifting gears more and more like an unnecessary chore. Some gear type transmissions are now automatically shifted, have more than one input shaft and more than one clutch, along with actuators within the transmission that change gears.

But for people who have learned to appreciate manual transmissions or learned to drive on one, upgrading one’s gear lever to a short shifter can make the experience so much more enjoyable for a couple of reasons.

What Is a Short Shifter?

A short shifter is an accessory in manual transmission vehicles that shortens the gear lever’s throw, or the distance that you have to move the gear knob to be able to shift. Short shifters, or short throw shifters, typically replace a car’s stock gear lever to allow you to shift faster and add a more engaging experience when changing gears. In other words, it makes driving more fun, particularly if you enjoy changing gears like a real cowboy.

What Does a Short Shifter Do?

Calling a short shifter short implies that it shortens the actual lever, but it doesn’t change your gear lever’s height. However, it does change the angle required to be able to shift. It’s able to do this by moving the gear lever’s pivot point higher.

The gear lever has a pivot point between the gear knob and where the lever connects to your transmission assembly. Decreasing the distance between the pivot point and the knob, which is done by moving the pivot point higher, decreases the distance you need to move the knob to be able to shift gears, or the throw. This is why the short shifter is also called a short-throw shifter.

If you can shift faster, then your car can accelerate faster because there’ll be less time spent fiddling with the gears, and more time on the throttle. This is why car brands like BMW and Porsche have built their vehicles with high-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmissions that can shift in a blink of an eye to be able to reach the best acceleration numbers.

But can short shifters allow the driver to accelerate faster? The quick answer is not really. As Donut media found out in their video, decreasing the throw distance by a few centimeters using a short-throw shifter hardly makes a difference in how fast a driver can go through the gears, which means having a short shifter doesn’t make you accelerate faster. Besides, in most driving situations, drivers aren’t racing through the gears.

And sometimes, speed shifting can cause the shifter to wind up in neutral while the transmission is still in gear–and that requires professional attention. An even worse case scenario is if you manage to get the transmission into two gears at once, which can destroy the transmission in a big way if torque is being applied to the input shaft when it happens.

A person, however, can gain some speed through practice. Gear shifts are a complex set of movements done in a specific sequence. And to be able to do this quickly like a race car driver requires time to learn and practice the repetitive action of pressing the clutch, shifting gear, and releasing the clutch.

There are certainly better upgrades to get if you’re looking for faster acceleration. That said, you don’t upgrade to a short shifter to get better numbers.

Short Shifter Benefits

So what is a short shifter for? Car enthusiasts say that it makes shifting gears more engaging, that it adds a more mechanical feel to the experience. But what do they mean?

Driving cars requires the driver to be connected to their vehicle, for it to be an extension of themselves. In many ways, this is what makes driving fun and pleasurable. When a driver can make an input, and the car responds with the corresponding sounds, vibrations, or g-forces, depending on what that input is. Having a shorter shifter improves the avenues in which the car can communicate its responses to its driver.

This slight difference in mere gear throw might not impress everyone, but people who truly appreciate driving manual transmission vehicles might consider the upgrade life-changing.

After all, shifting gears is quite a pleasurable thing to be able to pull off on its own. The joy-stick-like motion of shifting is simple but visceral. You can feel the metallic feeling of gears disengaging and re-engaging through the lever. When a short shifter is added to the equation, the shorter throw adds crispness and tactility to it. This experience of changing gear shifters could perhaps be compared to when musicians upgrade their instrument to a more refined version. The physical difference might be minimal, but in the art of driving, small differences make a big emotional impact. In many ways, the gear shifter is one of the instruments that a driver needs to play to drive a car.

This could also be an explanation as to why enthusiasts change everything about their vehicles like seats, pedals, and steering wheels.

An Experience Absent From Automatic Transmissions

Many purists argue that driving a vehicle with a manual transmission vehicle is far superior to driving one with an automatic transmission. In automatic vehicles, the sensation of shifting is left to computers, whereas in manual cars you have to learn how certain parts will react, such as how far a clutch will bite, and how much revs your car needs to be able to accelerate, just to be able to accelerate. This results in manual transmissions having a much steeper learning curve, and it’s probably the reason why manufacturers sell significantly more vehicles with automatic transmissions.

There are clear benefits to driving an automatic transmission. This includes having less fatigue on your foot when driving in traffic, and of course the perk of only using one foot to drive instead of two. Automatic transmission cars may be more relaxing to drive, but this comes at the cost of engagement, which is a critical aspect of what makes driving fun.

In certain environments, driving with an automatic transmission car will never be the same as driving the same road with a manual transmission. One example is on a twisty mountain road. Because a manual transmission car requires more inputs and more of the driver’s attention to operate, then managing the twists, turns, inclines, and declines of a steep mountain can be quite an adrenaline rush. And even if you’re just trying to have fun by being generous with the throttle pedal on whatever road you find yourself on, most enthusiasts agree that driving stick is much more fun.

Should You Upgrade to a Short Throw Shifter?

A better question would be, should I upgrade to a short shifter even if mine is functioning perfectly? Short shifters are an upgrade, not a replacement for a broken part. It depends on how much importance you put on shifting gears. But think about it this way. When you drive a manual transmission car, you’re going to be constantly shifting it. Why not make the experience feel as good as possible?