[jetvermillion]

Installed the STI short shifter. Hardly noticeable change in throws (expected) but it is much tighter than stock. If anything, it's just slightly too notchy, but the pretty big reduction in slop made it worth it. No rattles like I've heard with billetworkz

 

[jetvermillion]

Good question. When I said I'm not totally satisfied, I meant I like the shifter overall but one thing keeps irking me: When I shift between 2nd and 3rd (up or down) and between 4th and 5th (up or down) the shifter occasionally gets "caught" -- it doesn't always move smoothly into the gear I want. If you look at the image I've attached below, it feels like the shifter is getting "stuck" on the horizontal line on either side of N. In other manual cars I've had, the shifter moves smoothly along the diagonal between 2nd - 3rd and 4th - 5th. But with the BRZ I either have to be very careful with my shifting motions (more so than with other MTs) or I need to add an extra step, like pausing briefly while it’s in neutral before shifting into the gear I want. Downshifting from 3rd to 2nd I even have to move it down-left-down instead of diagonally sometimes. It doesn't seem right.

I wonder if this problem I'm describing is what some short shifter ads and @jetvermillion refer to as slop?

View attachment 30996

This sounds more like notchiness. I've noticed there is a very narrow rev range where it will smoothly slide into gear, otherwise it takes more force. It's less noticeable as the transmission warms up, but I would still describe this as a pretty notchy transmission. The Hondas i'm used to felt smoother.

By slop, I was referring to the free movement in the shifter when it's in neutral or in gear (how much you can wiggle it around). WRXs are quite notoriously sloppy. The STI short shifter tightened this up a lot, though the throws aren't particularly that much shorter

Overall though I don't mind the stock transmission (though I do wish it were smoother so it didn't feel like I was abusing the synchros), and the STI short shifter just made it feel much tighter, albeit notchier, on top of that

 

[jetvermillion]

I wouldn't worry about damage. If the gears are grinding, you'll feel it. I'm used to FWD hondas as well, but even the s2000 shifter felt much smoother. I'm going to be switching out my trans fluid soon so I'll see if that changes anything

Heavier shift knob will definitely help but could take some effort to find one with a weight you like. I bought the Raceseng Ashiko (whopping 725g) and it's way too heavy. Shifting feels much smoother, but the weight kills almost all feedback from the transmission so I went back to stock. Still in search for a nice weighted shift knob

 

[jetvermillion]

Gear oil. See my latest thread

PSA - If you are unhappy with the shifter, change your...

I changed my tranny fluid out yesterday to redline MT-90.. holy crap what a difference. I have 6200 miles on my car and this is the most return from an upgrade I've done so far. Don't get me wrong, the stock shifter is okay - I just I felt it could be better. Before changing: -Clunky notching...

www.gr86.org

Redline MTLV really made the shifting a lot smoother