Shifter Question?

Savageman69

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Location
ontario
TDI
2012 Highline Touareg TDI
Yestarday i had the extreme pleasure of driving a 1994 golf vr6 that has probably close to 300whp or more. All i have to say is holly wow nuts. My question is the car had a short shifter in it and it seemed to shift very smooth. Now my car i find is very notchy (i guess how youd put it) it just seems you feel it come out of first and feel it go into second. The golf just gluided into gear. Would say a short shifter make my tdi shift smooth like that or is it a tdi thing to be notchy. Also how do you get the shifter shaft its self shorter i really want a lower profile. Thanks guys.
 

VwPodRacer

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Location
Canadian NewF!
TDI
04 Jetta PD150, 98 Jetta TDI
have a disel geek one in my car and it has a real sporty feel to it.. feels alot different now when i drive other ppls cars without.. i wouldnt go back to stock if anyone payed me.. one of my favourite investments:D
 

Savageman69

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Location
ontario
TDI
2012 Highline Touareg TDI
Okay thanks vwpodracer....so you left the shifter the same height in the car tho.
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i have a DG sigma5 shifter in mine... it was kinda notchy at first, but then switched to redline MTL gear oil when i had the tall 5th gear put in - that made a big difference in smoothness (others i have talked to felt the same). i also cut off about 3/4" the shaft of the shifter lever, which to my surprise actually improved the feel a bit. just my thoughts....
 

Savageman69

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Location
ontario
TDI
2012 Highline Touareg TDI
Thanks burpod ill be ordering that tranny fluid for sure and as for cutting the shifter off how do you get the shifter back together after cutting it
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
If you want to shorten the throw, I would suggest getting the Audi TT shift lever. It is identical to the TDI one, but the pin is closer to the fulcrum, so it has a shorter throw (about 20%). But it still has the weight on it to keep it smooth.

The other short shifters without the weight will feel more notchy as they don't have the momentum from the weight to help them into the next gear. I have used many different versions of short shifters and to keep it smooth, you need the weight and good fluid.
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i just used a fine hacksaw to cut it off :p all you need to do is take off the knob & boot. i installed a rieger knob/boot at the same time... much nicer than the stock golf-ball knob, imo. it's not too fancy and has oem feel
 

johnnloki

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Location
bowmanville ON
TDI
04 Golf TDI
JSP also has a cheapie X axis short shift attachment that apparently works quite well with the audi ss many have.
 

LA@JSPerformance.ca

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Location
Abbotsford, BC
johnnloki said:
JSP also has a cheapie X axis short shift attachment that apparently works quite well with the audi ss many have.

This unit is an OEM modified VW Factory unit. This unit works very well with any of our or the comepition short shift units. This unit is well priced.:D
 

yatzee

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Location
Montreal, Qc
TDI
see sig
I have a TT sfhiter, and I'm not all that impressed. It did make a difference, but it isn't that noticable.
 

Wingnut

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Location
Toronto & Whitby
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta Wagon
yatzee said:
I have a TT sfhiter, and I'm not all that impressed. It did make a difference, but it isn't that noticable.
You are right. I was not impressed either. But the OP wants something smooth. And you cannot put smooth & short shifter in the same sentence. By shortening the throw, it makes the shift feel more notchy. Not smooth. I thought the TT was a comprimise between a smooth & shorter throw. Although, the Neuspeed is even shorter than the TT (35% shorter as opposed to 20%), and has a weight to help keep it smooth, but they are around $150-$175. The TT is $50 at the dealer.



If money was no object, I would suggest the JSP one @ $230 and it also has the side to side reduction also:

 
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LA@JSPerformance.ca

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Location
Abbotsford, BC
Wingnut said:
And you cannot put smooth & short shifter in the same sentence. By shortening the throw, it makes the shift feel more notchy. Not smooth.
Before releasing our product we did extensive research, and found that most people like the short shifter kits but they did not like the 'notchy' feel of the throws. When we designed our kit we took this into account and produced a kit that reduced both the X and Y axis, but retains the stock OEM 'smoothness and feel'. We do make more aggressive kits as per customer requests - but they do become notchy.

Below are two threads regarding customers feed back on Vortex:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3176713

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2986940
 

Toronto_Vento

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Richmond Hill, ON
TDI
01 Baltic Green Bora
Wish JSP had their kit when I bought my dieselgeek. Nothing really wrong with the dieselgeek, but would have been nice to have the weight on there. I've gotten used to the dieselgeek kit, so shifting isn't an issue, but it's a little more notchy than stock.

MK3s had much smoother shifting than MKIVs. I used to have an MK3 TDI and put the dieselgeek kit in for that car. Beautifully smooth. My MKIV takes a little effort to get into gear compared to my MKIII. As stated, though, given the choice, I wouldn't go back to stock on my MKIV.
 
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