Just a small background on what I've been using first, I started off with the COBB Shortshifter. AMAZINGLY manufactured product with a couple of options, height and throw. I then switched out to the TWM short shifter again very nice craftsmanship, but no options to adjust height or throw, BUT if you bought a TWM shift knob you could adjust the height with that.
Now onto the TWM Full Replacement Shifter, As soon as I took it out of the box I know this thing was the real deal. Craftsmanship on the manufacturing was amazing. you can tell they took their time and design this thing right.
Base is a solid piece of 1/4" steel so you can assured that there will be no flexing of the base during aggressive shifting. The entire shifter is mainly composed of steel and aluminum parts so less chance of it flexing in a whole too, plus unless you do something horribly wrong this thing is practically bullet proof. It comes fullt assembled with aluminum base bushings specifically designed for this unit. Comparing it to the COBB sort shifter in the OEM base, the TWM is a tad shorter, even at COBB's lower setting, this is because of the OEM base being thicker. You can also see in the side by side picture, that TWM changed the points where the shifter cables connect to the shifter. On the base the point it raised and on the actual shifter the point is raise and brought back a few degrees compared to the COBB. This significantly reduces the throw taking up any kind of slack on the cables.
The only weak point of the COBB shifter is the OEM base, which is really no fault of COBB. As you can see in the pictures below the OEM base is just well...cheap...TWM saw this and saw it as a problem so they went to work to create something that takes out all the flaws of the entire shifter system. Not only does the base flex when shifting, even with solid base bushings, but the mount points for the cables flex too.
Installation of the TWM Full Replacement shifter was a breeze. MUCH easier than any other shortshifter, because everything is put together for you. I did have a tiny bit of trouble getting the shifter cables into the mounting points, but nothing too bad, maybe an extra 30 seconds for each. It's a VERY tight fit, but that's a good thing it shows you the tight tolerances that TWM has on thier product. Overall the install took me about 20 minutes, taking the oem out and putting the Full replacement in and adjusting the cable so not bad at all.
My first impression, my jaw literally dropped. Completely mechanical feel, no weird noises, just what you would expect shifting to sound like. It was definitely quieter than the shifters with the OEM base. Throw was SHORT. I almost couldn't tell if I was in 1st or 3rd. I'm guessing that the other 2 short shifters I had broke it in beforehand, but it took little effort to get it in gear. Shifting was a dream. When I took the first drive, I normally will go out for a cruise around the block to see if everything is working right, but I was literally out for an hour and a half just driving around, normal shifting and mostly agressive shifting, straight line and in corners. Flat foot and heel toe was so much fun. I just wanted to keep shifting lol
**Final install pictures will be coming soon, including shots of how much of a height adjustment you can do with the twm shift knobs.**
After the initial install I went for a track day about 2 weeks later. It was so much easier to shift and the accuracy of the shifter is just so nice during heel/toe shifting from 6th gear all the way down to 2nd. If you're in the market for a short shifter, take a few extra weeks and save up for this one. This shifter is the pinical of shifters. I have been riding around with this for about 2 months now and I have not 1 complaint about it.
MazdaSpeed 3 Short Throw Shifter
Now onto the TWM Full Replacement Shifter, As soon as I took it out of the box I know this thing was the real deal. Craftsmanship on the manufacturing was amazing. you can tell they took their time and design this thing right.
Base is a solid piece of 1/4" steel so you can assured that there will be no flexing of the base during aggressive shifting. The entire shifter is mainly composed of steel and aluminum parts so less chance of it flexing in a whole too, plus unless you do something horribly wrong this thing is practically bullet proof. It comes fullt assembled with aluminum base bushings specifically designed for this unit. Comparing it to the COBB sort shifter in the OEM base, the TWM is a tad shorter, even at COBB's lower setting, this is because of the OEM base being thicker. You can also see in the side by side picture, that TWM changed the points where the shifter cables connect to the shifter. On the base the point it raised and on the actual shifter the point is raise and brought back a few degrees compared to the COBB. This significantly reduces the throw taking up any kind of slack on the cables.
The only weak point of the COBB shifter is the OEM base, which is really no fault of COBB. As you can see in the pictures below the OEM base is just well...cheap...TWM saw this and saw it as a problem so they went to work to create something that takes out all the flaws of the entire shifter system. Not only does the base flex when shifting, even with solid base bushings, but the mount points for the cables flex too.
Installation of the TWM Full Replacement shifter was a breeze. MUCH easier than any other shortshifter, because everything is put together for you. I did have a tiny bit of trouble getting the shifter cables into the mounting points, but nothing too bad, maybe an extra 30 seconds for each. It's a VERY tight fit, but that's a good thing it shows you the tight tolerances that TWM has on thier product. Overall the install took me about 20 minutes, taking the oem out and putting the Full replacement in and adjusting the cable so not bad at all.
My first impression, my jaw literally dropped. Completely mechanical feel, no weird noises, just what you would expect shifting to sound like. It was definitely quieter than the shifters with the OEM base. Throw was SHORT. I almost couldn't tell if I was in 1st or 3rd. I'm guessing that the other 2 short shifters I had broke it in beforehand, but it took little effort to get it in gear. Shifting was a dream. When I took the first drive, I normally will go out for a cruise around the block to see if everything is working right, but I was literally out for an hour and a half just driving around, normal shifting and mostly agressive shifting, straight line and in corners. Flat foot and heel toe was so much fun. I just wanted to keep shifting lol
**Final install pictures will be coming soon, including shots of how much of a height adjustment you can do with the twm shift knobs.**
After the initial install I went for a track day about 2 weeks later. It was so much easier to shift and the accuracy of the shifter is just so nice during heel/toe shifting from 6th gear all the way down to 2nd. If you're in the market for a short shifter, take a few extra weeks and save up for this one. This shifter is the pinical of shifters. I have been riding around with this for about 2 months now and I have not 1 complaint about it.
MazdaSpeed 3 Short Throw Shifter
