live2shift

It is very confusing to get a sense of this upgrade from the forums.

Lets face it the stock 996 shifter assembly is a complete embarrassment. I have owned over 40 cars and this shifter is the worst with the exception of the one on my old Porsche 914.

I have read about, and talked to many owners that have installed a B&M short shfter and who loved it and said it is the best ever upgrade they have made to their car. I also discovered that many have gone to the extreme of having it removed because they find it very notchy. My shop warned ma against putting it in because of this as well. I drove a car with the usual B&M short throw shifter that has a 40% throw reduction and I found it to be a love-hate relationship. It was a much nicer throw than stock, and I fell in love with it for about 15 minutes, and after getting back in my car with its smooth yet sloppy stock shifter decided it was not for me, just too much effort and too notchy. Granted I only drove the one car with the B&M.

I did further reserch and settled on the Swift Shift Kit from Evolution Motorsports. I wanted less throw reduction to reduce the effort and notchiness of the B&M, and also to reduce somewhat the increased gear change speed concearn that some people have. I actually just installed recently. It is simply a different shift link and new bushings that reduces the throw by 30%. I couldn't find anyone who had used it or any forum posts about it. It costs just as much as the B&M on Sale, but I gave it a try.

The shifter is simply transformed. While it is still not even as good as a Yugo , it is 100% better than stock. Absolutely NO Notchiness! It was a great choice for me. Just my 2 cents.

porschedude996TT

For those who have the B&M shifter, what is the lenght of to throw as measured from the top of the shift ****?

Keith

Dock

Is the B&M notcher than the OEM shifter? Yes, a little. If the one you drove was more than that it probably wasn't installed correctly.

Concerning the EVO unit...I don't know how the throws are reduced with an in-car shifter without lengthening the bottom protion of the shifter.

Dock

About 3"

porschedude996TT

Thanks Doc,

I purchased a '02 996TT late last year and assumed that it was a standard throw shifter. It was not disclosed or advertised to have a short shifter. I measure 3-3/8" as measured at the center of the top surface of a stock ****. Am I correct in assuming that the standard throw would be 4-5/8"?

Dock

I'm not sure what the throw is on a standard shifter.

billco

Did you install it yourself? If so, was it difficult?

jimmer23

I just installed a B&M this past week along with the EVO Shiftlink, and have a couple words of advice:

1. Don't go crazy with locktite like I did. This *will* require adjustment once in the car, and locktite will make this unpleasant to say the least. Particular areas to avoid are the hex adjustment for the play, and the pivot bolt for the shiftlink (I know, stupid moves, I wasn't thinking).

2. Getting the EVO shiftlink onto the end of the shifter is a bear. Get ready to pound on the sucker.

3. Grease the other ball on the side of the shifter extremely well as it will no longer fit in the same square holder that the old one came out of (the ball moves freely within the shifter assembly). This will make sense once you get it apart.

4. Grease up the pivot bolt for the Shiftlink LIBERALLY. This will have to rotate within the unit, allowing the whole Shiftlink to pivot, for you to get into reverse. Reverse is difficult to get into with the new Shiftlink, and I can feel it (and hear it) hitting the side of the shifter assembly. No amount of adjustment has resolved this.

5. The notchiness is EXTREME in my opinion. Good: you can feel the two clicks as the tranny goes into gear, and the 2.5" throw is nice. Bad: at the same time, somewhat contrary to the above, you can never really tell if it's well in gear or not because the movement is so short. I'm finding it difficult to get used to. And yes, the 2-3 shift is tough. I think it'll just require some getting used to...

As for doing it yourself, it's easy with some simple tools. The important bit to remember is to mark the position of the old shiftlink relative to the cable end before removing, then to adjust the EVO unit to the same overall length as the old unit when both are out of the car. The cable end could only go into the EVO unit up to the mark I had made, so tightening the set screws was straightforward (and yes, I had 3 set screws included in my kit).

Good luck, and let us know how the install goes.

Dock

No such problems with mine...

viperbob

Simple (when you have done a bunch). Get the shifter bolted back into place. Use a screwdriver (or small plybar) under the link and it will press right onto the shifter rod ball.

Jober

So this type of shortshift is not recomended?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...6860%26fvi%3D1

Regards Johan

MK19

What good does the EVO link do for me?? Looks stronger, but I doubt I'd break the stocker. Looks Stiffer, but with all the other cable/linkage compliance, I can't imagine it's significant? So what's the $119 deal?

Thanks,
Mike

Dock

The socket (internal to the ShiftLink) is not made of soft rubber - so there is less shifter "give" at the stops, which provides a rock solid finish to the shift.

est8esq

I had my tech, Mike come out and install my shifter. It came w/ its own housing assembly. When he first looked at it, he couldn't figure out why it looked so strange, but after spending a little time w/ it, he realized that whoever installed it (I purchased used) had it backwards.

He took it apart, installed the EVO shiftlink and placed everything together.

Being sub zero weather here in NEOhio, I've not had the chance to drive my car as its stored, but sitting behind the wheel trying to shift, (making my own rendtition of the revs while racing an imaginary Z06) , it seemed really smooth.

Can't wait to see what it's like for real.

glh

Just finished installing my B&M short shifter & EVO Shift Link bought from Eric/bumperplugs.com.

There was the same setup in the C4 I just sold so the new to me TT was not going to last long without one. It takes the very ordinary shifting transmission and transforms it into a precise superb feeling shifting setup.

The instructions were clear and precise took max 2 hours and the next one could be easily done in an hour at a relaxed pace.

Thank You Eric for the best priced (I could find) new B&M Short Shifter and EVO shift link I had found and a great product.

G.L.