Function-First

There's only 1 987/997 core unit in stock as of right now, and it's ready to ship!

Here are some before and after comparisons of the shifter mechanism, pre and post SHIFT-RIGHT Solution installation!

(Note that the BEFORE video is the stock shifter out of a 2001 986 Boxster S, and the AFTER videos are of a SHIFT-RIGHT retrofit kit upgraded factory 987/997 short shift kit. It's still an apples-to-apples comparison, since both units utilize the same bushings from the factory.)


BEFORE...
Excessive shifter play and slop, particularly in the fore/aft bushings.





AFTER...
Zero flex and zero play in the mechanism yields smooth, solid, predictable, and consistent shifter action.

alan111

Ordered the retrofit core exchange kit from Luka for my 997 S with 24k miles and am pretty satisfied. He was a pleasure to work with, and offered me a nice discount. His communication and willingness to help was great too. See below for my review:

REASON FOR PURCHASE
The main reason I wanted this was because I had excess side-to-side slop in the shifter and the 1-2 shift was the typical notchy but feltextra sloppy. I would have it maneuver the shifter perfectly to get a smooth shift.

INSTALLATION
Installation was a breeze. It took me about 45 minutes. If I had to do it again, I could probably do it in 20 mins. Difficulty level of 1-10 was maybe a 2. The most difficult part is taking apart the interior. The actual shifter installation is pretty straight forward.

AFTERMATH
The shifter feels much tight overall and shifting is smoother than before. Though based on Luka's descriptions, I was under the impression that it would "cure side/side play". While the side/side play is vastly improved, there is still some play; more than I'm comfortable with. Note: I did not have this kind of play in my last 996, or any of my previous BMW's (E92, E93, so I know that shifters can be tightened up to almost zero play).

I asked Luka about it and he said that everything appears normal. Looks like this is as good as it is going to get. I shot a couple of videos of after installation so that everyone can understand what "cure side/side play" really means.

His full response was "With each side-side motion, the shifter yoke (the olive green part) is engaged and moving up/down as the lever is moved side/side, which indicates that there is no free play in the shifter. The shifter yoke moves the side-side shift cable, so the play is downstream of the shifter. The 997's shifter cable uses rubber ends at the transmission connection point, so that's likely what you're feeling."

VIDEOS


CONCLUSION
Anyways, I highly recommend this upgrade, but would have liked to have a perfect, zero slop/play shifter. How were everyone else's experiences?

Function-First

Alan, thanks very much for reaching out with your in-depth review on the kit. The SHIFT-RIGHT does address the flex and play in the shifter mechanism, but downstream there are some components compromised from the factory that can be addressed to almost entirely remove shifter play. I say "almost" because there are tolerances built into the transmission itself that cannot be addressed by swapping or improving the components external to the transmission.

Here is a dissection of the 997 shifter cable ends that contribute to that side-side (and fore-aft) play and flex that I believe is the source of what you're describing and experiencing.

987/997 OEM cable ends look like dissected...very rubbery:

El Dario Loco

Do you recommend changing the cable ends to further reduce play? In that case, OEM or are there improved versions of these available?


I have a factory short shift on my TT and thinking about this upgrade. The numeric shifter would be thrice as expensive, and I doubt that it would be THAT much better....

Function-First

The only cable ends that are easily replaceable are the ends at the shifter unit. Those don't flex much, since there's no rubber in the connections, so the benefits to upgrading them are minuscule IMO. The real source of the flex in the cables are the ends at the transmission (pictured in my post above), and those are not replaceable without swapping the entire cables for upgraded units.

Either way, the shifter unit needs addressing to eliminate flex and play from that source. So if you're already happy with your current shifter throw length, the SHIFT-RIGHT Solution is a great (and the most cost-effective) upgrade to optimize your current setup for greater accuracy, enhanced solid feel, and longevity and durability.

El Dario Loco

Sounds good! Another noob questions: is the blue part at the base of the shifter part of the kit? On some pictures that part is white plastic while the blue one looks like metal. Or is the blue part of the factory short shifter?

Function-First

Black plastic shift lever housing is the 997 standard throw shifter.
Blue plastic housing is the 997 factory short shifter.
White plastic housing is from 986/996 standard throw shifters (996 Cup shifter included).

Black METAL housing is the 996 factory short shifter (it looks identical to the blue B&M aftermarket short shifters) or an aftermarket short shift kit.
Anything else is an aftermarket short shift kit.


Basically, plastic shift lever housing implies a factory piece, and metal implies aftermarket (with the exception of the 996 factory short shift kit).

lowbee

Does this mod add any NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) at all ?

Function-First

With the stock cables, there's no reported additional NVH into the cabin at all.

Sydneysixer

I finally got around to installing my Shift Right kit today - purchased a couple of months back. As others have said, the hardest part is removing the trim and centre console to get at the shifter assembly. Once removed, it was straightforward to disassemble and install the Function first parts - albeit a little fiddly getting the yoke installed. It's a well engineered and finished product.

My only uh-oh moment occurred when I had almost finished, when I could not recall tightening the cable end to the yoke… after sleeping on it (& the consequences of it coming loose), I figured the only solution was to remove it again to check. Sure enough, the screw was snug, but it now has loctite on the thread to keep it that way.

Once behind the wheel, my feedback is similar to Alan111's comments above… side to side play is reduced (but not eliminated). I can see there remains some movement between the shift lever and the OE plastic pivot block which is retained. More importantly, shifting is improved - slightly smoother and more positive to slip into each gear.

It's not what I would call night and day, but a noticeable improvement on my MY05 C2 with 75,000km.

Pic 1: old parts disassembled
Pic 2: Shift Right kit installed