I have been in the car game for a short time. Just a couple years. When I first started short shifters were the thing to have. It made sense, make the shifter shorter and it takes less time to shift gears. Now more and more I’m seeing people put shifter extensions in their cars. What is the rationale behind this? Can anyone explain this?
it puts the knob closer to the driver, so there is less travel of hand between the wheel and the knob. mainly for driving in corners. those with shift extenders still probably have short throws to them. It’s all about the pivot point.
I personally, haven’t felt the need to get an extender. from a little bit of amateur tracking, I believe I feel more comfortable with my knob where it is. I think it would take a lot longer to get used to having it substantially closer, and I’d subsequently be slower for a while until I got comfortable with it. I’m not about taking steps backwards when I’m trying to go forward.
I won’t ever be involved in any serious racing like that where one is almost needed, so I consider them a waste of money, personally. hardly any of the Japanese Touge drivers use them. Drifters, maybe. But, for the most part, I consider it another part that people could have left on the shelves, not in their DD’s.
I think its pretty much personal preference to be honest with you. Some feel the need that they must put the short shifter in for faster shifting and things like that. The extensions that people do is pretty much just ‘for the hell of it’ or just get lazy of reaching down to shift. Its just another bored persons idea that blew up lol. Some dont mind the longness of the stock shifter, some feel they like the shorter throw, and some just feel they want to be ‘cool’ and extend it for their own purposes. Hope I somewhat told you right.
i have a extender and i absolutely love it. it’s paired with a dual bend short shifter so it’s about 2" higher then the stock shifter but still has somewhat of a short throw. it’s to minimize the time between the steering wheel and shifter and i think it’s 100% worth it no matter the purpose of the car.