So why cant we use this?... The shifter.

 

I hear those gated shifters are terrible to work with. Let's just stick with our good ol' boot shift.

 

i wouldn't want them.

do you want the 2' long shifter in addition to the shift gate?

 

Can you give details in connection with what the hell you just said J?

 

I believe what Jason was saying is that the shift arm itself would be about 2 inches longer.. which is even more of a hastle to deal with in addition to a shift gate.

 

And everyone always complains about them in car reviews. It sure looks nice though, just isn't that practical.

 

They call it the "the Italian Curse"

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/coup...fe/index2.html

 

Plus, even though it is slotted doesn't mean youre guarenteed to hit the gears the way you want to.

 

I remember C&D tested it and acually broke that shifter lol. They had to impovise to get to drive it back home. They had a tool attached to it and even had a picture.

 

EWWWWW that looks so gross and this is on a lamborghini? Trash this garbage!!!!

 

IMO that's pure class..... someone should design one for the 8, done well enough, it should be reasonable to work with.

 

Thats what I was thinking... "When done right". Seen a video of a test drive on a new Lambo Merc and I said WOW! if they could put one in the 8 or do a after market I wounder how it would hold up?... So I got this idea from that vid to do this post... Oh well.

 

well i think they're really slick too. the gated shifterplate makes for a slightly noisier cabin than a boot (depending on how you've insulatd underneath i s'pose), but sure as hell looks better.

for a note on the tall vs. short shifter: why does everyone assume they can only move their hand so fast that getting a short shifter will take tenths off of their quarter? and ask yourself, especially people who want a shorter shifter than what the 8 has (which is already barely a nub), how often are you even jamming your gears as fast (and probably hard) as you can?
within reason (ie, not talking about the difference between what you'd find in an F600 or serious truck, but between a few inches on a sports car shifter), short shifters are purely cosmetic (otherwise you'd see race drivers reaching into the gearbox with their own hand to change gears or some stupid thing like that).
being that it's purely a cosmetic thing, a difference between tastes, i think that a beautiful shifter like that could have a place in any sports car.

fwiw, for all those who say it's gross (and might think all Ferrari's are beautiful or something), this has been Ferrari's traditional shifter style since always. i agree, 100% class. :p

 

DOESNT ANY1 REMEMBER MY THREAD ARRHHHGJHGHGHGHGHGHGHG I also want 1 its a 5 dollar piece of metal and takes prolly 30 mins to mill at most its 75 bux sold IF some 1 could make 1 for me id give u 100.

 

I'm too lazy to fabricate one myself, so I'll increase the bid to $110.

 

Exactly... I wont to make one for the 8.

 

Well this just isn't that easy with the Mazda shifter. Notice that it is made up of two pieces and bonded together with rubber inside the fat tapered tube. This is where the shaft will go through the slots. Can't happen.

So in order to do this you have to make a new shift arm from some very strong springie steel. This shaft must be thin to get into the slots without the slots having to be so big that the lands are thin.

It can be done, but you will have to make a whole new shifter as well as a tower that includes the gate. Not in you $110 budget. It might be a nice touch but a lot of guys would have to sign up with a few bucks for it to get made. I've owned at least eight cars with this type of set up. Some times it wasn't the easiest thing to shift. Once I bent the rib in a 1,2 shift, admitedly it was a very tense moment and there were thousands of other times that no problem existed.

So don't look at me,I have enough on my plate with the shifter I'm about to test now.

 

Thanks Richard.. As always your expertise in these areas is appreciated

 

I still wont one.

 

On a side note about that picture, did anyone notice the rake of the passenger seat? Your *** must be like 10 inches below your knees!

 

the only reason is...!! U may have 300k..!! but U won't use it to buy a car.!!!

 

Hey Guys,
I am new to the site. I recently own a RX-8, nice car, love the interior, I think that was the reason that made me pull out my check book. My other car is a C5 Corvette; club driven it a few times, and is mainly a weekend driver now. I love the power but the interior is terribly ugly. So I decided to model up a shift gate for it and send the model and drawing to the local machine shop and after a $150 later. Here is what I now have--picture shown with B&M aftermarket shifter.

Enjoy!

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2381915

 

that shifter looks like a play thing for ladies. I like our good ol shifter.

 

hahahaha! what the hell?!?! well is it too damn long!

 

I hear some like it that long.