Does anyone know if it is possible to 'tighten' up the gearshift lever - there seems to be a lot of play in it...even when it is in gear. Gearshift works fine but just wondering...

You could change the stick/shifter assembly for one made by B&M - It has been discussed on here recently and would reduce the "slop". However, its not cheap and you have to remove the exhaust etc. to fit it.

You should be able to find something useful by searching on here - from memory the thread is in the Octavia section and called "for those who've considered a TT shifter".

I had a similar problem with mine. I couldn't afford a Short Shifter talked about on here. I looked on ebay maybe for a second hand one and came accross one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHORT-SHIFTER-Golf-Bora-Beetle-Octavia-Ibiza-A3_W0QQitemZ4621987284QQcategoryZ9889QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yes, i did have to go under the car and take the heat sheild off and remove a connection in the exhaust pipe, but it was fitted in about 2 hours (Mainly my friend doing the work) the end result was impressive. I now have a tighter and shorter gear change.

The company selling them is 800bhp. The guys name is John. He is mentioned on here with regards to Cold Air Intakes. I bought one of those from him also and am very please with result.

Just an idea, worked for me anyway so thought i would mention it.

would one of the cheaper easier to fit options from Neuspeed do the same job ? or is this totally a shifter end fix only ?

The neuspeed and DG items that fit to the top of the gearbox only adjust the ammount of front to back movement between gears. The in-gear slop you have is caused by the stick mechanism itself.