Greetings all - I've encountered a problem that I see a few others have also with the leather beginning to degrade on my 5 year old Mk3 (6sp manual, RHD (Australian!)).

 

I thought it'd be a simple job to replace, but seems remarkably difficult! Even looking at Superskoda only shows me a suitable VRS one (when I don't have a VRS so would rather not pretend).

 

What are the options for aftermarket shift knobs? (I'd rather get a metal one anyway to avoid this happening again). Is anything designed for a Mk7 golf suitable? And has anyone succesfully been able to replace just the knob and not the gaiter (seems to be possible based on Golf experience). And does RHD vs LHD really matter? I assumed it was symmetrical...

 

Any suggestions would be great.

http://www.boombaracing.com/mk7-volkswagen-gti-golf-r-quick-shift-kit/

 

i have these and as a pair work really well together. you need to trim a little of the original gaiter off with a craft knife and resecure it when the new gearknob is put on

 

 

I was thinking of taking up a leather trim shop and getting some decent quality put on there.

Ahoy fellow Aussie! I've been looking for alternatives also seeing as my shifter has been replaced twice already under warranty (peeling chrome surround). 

 

Black Forest Industries make some brilliant gear, and they have plenty of different options here. They keep the stock gaiter and are pretty easy to install going by their video. 

 

If they won't ship to us then the Australian distributor for BFI is/was Tim at Dub Addiction. 

21 hours ago, ejcchapman said:

Greetings all - I've encountered a problem that I see a few others have also with the leather beginning to degrade on my 5 year old Mk3 (6sp manual, RHD (Australian!)).

Have the same issue with my 2.5 year old Mk3 VRS (although compounded as I wear a thumb ring, so it's wearing faster).

 

I've recently looked into the same alternatives, and the one I am due to choose (post-Xmas) is one from Forge Motorsport - and looks like you've got a choice of distributors in Australia here. Decent price compared to the BFI one - although that is nice too.