The gear stick will still have to travel the same distance to change gear.

so can't see the point tbh.

yes but imagine the how far your arm would move if the gearstick was 2ft long?

Just done this mod. Crackin write up. Will pick the lady up in a bit and see what the difference is.

Just done this mod. Crackin write up. Will pick the lady up in a bit and see what the difference is.

Commenting on an old post, but done this on my mk2 Monte Carlo and it's brilliant. Such a simple way of making the car feel better!

 

Thank you 

On 19/01/2007 at 13:39, Basil said:

I’ve always wanted a shorter shifter throw on my vRS. The OEM shifter is too vague and takes time to select the right gear. Doesn’t match the vRS at all I feel.

The Fabia has its own unique setup at the Tranny end, and after a very bad experience with the Dieselgeek shifter, and hearing that the B&M fit is very complex (not DIY at all!), expensive and may not work with the Fabia, I followed a guide found on vwvortex.

The Fabia differs from the other VAG vehicle used in the guide mentioned above, so I thought I would put together my own for fellow Briskodians to use, should they decide to go this way.

The idea of the short shifter is pretty simple – the shorter the gearknob, the less travel to fall into any one gear, albeit theoretically with more effort.

So here we go:

First of all place fingers on the gaiter edge, and lift up – there are two clips fore and aft that release easily.

Now you can do the “Marilyn Monroe over the air vent” manoeuvre and lift the leather gaiter over the gearknob, revealing a small crimped ring on the shaft. Save yourself a lot of bother and cut the blessed thing and pull the gearknob straight off!

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Now most DIY SS write-ups speak of shortening the shaft anywhere from ¾ to 1 ½ inches, with 1 inch being the average. I measured the amount of shaft that can be shortened and it measured exactly 1 inch:

The amount I cut off was actually 2-3mm more, because I used a pipe-cutter and it requires a round shaft to rotate. A cut at exactly1 inch still left a bit of the channel remaining and this would not allow the pipe-cutter to rotate. The nice thing is that you can place your pipe-cutter just below where the vertical keyway/channel ends and you have it just right!

Pipe-cutter at work (I suggest that you get a heavy-duty one, or have a couple of mates take turns, or maybe wear gloves. Otherwise you will get blisters!) Keep going (seems like forever!), rotate a couple of turns, tighten until there’s a sudden snap and the top of the shaft pops off cleanly!

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Now you need to find a drill that is the same diameter as the shaft (12mm diameter). This is a bit bigger than most DIY drill chucks can handle, unless you find a "reduced shank" drill bit. I used a smaller drill and pressed sideways gently. Drill the gearknob from the opening below to remove the little plastic protrusion that is deep inside the handle. If you don’t the gearknob will remain at its’ original height! Be careful!! - you don't want to drill the opening any deeper at all, only remove the little plastic side protrusion. Take a look inside you'll see it clearly towards the left side of the gearknob.

I didn’t want to glue the gearknob on and make it impossible to remove in the future so I drilled a 2-3mm hole as per the picture. This served as a guide to drill into the shaft and put in a small self-tapping metal screw to prevent the gearknob from rotating. You’ll notice in the pic that I shortened the plastic end by sanding it down to make sure that it all fits fine (since I went a few mm over the comfy 1 inch in shortening the shaft…)

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After aligning the gearknob, and giving it a few whacks with the hand to seat it fully, a small hose clip (Jubilee clip) is used to firmly tighten the base.

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Replace the leather gaiter and you’re done!!

You can also use a hacksaw to cut the shaft if you want, just remember to place a clean towel so that no nasty stuff drops into the mechanism! It helps to temporarily place the hose clip you will be using on the shaft to guide your hacksaw cut. This makes sure that the end is flat and neat. The shaft is made of some bronze alloy and is a bit tough to get through....

How does it feel? Simply amazing – smooth, quick and no notchiness. The Fabia vRS should have come this way from the factory IMHO.

As far as increased effort to shift - not noticeable as far as I can tell. Just solid.

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The finished result!

Definitely a good mod!

Cheers All

Bas

I know this is an old topic, but i cant open the photos, could anyone email me them?