Well, after reading all the raves about the Vertex/Schnell short shift kit I went ahead and bought one. To say I'm a bit disappointed would be an understatement. Here's my review of the product and the end results.
Installation:
Fairly straight forward with good instructions aside from the point about removing the shift knob. It says (as have most of you) to simply pull up hard and it will pop off. After just about giving myself a hernia it decided to look at my shifter a little closer. It turns out that my shift knob is held in place by a hex set screw at the base of the knob facing forward. Once I found that the installation continued.
When I installed the unit I quickly noticed 2 things:
1. The bushings included are not adjustable and when I tried to install them there wasn't enough clearance to get the D rings to seat easily. When I did get them installed the tension was so high that the unit would not properly center itself. To remedy this I got out the trusty dremel and took about .010 off one of the washers retained by the bushing. The down side here is the rear bushing is mushroomed around the D ring slot so the only way that's coming out again is to sand/file it down which is a pain considering it's location
2. The gate selector (the bar sticking out to the left) uses a larger ball than the stock unit so the plastic guide used by the factory cannot be used. Even though it fits properly the ball end of the Schnell shifter is loose enough to add more play to the left/right gates that was there with the factory unit.
Using the shifter:
To say the shift is higher effort and notchier is another understatement. Although it's roughly 40% shorter in throw the engagement is anything but smooth. I find that the effort required seems to make up and down shifts actually less efficient due to the extra effort and attention that must be paid. The extra play in the gate selection caused by the loosely fitted ball end makes the 3/4 gate easier to miss and has cost me at least 2 missed down shifts (no harm done).
Overall I give this kit a 5 on a scale of 1 - 10. I will be removing it and returning it under their 100% satisfaction guarantee once I get the EVO bushings and heim joint 20% shifter package. I have to wait because I can't put the stock unit back in until I get new bushings.
For reference my car is a 2003 S with the Aluminum instert shifter and no other modifications.