[jakeru]

Short shifter pro: you won't need to move your shift knob as far. (obviously!)

Short shifter con: you will need to apply a higher amount of force with your hand to the knob to get it to shift.

There are many variants of short shifter, FYI, some of which are factory and some of which are aftermarket, and a range of throw reductions are offered. The throw reduction front-back can be different than the throw reduction side-to-side. One inescapable fact of physics of the levers involved is that the more the throw is reduced by changing the basic lever geometry, the more the force will be required to accomplish the shift. It's simple physics! If a little bit of good, more is not necessarily better.

It's also subjective. Something more important than reducing the throws, in my opinion, is to reduce friction and slop in the system. This is about more than just the shift console - cables running underneath the car, the various linkages and bellcrank mechanisms (both below the shift lever and back at the transmission), and even internal condition of the transmission's shift forks, springs, bearings, and fluid, can all factor into the shifter's performance.

Hope this helps give you some food for thought. Cheers!