Speaking of B&M short throw shifters...
 

You might also consider the EVO Billet Shift Linkage available at: Evolution Motorsports or http://www.evoms.com. This is a picture of the difference between the two...
http://porscheboy.5u.com/evo-vs-oem-shifter1.jpg

The picture below is of my OEM linkage after 40K miles :-)
http://porscheboy.5u.com/oldlinkage.JPG

I hope I helped...
PorscheBoy (Jay)

Aside from looking "beefier" what difference would it make?

Actually I have both of these. I have the B&M shifter and the EVO linkage. I installed them in the same order. From what I was told, the reason I decided to install the linkage too, was because in hard shifting or under extreme stress the 986 stock linkage can break since it is made of plastic. The EVO linkage is metal, so no chances of it breaking when shifting hard. If you are easy with your shifter you should never have to replace this. But if you do hard shifting, do it!

How much is the evo linkage?

Adam, I believe the linkage is about $130 US or so... Check out http://www.evoms.com for exact info...

Jay

I saved that picture. Someone likes to speed shift.

http://img15.photobucket.com/albums/...shift_part.jpg

I thought mine was bad {LOL} NICE! :-)

PorscheBoy (Jay)

What is the real liklihood of something like this happening? I mean, I am partial to hard, near red-line shifting, and since I just picked up the Boxster, I'm trying to figure out what not to do, as well as some things that can help me maintain the value...thanks.