Interesting bit about short shift kits - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Lil bastard · 04-20-2009, 01:32 PM

Found this interesting tidbit from the Spec Boxster board. From one of their more knowledgeable contributors/moderators:

"Short shift kits ruin transmissions.. stay away from them racers don't use them.. street people do (for about a year before they wreck second gear)..."

FYI

jmatta · 04-20-2009, 02:08 PM

That's interesting; however, I've had my B&M for four years/10k miles and no problems. I also do not "speed shift" and treat my car with respect (learned from driving 911's all these years with 915 trannys).

Burg Boxster · 04-20-2009, 03:32 PM

hmmm....

Let's see...I have a '99 2.5L (w/ potential: porous block, RMS, and of course IMS issues), 15mm spacers (dangerously eliminating understeer

), original top (w/ the 'dreaded' plastic window), and B&M SSK for 2 years (which will now ruin 2nd gear). Yet I haven't had any issues w/ mine.

Boy I sure hope all this hysteria about Boxsters keeps up.... I don't think I've ever driven such a pristine car which at this point should be scare-depreciated to $0 by mid June

.

mdex · 04-20-2009, 04:31 PM

We have had short shift kits in all the cars since the first 911 in '85. Never a ruined gearbox in any of them... with hundreds of hours on track for each car, and at least 100k of street miles on them as well.

Most of the racers I know as well put them in... it isn't the short shifter that destroys the gear box.. its the person shifting it improperly.

bigb · 04-20-2009, 05:01 PM

Heh, I guess I too came across the same snippet you did at the spec board Lil'B. Would be cool if Brad could shed more light on this...

spyder803 · 04-20-2009, 05:29 PM

I was researching this as well and have seen several posts regarding potential wear issues and problems. Of course I have also seen many positive reviews as well but I'm going to leave mine alone for now and focus on other items.

I haven't personally experienced any issues with the stock shifter or it's travel distance at this point so unless I do begin to notice comfort issues with it I'm going to put this idea back on the shelf.

yellowboxster01 · 04-20-2009, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

"Short shift kits ruin transmissions.. stay away from them racers don't use them.. street people do (for about a year before they wreck second gear)..."

Complete BS, race cars use them more often than not. It just makes more sense to have one rather than not. You can shave time off your lap just by having a short shift.

If they really ruined transmissions, why would Porsche install them at the factory? Don't you think after more than 50 years in the industry they would've figured that one out, if it were true?

What is the reason for them "ruining" transmissions? I'd chalk that up to people not properly shifting being the direct effect there.

roadracer311 · 04-20-2009, 07:10 PM

The only way I can see that a short shift kit would harm a transmission, is if someone decides after they install it, to shift more quickly than they should.

All a short shift kit does is decreases the leverage at the shift lever, which also decreases the distance that the driver's hand moves. So the *only* possible effect this could have on the longevity of the transmission, is if it results in people trying to rush the synchros when they are shifting. To which I say: "Don't do that". As long as you don't shift faster than the synchros can go, everything will be exactly as it was with a standard shifter.

I've installed two of these (one Chinese knock-off and one 987 short shifter).