Why does nobody talk about how a $60 short shifter changed my whole commute

So three years back I put a cheap short shifter in my 03 Civic and I loved it. Snick snick, felt like a race car, all that. Last week I finally did the same mod to my daily, an 09 Fit, and now I'm not so sure. The throws are way shorter, sure, but the effort went up a lot and my wife hates driving it in traffic. Here's the thing though, some guys swear a short shifter is the best bang for buck mod you can do, and other guys say it just wears out your synchros faster and you should leave the stock linkage alone. I put about 40k miles on the Civic with mine and never had a single grind, so I lean toward the pro side. But I also get that on a cable shifter car like the Fit, the feel is totally different from a rod linkage car and maybe that's why it bugs me now. What's your take, is a short shifter a smart cheap mod or a waste that just makes daily driving annoying? Anybody run one for 100k miles and still like it?

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nathanrobinson5d ago

Wait, you put 40k miles on a short shifter in your Civic with zero grinds and you're still second guessing yourself? That is wild to me. If it survived 40k clean, that's your answer right there, the synchro thing is way overblown for normal driving. The real problem is what you already figured out, rod linkage and cable linkage are two totally different animals. Your Civic shifted the gears right under your hand, the Fit is pulling cables so all you did was shorten the lever and now you're just muscling it harder for the same result. Short throw on a cable car with a stock weight knob is gonna feel stiff and notchy in traffic, that's just how it is. Throw the stock one back in the Fit and keep the Civic memory, that's my take lol.

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