MGW GT350 shifter

Epiphany said:

It is a beautiful piece.

With the money I see going out the window for Expel or simply in the form of an ADM I can't imagine not giving the shifter equal consideration. The car in the writeup at SVTP is mine and I'm here to tell you that after driving 1,000 miles there and 1,000 miles back, it is that good.




Open your imagination. It is better in every way.

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I'm really glad you are enjoying your new addition/improvement, I look forward to reading other reviews. Do you know what the price is???

I can't wait until it's available.

The OEM 350 shifter is good but I said the same abou the 15+ getrag unit.

Once you get it and hop into a a stock 350 you'll think it's broken lol

Epiphany said:

Yes.




I'm a member. Anything in particular you're curious about?

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You have it installed in your GT350? How does first gear feel? Does it ever get a little notchy/rubbery as you try and engage first from reverse? What gear changes exhibit the greatest improvement (ex. Reverse to 1st, etc.) Is it a shorter throw and if so is it easier to miss gears when compared to the stock shifter, especially downshift from 5th to 4th?

Thanks

I'm also curious how the shift action is different? Shorter? The only shift I have a hard time with is a 3-2 downshift at speed, otherwise I do very well.

TDC said:

You have it installed in your GT350? How does first gear feel? Does it ever get a little notchy/rubbery as you try and engage first from reverse? What gear changes exhibit the greatest improvement (ex. Reverse to 1st, etc.) Is it a shorter throw and if so is it easier to miss gears when compared to the stock shifter, especially downshift from 5th to 4th?

Thanks

Click to expand...

SchultzLT1 said:

I'm also curious how the shift action is different? Shorter? The only shift I have a hard time with is a 3-2 downshift at speed, otherwise I do very well.

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Yes, I have it installed in my own GT350.

Shifting into first gear is precise. Since the MGW uses a "push down" reverse as opposed to the OEM "pull up" collar first understand that the two mechanisms are quite a bit different. The factory uses a plastic collar/spring/roll pin arrangement whereas the MGW uses a nitrided pin and groove. The MGW is extremely robust whereas the OEM design mimics that of a ballpoint pen. So exiting reverse on the MGW and into first is more mechanical and less light duty like (if that makes sense).

The one thing about the original shifter that bothered me was the "rubbery" feeling at the extreme north/south of a given gear. Try it next time you shift your car with even a modicum of aggression. The MGW feels as if there is a stop (there isn't) and doesn't do that.

The improvement in gear changes that I noticed right away was that the 1-2 shift can be hit as hard as you can deliver, consistently, all day. No "rubbery feel." Next would be the 2-3 shift. George sat in the car while I drove and suggested doing the 2-3 with an open palm, pushing up. The shifter guides you up and over without having to consciously move it up and over. After doing it a few times I looked at him and he simply smiled back.

With respect to throw I can say with confidence that George is very aware of the impact that too much reduction can have. I want to say that it is 10-15% shorter but he'd have to supply an exact number. Be wary of a shifter that claims more than a 20% reduction as this is where things begin to get notchy and you may be even more likely to get rejected when trying to execute a clean shift. There's a balance here and it is best to not get greedy. I'd call this shifter "just right" as I don't believe the original shifter had an excessively long throw to begin with.

I have yet to "miss a gear" with it either upshifting or downshifting. As I intimated up above, I don't believe the minor throw reduction increases the potential to miss a shift. Remember, the MGW uses a single axis design as opposed to the factory pendulum design. If it helps, here are a couple of conceptual CAD drawings I did to help illustrate. Watch the pivot at the bottom of the shifter, where it connects to the horizontal rod. This is a pendulum design, where you are trying to swing the linkage into position.

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Far from optimum and not very linear.

Next, watch how a single axis rod moves at the pivot cup. It is the same as a bolt action rifle as it rotates but does not swing.


[ame]


The factory GT350 shifter uses a pendulum design because it is rather inexpensive and has few moving parts. Great for production, not so great for accuracy. I'm not at liberty to share how everything works inside the MGW GT350 shifter but I assure you that tolerances are tightly controlled, materials are first rate, and every unit is hand assembled by someone that does it for a living and proudly so.

Every single component used in this shifter impressed the living shit out of me.

I hope when th price comes out you don't have to redo that car animation of that rod going where the sun don't shine.

Most paid a lot more in the form of an ADM where a much larger rod was used. And as I mentioned earlier I see people spending $1,000 to $2,000 for some plastic film to be stuck to their car. That's the biggest rod of all!

picture of it finished


https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t...ig_cache_key=MTI0NzI1MTkzMTE5NDg4NDk3Mg==.2.l

I never thought about upgrading the shifter as it felt fine to me but you've piqued my interest [MENTION=19066]Epiphany[/MENTION]. Now I'll just wait for the price.

I'm sure MGW's piece is 100% top notch but man, I really don't have any complains about my shifter. Not saying it can't get better, I'm just pointing out I'm not dying for anything better because it's not acceptable.

If you thought you were happy eating just baloney sandwiches all your life how do you think steak would taste?

I definitely notice the "softness" at the end of the north-south travel.

My shifter was quite tight when I first got the car, but feels much better after ~8000 miles. Still, of all the mods I've seen so far, this shifter has generated the most interest since I spend so much time shifting. Might need to take a look at it.

-T

Where is MGW located? I'm in Columbia SC by the way.

Your shifter went from "tight" to "better" because the sphere/race are wearing. They are a poor fit but "work" for production.

In a nutshell, the GT350 shifter mimics the previous generation Camaro TR6060 shifter. If you Google "GT350 OEM Shifter" you'll find a writeup I did on the matter. Eventually, the sphere/race juncture goes to shit and the shifter doesn't work very well at all.

Here's what I'm talking about. This is a 2016 GT350 factory OEM shifter I dissected...










Note how similar the GT350 hardware is to that of the older Camaro model...




Here's the GM version of this shifter (if you find the link and read through it you'll be surpeised to see the lineage). Note the movement at the race when the shifter is moved.

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And this is on top of the GT350 shifter being of pendulum architecture and design.