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Stock vs. Blowfish bracket vs. Steeda Tri-Ax vs. MGW vs. MGW + BG Syncroshift II

mindys

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Hello boys and girls. As stated in my lengthy title the purpose of this post is to give you my take on how each mod changed shifting as I looked for the perfect (for me) daily driving shifter configuration. [MENTION=19793]2morrow[/MENTION] asked me to compare the Steeda versus MGW, but I will expand on all the options that I have sampled. Let's get straight into it.

1. Stock shifter

Ok, no need to say much here. It is a shifter. It shifts the gears. That's about it. While it does what it is supposed to do, it does so with no confidence. The shifter assembly is sloppy, "nibbles" and "binds" occur during cold (and sometimes warm) conditions, and sometimes the third gear lock out rears it's ugly head under hard acceleration. In all, pretty poor shifter design. My first step:

2. Blowfish Racing bracket

I picked up this unit second hand. Installed it with the hopes to get rid of the third gear lockout. It definitely eliminated that. Rigidly connecting the shifter assembly to the transmission introduced more NVH into the cabin in terms of vibration through the shifter, which also caused the plastic reverse lockout collar to rattle audibly above 3K RPMs. It also eliminated some of the side-to-side deflection of the shifter when pushing it either all the way left or right. Recommended to those if all you are looking for is eliminating the third gear lockout issues and getting some deflection out of the shifter. Since I wanted to get rid of the slop entirely, my next mod was...

3. Steeda Tri-Ax Race shifter

Out came the Blowfish bracket, in came the Tri-Ax. Bought this unit used, so I had to get more Dynamat Xtreme and the Energy Suspension grease. Want to give a shout out to [MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION] for helping me with this install. With the shifter installed, what I noticed immediately is the reduced throw (advertised as 30% reduction) and, with that, an increased shifting effort, especially to first gear from a stop. The slop present in the stock shifter was definitely eliminated by the Steeda unit. Shifts were precise and confident. The unit definitely did what it set out to do in the shifting department, but not all was roses and sunshine with this setup. I had a pretty significant increase in the noise present in the cabin. I attribute this to the shifter being mounted to the body of the car just like the stock one. If I was coasting between 2K and 3K and giving enough throttle to keep a constant speed, I had this boomy sound (kinda like drone) under these conditions. I also had a different sound when coasting below 2K RPM that I attribute to gear noise transferred through the rigid top support arm to the shifter, though it was very quiet. I think the rattle in the reverse lockout collar was also present, but I do not remember for sure because I replaced it with the billet aluminum one from Steeda. Also, I did have pretty loud noise when shifting into fourth gear at times. My take on this unit is that if you need the shortest throw possible and do not mind an increase in NVH (also, a lot of people state on the forums that the Steeda unit did not increase NVH for them), together with a better shifting experience, this will work for you. Since I did not find the NVH appropriate for a daily driver, I bit the bullet and got...

4. MGW Race Spec standard

I bought the unit new during a sale. I got the standard unit, which comes with a 15% decrease in throw from stock. Did the install myself and it was easy peasy. Compared to the Tri-Ax, the effort to shift is reduced due to the increase in throw. All NVH that I mentioned with the Tri-Ax is gone from my car. The only increase in NVH is the reintroduction of the vibration similar to the vibration with the Blowfish Racing bracket because the MGW is rigidly mounted to the transmission. Since the MGW ditches the pull-up reverse for the push-down option, no rattling is present and the vibration itself is very minimal (in my opinion). Shifts are confident , precise and engaging. The throw is perfect for my taste. Some nibbling did occur at times, but nothing significant. No lockouts, no frills, just a great overall shifting experience. [MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION] commented that he loved the shifter, but the gates between adjacent gears were a bit too close for his liking. I, however, found this setup perfect for me and my utilization of the vehicle. But.... of course there is always more money to be spent, and due to my friend's [MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION] suggestion, I decided to purchase BG Syncroshift II transmission fluid.

5. MGW + BG Syncroshift II

"Could a fluid make a significant increase in shifter performance?" I asked the same question myself, Jimmy. But now I am wiser and more knowledgeable through first-hand experience, and my answer is a big and loud "YES!". This is the last stop. This is the final destination to shifting heaven. The BG fluid has eliminated nearly all of the "nibbling" and "binding" during shifting, decreased shifting effort, eliminated a good portion of the sounds coming from the transmission, and even some of the vibration in the shifter (which, just to remind you, was rather minimal already with the MGW). Shifts now are smooth, "clean" and excellent. I would not want it any other way and recommend doing the transmission fluid swap with any shifter, be it stock, MGW, Tri-Ax, or Barton. Me, I will stay with this for the rest of the vehicle's life.

So there you have it folks. A large wall of text, but I just wanted to share all this information with anyone that is still wondering how to improve their shifting experience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! :cheers:

With love :love:,
Minde
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mindys

mindys

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Oh, could a moderator fix the title. Misspelled "bracket" by spelling it "braclet". Damn it :D
 

BmacIL

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Oh, could a moderator fix the title. Misspelled "bracket" by spelling it "braclet". Damn it :D
You can edit it if you click "Go advanced"
 

BmacIL

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I drove his car yesterday and the shifting experience is incredible. Short (but not too short), positive throws, with zero vagueness, zero slop, and no gear nibbles to speak of. Every time it just glides into the gate. There's not really much else I could ask for other than a little bit more side-to-side throw distance, which he already mentioned. :thumbsup:
[MENTION=22413]Optimum Performance[/MENTION] [MENTION=10681]MGW[/MENTION]
 

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Great review, probably going to be getting the Fluid here next, have the steeda bracket and see how it is. Then if needed go Barton or MGW.
 

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Halfway there...just need to get some BG Synchroshift II.
 

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I am going to be testing out a "poor man's" short shifter. I don't drag or track my car so I am just looking at a shorter throw and getting rid of the 3rd lockout when I am playing around.

I ordered the steeda street tri-ax lever and the shifter bushing. The steeda race tri-ax uses most of the stock shifter internals anyways. I might get a little NVH but doubt it will be too noticeable with the corsa extreme CB.

After reading this I might swap the tranny fluid as well, once I have time to do the install.
 

HISSMAN

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My Tri-ax is as quiet as stock. The only rattle I had was from the lock-out collar. I was able to fix that though.
 
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mindys

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I am going to be testing out a "poor man's" short shifter. I don't drag or track my car so I am just looking at a shorter throw and getting rid of the 3rd lockout when I am playing around.

I ordered the steeda street tri-ax lever and the shifter bushing. The steeda race tri-ax uses most of the stock shifter internals anyways. I might get a little NVH but doubt it will be too noticeable with the corsa extreme CB.

After reading this I might swap the tranny fluid as well, once I have time to do the install.
Yeah, it all comes down to what you want out of your shifter. If you're seeking just a shorter throw with no lockouts, but don't see any issues with any other stock shifter characteristics, this is the way to go!

My Tri-ax is as quiet as stock. The only rattle I had was from the lock-out collar. I was able to fix that though.
Yeah I've seen you mention it. You did put in some mass vinyl on top of the white foam pad around the shifter, right? What were you having before that? Also, how did you fix the rattle?
 

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Yeah, it all comes down to what you want out of your shifter. If you're seeking just a shorter throw with no lockouts, but don't see any issues with any other stock shifter characteristics, this is the way to go!



Yeah I've seen you mention it. You did put in some mass vinyl on top of the white foam pad around the shifter, right? What were you having before that? Also, how did you fix the rattle?
I had a little bit of what I would call road noise coming up through the tunnel that the damping material took out. ( the damping sheet is actually under the white foamy thingy..LOL) As far as shifter noise, I don't think there was any more than stock. The rattle was fixed the moment I installed the Derlin Steeda lock-out collar. Not sure if it had a direct effect, or if I just had something slightly off during the initial install.
 

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mindys

mindys

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I had a little bit of what I would call road noise coming up through the tunnel that the damping material took out. ( the damping sheet is actually under the white foamy thingy..LOL) As far as shifter noise, I don't think there was any more than stock. The rattle was fixed the moment I installed the Derlin Steeda lock-out collar. Not sure if it had a direct effect, or if I just had something slightly off during the initial install.
I got you. I also wonder if the sound with the Steeda was installation error, but I looked it all over and it seemed fine. Maybe the Dynamat was not enough to block out the volume coming from the exhaust. No idea. Otherwise good shifter, just too short of a throw for me.
 

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I got you. I also wonder if the sound with the Steeda was installation error, but I looked it all over and it seemed fine. Maybe the Dynamat was not enough to block out the volume coming from the exhaust. No idea. Otherwise good shifter, just too short of a throw for me.

That is exactly the conclusion I came to. I added insulation to where sound was coming through the tunnel and it fixed it. I also added another layer of off brand dynomat that I got from Amazon. It's very quiet. Unless it is a buzzing or rattling, then the sound is most likely exhaust or road noise coming from the gap in the tunnel between the shifter and body. Another item of note. I added an Anarchy-Motive knob, which has a lot more mass than the oem knob. The mass in and of itself could be damping some of the noise coming up the shifter as well.
 
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mindys

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That is exactly the conclusion I came to. I added insulation to where sound was coming through the tunnel and it fixed it. I also added another layer of off brand dynomat that I got from Amazon. It's very quiet. Unless it is a buzzing or rattling, then the sound is most likely exhaust or road noise coming from the gap in the tunnel between the shifter and body. Another item of note. I added an Anarchy-Motive knob, which has a lot more mass than the oem knob. The mass in and of itself could be damping some of the noise coming up the shifter as well.
You see, I made sure that there was absolutely no gap in between the body and the shifter by putting on two layers of Dynamat. The second layer covered any seams of the first layer, so I definitely covered up any exposed areas. I also used Dynamax Xtreme so that it was the same as what the Tri-Ax kit came with. Still lots of noise for me. I also had my Anarchy knob on with the shifter, but went back to using the stock one for now. Sadly, my Anarchy knob does not fit over the MGW adapter :(
 

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You see, I made sure that there was absolutely no gap in between the body and the shifter by putting on two layers of Dynamat. The second layer covered any seams of the first layer, so I definitely covered up any exposed areas. I also used Dynamax Xtreme so that it was the same as what the Tri-Ax kit came with. Still lots of noise for me. I also had my Anarchy knob on with the shifter, but went back to using the stock one for now. Sadly, my Anarchy knob does not fit over the MGW adapter :(
What you has was resonance, not just noise.
 
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mindys

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What you has was resonance, not just noise.
Yeah, I think it was from the body mount. But weird that other people have not been reporting this. :shrug:
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