I am considering a short-throw shifter for my new WRX and would like to know if anyone has experience with one. Subaru sells one for the car but I see that there are also after-market manufacturers. If you have one, do you like it? How difficult are they to install? Do you recommend the official Subaru part or are there better after-market shifters? Thanks.

I have a Subaru short shifter in my WRX. I love it. I would stick with teh factory unit. It is pretty straight forward installation, not hard for me, but then I can rebuild the complete car.

worth doing in just any car. its kinda simple i cant see how one brand can be better than another.

I have a KartBoy short-throw shifter and front bushings in my Forester XT. Love it! Install was very easy and shifting is much more precise, cost was $120 which I think is alot less than the Subaru kit.

I've run both the subaru sti short shifter, and the kartboy. I liked the feel of the kartboy unit better. the kartboy short shifter however has a lower height then the stock shifter and sti short shifter. There are other short shifters as well, like the cobb double adjustable one, and a few others.

 

I have however since gone back to a stock wrx shift linkage/lever setup with kartboy front and rear bushings.

 

The bushings alone make a HUGE difference in how the lever feels.

 

My suggestion would be to get the bushings first, and see how you like the feel. If you still want more of a shorter throw, get one of the short throw shifters, and still use the kartboy bushings.

 

Here's some pics of the shifter linkage and kartboy bushings

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru/images/kartboybushings/