I was reading some Honda specs, and basically found out that the Fit basically has the longest throws of any M/T Honda produced the same yr.

This week I bought the short shifter from College Hills. I got around to installing it last night, and thought I'd share a little bit.

Once I had the old piece out, I really couldn't tell a difference between the original and the mugen. I was pretty skeptical about it actually being different. Maybe someone can explain more about what actually is different.

After I got it installed (btw it took maybe 30 minutes, very easy to do) I took the car for a quick spin over to the gas station. The throws are noticeable shorter of course. Overall I was very happy.

Whenever I was in a situation that required serious acceleration I sometimes would let off the clutch too soon with the original setup. I was always annoyed by how long the throw was when shifting. I'm hoping the quick shifter helps a little with that.

or maybe my hand foot coordination just sucks and I spent $180 for nothing...

So anyway, if you have questions about the short shifter. Hopefully I or someone else can answer it for you in this thread.

 

I just got an h-fit SS kit in the mail yesterday and will be installing it soon. It might be interesting to try and get measurements of the throw length on the Mugen and then compare.

I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be. If you have someone handy, they could hold a measuring tape steady while the other moves the lever. It might be easier to measure accurately with the knob removed. I want to do this with the stock pieces in there first and document the change.

 

good review.. i gave you some rep.. because i was prety serious about getting a new shifter and mugen was my first of choice.. but now idk if i want it after reading what you have said. you saved me 200bux.

and the mugen shifter changes the whole plastic thing with the handle... you would think that would give the absolute shortest throw being a short shifter that changes the whole housing.

 

I'm confused...could you tell a difference or not?

This has nothing to do with the throw length. As you stated, your coordination is off.

What I'm more interested in, is the smoothness of the Mugen short shifter...does it change the "shifting experience?" The stock shifter is so d@mn "notchy" during gear changes and feels loose when engaged.

 

LOL. That passes for a good review nowadays? He admits that he has trouble engaging gears during aggressive driving...how can this be considered a legitimate review of a performance shifter He wasn't even clear if he could tell a difference...see above.

It doesn't sound like you were very serious about the SS if you let the OPs few words sway you. Get it and write up a decent review...

 

Keep us posted on your impression of the SS kit...

 

Will do. It's a revision 3 model, which means nothing to me. Anyone care to fill me in on what they've revised?

 

Hey, sorry for not being clear. I meant I couldn't tell much of a difference in terms of physical appearance between the 2 pieces when they were both out of the car sitting side by side.

I definitely notice a shorter throw. The appearance is also noticeably shorter with the mugen piece in the car. I haven't driven more than a few miles this weekend, but will get the normal 170 mi round trip drive for work tomorrow.

All in all so far, it is smooth. everything clicks right in, and i doubt i'll release the clutch before gears are engaged anymore because it is a quicker shift.

I'd say it is worth $180 just because it's not some knock off, but it's the real deal piece. I think that was what I was going for by saying I couldn't tell the difference between them (again, in terms of side by side appearance)..

 

I also have the Mugen shifter and love it. The throws are shorter, but what I like most is the more direct and positive feel. The shifter doesn't feel as disconnected as the stock one and it feels much more solid. I found that the stock had an "arcade-game-plasticy-made-by-Logitech" feel to it.

As for the differences, the housing is the same but the Mugen is shorter above the pivot and longer below it. I believe it's approximately 1 in. shorter above the pivot than the OE one - not sure how much longer it is below. It is these changes over the stock one that provide the shorter throw.

Apparently the spring and bushings have been beefed up on the Mugen too.

There have been a lot of reviews of the Mugen, as well as the other options, here on the board.

 

well i was looking at this and the T1R, and it looks like such a pain to get that ball part of the handle to come out on the T1R so i kinda wanted the mugen one instead so i could just change the whole thing....

i have bought short shifters before and was unable to tell the difference on a few... and on some its a clear difference... so judging from what he said its not as a drastic differences... so i might just keep the stock one on this one.... but i still don't know.. the more i think about it.. the closer i am to cashing in and getting a short shifter haha.

i mean to me its a good review.. because hes not pulling towards it being a good improvement OR if it was not worth it... of course you look at MOST peoples review and they are either ALL for it or all against it... i like how hes neutral on the subject.

 

Still waiting for mine to arrive. Seems they are not in stock as I ordered in mid-April and was contacted that shipment should be late May or early June. Going to team the Mugen up with the H-Fit mounts. The Mugen still has rubber mounts, but the rubber has a higher durometer rating compared to stock.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Did you install it yourself? Collegehillshonda.com has a nice DIY video on their site.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like the throws are more precise compared to the notchy stock box?

How's the position of the shifter feel from an ergonomics standpoint? I am 6'1" and feel the stock shifter position is slightly "off." Especially with the seat reclined and slid back. I believe the problem lies with the height of the driver's seating position. My fear is that the short shifter will exacerbate this. A racing bucket with low rails would dramatically improve driver ergonomics.

 

You know a ri-donk-ulous amount of info about the Fit. Were you on the GE8 design team?

 

I can only wish I had a part. With as many that have been sold worldwide, I could live my dream of racing only for work/fun.

 

What nothing said is pretty spot on with how I feel after a few days of driving especially about the plastic logitec feel of the old one compared to the new feel.

 

I self installed mine in about 20 minutes or so - very easy to do with basic tools.

The position of the shift knob is definitely lower than the OE setup, but not extremely so. The driver's seat is quite high, but I sit with the seatback reclined only 2 notches or so, and I am happy with the position of the lever. I don't have the accessory arm rest, and I defintely can't use the OE armrest while changing gears (it was hard enough with the OE setup and near impossible with the shorter shift lever).

If you find the OE position too low, you may not like the Mugen. I know there was a least one fellow on the board has used the H-Fit kit with the Circuit Hero shift extender to get a shorter throw with a longer lever. Try a quick search here, that may be what you're looking for.

The one thing I really wish we had was a height adjustable driver's seat for the NA Fits.

 

i feel like my stock one makes all these clicking noises when i go into gear, does the mugen do that? just a weird question... but i really liked how it felt like the gear was "clicking" into place.

 

i thought the housing it self on the mugen shifter was higher tho.... the more i research this. the more i am thinking about going with mugen..

i'll be driving my car all day tomorrow, so i guess i'll think really hard about it... i remember in the past i never saw a reason to get a shifter.. but when i got one.. it was the BEST choice i ever done.

 

Mine arrived last night finally. Will install either today after work or Saturday morning early. The rubber is definitely harder than stock though. Tried to take one of the rubber mounts out and it was not an easy task like the stock rubber was.

 

Mugen does make hard rubber versions of many suspension/shifter bushings and engine mounts so I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same formula for the Fit's shifter bushings. Hard rubber should go a long way toward reducing slop.