cboggess

I know a few of the So. Cal guys have these, but I haven't seen any reviews so I thought I'd throw this out there. I have a fix for the lateral slop in the STi shifter. If you would like check out this thead for the entire history of the development and some feedback:

http://www.sti-buki.com/forums/showt...=&threadid=407

Krinkov

iTrader: (21)

i didnt want to read through all six pages, so kartboy shifter bushings take the slop out of the shifter. Brilliant

cboggess

Perhaps you should have. The kartboy bushing is for the shifter stay. These are for the shift linkage. Kartboy bushing helps fore/aft slop. These help lateral slop.

Krinkov

iTrader: (21)

okay had a feeling I was missing something

Can you summarize the six pages than? what did you figure out?

cboggess

We figured out that there are 4 soft rubber bushings in the shift linkage that experience packing out over time. This packing out leads to more movement in the joint, and, given the length of the lever arm of the shifter, this movement translates into huge slop at the end of the stick. Where this slop becomes most prevailant is on the 2-3 shift. Given the stock setup it is very easy to miss 3rd and either end up in 5th or hang up on the gate betwen 3rd and 5th.

One guy has even had the misfortune of accidentally going into third when trying to do a 6-5 downshift because of this slop.

We started looking at these bushings and have come up with a new bushing that is SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer than the OEM part. By replacing the OEM bushings with a stiffer material with much tighter tolerances we have eliminated a large amount of this slop, made it so the stick self-centers much faster, improved the overall feel, and, despite the stiffer material, keeps NVH to a minimum.

Krinkov

iTrader: (21)

Hmm, yeah Ive never done that...*cough cough*

so do you have some new bushings ready to go?

cboggess

I do. Check out http://turninconcepts.com/

Egan

iTrader: (14)

Very nice install instructions.

cboggess

Thanks. We've gotten some feedback from others on them and I have tried updating them to reflect what people have found to work well.

cboggess

Just a bump to let everyone know that the full kit now includes the new Kartboy rear stay bushing. In other words the STi Super Shifter Set gets you the KB lever, KB front AND rear bushings, and the TiC linkage bushings.

Krinkov

iTrader: (21)

ordered a set today, should have them installed with my short shift next month

cboggess

You should have them by now. Let us know what you think of them once you have them installed.

Egan

iTrader: (14)

I installed mine last Saturday. It took me longer than it should of due to that damn pin, but otherwise it went smoothly. My initial reaction is that the shifting is much more precise and the gears click in to place now. It's probably as close to a gated shifter feeling as you're going to get. I also installed the new Kartboy rear stay bushing at the same time.

I'll put a full review up in the reviews section as soon as I get a bit more time. As with the Kartboy front stay bushing, this is a great improvement for only $30.

cboggess

Now that you've had some time to play with them what do you think?

Egan

iTrader: (14)

I've only put on about 350 miles, with 131 one of those on track. The shifting is much more precise now. The usefulness of the shifter has been greatly improved. There is absolutely no slop or play. I don't see how anyone could accidentally mis-shift with this setup. As I said before it is almsot like a gated shifter.

I really like how the gears click in and out, giving you better feedback than the stock setup.

I would recommend installing these bushings with the Kartboy stuff at the same time. No need to tear it all apart again. Also, if you're planning on a Kartboy short shifter, the same thing applies - do it all at the same time since you have to pull the same things apart, for the most part.