whalesalad
Ready to race!
I wanted to make a more formal DIY, but because I'd never done this before I was terrified that I was gonna irreversibly own the hell out of my transmission. Luckily my bud Ken was with me once again, who's an aircraft mechanic and Blackhawk crew chief He's got more tools than santa's elves.
I really don't like the rubbery loose feeling of the tranny on the MKVI, so I knew that some kind of linkage, bushing, or other replacement was going to go down soon. I picked up the Sigma 6 short shifter from DieselGeek.com after hearing numerous things about their products as an MKIII owner back in the day.
I gotta say, I absolutely love the feeling of this product. It has a break in period, and I might need to go in and re-adjust it, but honestly, it feels wonderful. Shifts are so much quicker and tighter. The knob really doesn't move at all when in gear (a stock MKVI has a ton of play when, for example, you're in 6th on the freeway). I drove down to the Santa Monica pier last night and thought I had a brand new car all over again. I feel like I'm driving an expensive sportscar now instead of a $22k car.
Here are some pix of the install. It took about 3 hours because it started raining half way through, and I didn't have internet access so reading the install instructions without photos was a pain. P.S. To everyone out there making aftermarket products: when I pay you my hard earned money for a custom fabricated component, I expect GOOD printed instructions to be included with it.
My bud Ken's 240 outta the driveway.
Caught the neighbor taking off for a saturday cruise in his Ferarri
Beautiful day to get dirty
Here's the shifter in the box before installing. The components are gorgeous and well machined!
Post-install photo. I did a horrible job taking pix during the install becuase most of the time I was focused on getting it to work correctly.
Post-install beers!
Of course, the BFI "needs more low" sticker
Hope you enjoyed my totally random collection of photos. Back on topic of the shifter, I freaking love it. I followed the adjustment instructions exactly and drove off with it feeling real notchy but all gears worked and were in their correct places.
After driving about 120 miles on it, I have to say it feels a whole lot better. The instructions described that it would need some breaking in time, and they weren't kidding. It feels a lot smoother now than when I first installed it.
Conclusion (tl;dr)
From the DieselGeek website:
This pretty much sums up my feelings exactly. If you're looking for a mod that will increase your happiness level by 10x when driving, this is definitely it. Throws are shorter, shifts feel more precise, and overall I just feel like the car and I are much more in-tune. Downshifting a gear or two to overtake someone is so much fun!
Check out the DieselGeek Sigma 6 kit here!
http://www.dieselgeek.com/servlet/Detail?no=274
A bit pricey, but worth every penny My favorite mod so far.
I really don't like the rubbery loose feeling of the tranny on the MKVI, so I knew that some kind of linkage, bushing, or other replacement was going to go down soon. I picked up the Sigma 6 short shifter from DieselGeek.com after hearing numerous things about their products as an MKIII owner back in the day.
I gotta say, I absolutely love the feeling of this product. It has a break in period, and I might need to go in and re-adjust it, but honestly, it feels wonderful. Shifts are so much quicker and tighter. The knob really doesn't move at all when in gear (a stock MKVI has a ton of play when, for example, you're in 6th on the freeway). I drove down to the Santa Monica pier last night and thought I had a brand new car all over again. I feel like I'm driving an expensive sportscar now instead of a $22k car.
Here are some pix of the install. It took about 3 hours because it started raining half way through, and I didn't have internet access so reading the install instructions without photos was a pain. P.S. To everyone out there making aftermarket products: when I pay you my hard earned money for a custom fabricated component, I expect GOOD printed instructions to be included with it.
My bud Ken's 240 outta the driveway.
Caught the neighbor taking off for a saturday cruise in his Ferarri
Beautiful day to get dirty
Here's the shifter in the box before installing. The components are gorgeous and well machined!
Post-install photo. I did a horrible job taking pix during the install becuase most of the time I was focused on getting it to work correctly.
Post-install beers!
Of course, the BFI "needs more low" sticker
Hope you enjoyed my totally random collection of photos. Back on topic of the shifter, I freaking love it. I followed the adjustment instructions exactly and drove off with it feeling real notchy but all gears worked and were in their correct places.
After driving about 120 miles on it, I have to say it feels a whole lot better. The instructions described that it would need some breaking in time, and they weren't kidding. It feels a lot smoother now than when I first installed it.
Conclusion (tl;dr)
From the DieselGeek website:
There is nothing as important to the feel of your car as what you actually touch. This includes the seats, the steering wheel, and of course, the shifter. Many people have mentioned that installing a Dieselgeek Shifter should be the first mod added to a new car. In the pursuit to make our own cars the best they can be, we have created the finest short shifter with the best materials, engineering, and craftsmanship to transform the way you feel about your car.
This pretty much sums up my feelings exactly. If you're looking for a mod that will increase your happiness level by 10x when driving, this is definitely it. Throws are shorter, shifts feel more precise, and overall I just feel like the car and I are much more in-tune. Downshifting a gear or two to overtake someone is so much fun!
Check out the DieselGeek Sigma 6 kit here!
http://www.dieselgeek.com/servlet/Detail?no=274
A bit pricey, but worth every penny My favorite mod so far.