Product development for the 2011 tC coming soon at TWM Performance!
04-05-2011, 08:58 PM
#109
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 588
aw mine's coming tomorrow. how come it got faster to FL than VA from Canada :/ Oh well I think I have to wait until saturday to install anyways.. Lemme kno how it goes and any tricks u find along the way 
04-06-2011, 12:25 AM
#111
Okay, TWM Short Shifter is installed and is amazing! Here's my write-up.
It arrived in a standard TWM box, securely packaged to keep anything from moving and keep everything safe. The box contained the shifter itself, a plastic bag with all the smaller parts, step-by-step instructions with pictures (in black & white) and 2 TWM Performance stickers (which I requested).
The first thing you notice is the parts are very well made, with clean, precise manufacturing. Comparing the TWM parts, especially the reverse lock and shift ****, to the stock parts reminded me of the difference between a Happy Meal toy and a Matchbox car of years gone by.
The installation fairly easy and general mechanical experience should be plenty. If you will be using a cutting tool (I used a Dremel), experience with that is also a good idea as there is an amount of precision required. A couple steps note "the help of an assistant" is or may be necessary and though I had an "assistant" working with me, I didn't find any real need for 2 people.
Installation manual starts off with the estimated installation time (75 min) which is fairly accurate. It took me about 2 hrs, but I had never installed a short shifter before and was teaching my 16 yr old how to do it as we went along.
A short list of tools is also noted, some of which are more a suggestion than truly required. One example is the instructions say a vice as required. It's really just to hold this little tool they sent, so I used 2 storage boxes I had handy. You will need some grease. If you don't already have some, I bought a tube of grease from Wal-Mart for under $2.
Once you get into the steps, the directions are clear and concise. Some of the black & white pictures in the manual are hard to see, so I would recommend bringing up the directions on the computer too. When you get to the step requiring you to cut the push nut, be very careful not to cut the plastic shifter housing or the shift holder pin. Ensure you wear you safety glasses when you cut. You will send sparks everywhere. The remainder of the installation is easy and goes quickly.
I replaced the original pin (the one you had to cut the push nut off) with a 3/8" x 3.5" bold, metal sleeve, nut and lock washer. I had to cut the sleeve a little to get everything the same size, but it now fits great and I won't have to cut anything if I ever pull the shifter apart again. Just be careful not to over tighten the nut as you'll compress the spring and not be able to move the shifter at all.
But the real fun begins once you get it installed. The new shifter really does improve the feel and joy of shifting. It makes you feel like you're shifting through the gears of a $60K car rather than a $20K car. Shifts are smooth and clean, with a satisfying click as you put it in gear. There is a noticeable reduction in throw, but not so much it takes an expert to drive it. The reduction is enough, however, you can shift by flicking your wrist, rather than using your whole arm like you do with the stock shifter. Neutral and gear positions are moved slightly closer to the driver. Change is enough, the first time I went for 1st, I put it in 3rd, but it's a very comfortable position and I only made the mistake once. With TWM's weighted shift ****, you start the gear change and it's almost like the shift lever knows what you want and goes that direction for you. Now that it’s installed, I find myself looking for a reason a reason to downshift and accelerating faster than necessary from a light, just to enjoy the more aggressive shifts. I could go on and on, but 1stOne did a great review, so I'll leave it at that.
Below are some pictures for comparison. My shifter looks a little funny without the shift boot, because mine is still out and the new, custom one hasn't come in yet. Hope this helps you all.
New RL spring on the left, old one on the right
Shifters
Shift *****
It arrived in a standard TWM box, securely packaged to keep anything from moving and keep everything safe. The box contained the shifter itself, a plastic bag with all the smaller parts, step-by-step instructions with pictures (in black & white) and 2 TWM Performance stickers (which I requested).
The first thing you notice is the parts are very well made, with clean, precise manufacturing. Comparing the TWM parts, especially the reverse lock and shift ****, to the stock parts reminded me of the difference between a Happy Meal toy and a Matchbox car of years gone by.
The installation fairly easy and general mechanical experience should be plenty. If you will be using a cutting tool (I used a Dremel), experience with that is also a good idea as there is an amount of precision required. A couple steps note "the help of an assistant" is or may be necessary and though I had an "assistant" working with me, I didn't find any real need for 2 people.
Installation manual starts off with the estimated installation time (75 min) which is fairly accurate. It took me about 2 hrs, but I had never installed a short shifter before and was teaching my 16 yr old how to do it as we went along.
A short list of tools is also noted, some of which are more a suggestion than truly required. One example is the instructions say a vice as required. It's really just to hold this little tool they sent, so I used 2 storage boxes I had handy. You will need some grease. If you don't already have some, I bought a tube of grease from Wal-Mart for under $2.
Once you get into the steps, the directions are clear and concise. Some of the black & white pictures in the manual are hard to see, so I would recommend bringing up the directions on the computer too. When you get to the step requiring you to cut the push nut, be very careful not to cut the plastic shifter housing or the shift holder pin. Ensure you wear you safety glasses when you cut. You will send sparks everywhere. The remainder of the installation is easy and goes quickly.
I replaced the original pin (the one you had to cut the push nut off) with a 3/8" x 3.5" bold, metal sleeve, nut and lock washer. I had to cut the sleeve a little to get everything the same size, but it now fits great and I won't have to cut anything if I ever pull the shifter apart again. Just be careful not to over tighten the nut as you'll compress the spring and not be able to move the shifter at all.
But the real fun begins once you get it installed. The new shifter really does improve the feel and joy of shifting. It makes you feel like you're shifting through the gears of a $60K car rather than a $20K car. Shifts are smooth and clean, with a satisfying click as you put it in gear. There is a noticeable reduction in throw, but not so much it takes an expert to drive it. The reduction is enough, however, you can shift by flicking your wrist, rather than using your whole arm like you do with the stock shifter. Neutral and gear positions are moved slightly closer to the driver. Change is enough, the first time I went for 1st, I put it in 3rd, but it's a very comfortable position and I only made the mistake once. With TWM's weighted shift ****, you start the gear change and it's almost like the shift lever knows what you want and goes that direction for you. Now that it’s installed, I find myself looking for a reason a reason to downshift and accelerating faster than necessary from a light, just to enjoy the more aggressive shifts. I could go on and on, but 1stOne did a great review, so I'll leave it at that.
Below are some pictures for comparison. My shifter looks a little funny without the shift boot, because mine is still out and the new, custom one hasn't come in yet. Hope this helps you all.
New RL spring on the left, old one on the right
Shifters
Shift *****
Last edited by MightyP; 04-28-2011 at 01:19 AM. Reason: Fixed some formatting
04-07-2011, 07:50 PM
#114
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 588
Alright, time for my review of the TWM Short Shifter. I'll start off by saying 2 things about the TWM Short Shifter:
1) It feels like a totally different car (for the better).
2) It put a big smile on my face.
The TWM SS (http://www.twmperformance.com/shorts...rtshifters.htm) shipped in a typical TWM Performance Box with everything neatly bundled up inside so things don't move around and get dinged up. After taking 5 minutes to unpack everything, it comes with the short shifter, new reverse-lock, and 4 base-bushings for the shifter assembly. On top of the short shifter, I also ordered the cable bushings and the M1 Abrams shift ****.
When it came time for installation, everything went pretty smoothly except the push nut.. The panels on the Scion come off like lego-pieces and the tabs are fairly beefy so you shouldn't be too afraid to pull on them, but still be careful!
After taking all of the panels off, I was faced with taking off the push nut. I didn't have a dremel on hand so I resorted to using the screw driver prying method. It took me nearly 30~45 minutes to get under it and pry it off since it's a lot beefier than the push nut that TWM provides and it's on their pretty tight with not much play in the pin. TIP: alternate tapping at the pin with a hammer and prying with the screw driver to get best results.
After getting the pin out, the rest of the install is really easy. In the instructions. It says to remove the wire harnesses from the shifter assembly, but I didn't find it necessary at all to remove them since I was able to install base bushings without any issue. Another TIP: for removing the bottom of the shifter from the shifter assembly, using a needle-nose plier was helpful since you can insert the tip of the pliers into the 'holders' and widen the plier to release the shifter.
The bottom cup on the shifter came off very easily with the tool provided by TWM. After greasing up the short shifter and installing it in place, everything came together easily.
After installing it, I drove around for ~30 minutes with the stock shift **** to get a feel for the shifter. The throws are significantly shorter and provided for much more precise shifts, and I felt that it made it easier to shift through the gears. Since you lose leverage on the shifter, I imagined that it would take more effort to put it into gear, but it was negligible. It does move neutral to a more 'vertical' location so it actually looks like it's in neutral now.
If any, I only have 2 complaints about the TWM short shifter:
1) The reverse-lock mechanism is much more solid-feeling and superior to the stock one, but the grooves for you to pull on are much shallower than the stock reverse-lock so it takes a bit to get used to. It's not too big of a deal since it's not used very often.
2) Because the TWM shifter moves the neutral to a more 'vertical' position, I am unable to rest my hand on the shift **** comfortably while driving. TWM put it as one of their 'benefits' that you don't bump your elbow into the center console while shifting, but I actually liked the old neutral position because I am 5' 7" and havn't had issues with bumping into the center console and I was able to rest my hand on the shift **** and elbow on the center console while cruising in 6th gear. Now that the gap between shift **** and center console has increased, I can't do that any more.
Overall, I think the TWM short shifter is an excellent product and worth every cent spent on it. To summarize:
TWM Performance Box:
Unpacked:
Installed:
1) It feels like a totally different car (for the better).
2) It put a big smile on my face.
The TWM SS (http://www.twmperformance.com/shorts...rtshifters.htm) shipped in a typical TWM Performance Box with everything neatly bundled up inside so things don't move around and get dinged up. After taking 5 minutes to unpack everything, it comes with the short shifter, new reverse-lock, and 4 base-bushings for the shifter assembly. On top of the short shifter, I also ordered the cable bushings and the M1 Abrams shift ****.
When it came time for installation, everything went pretty smoothly except the push nut.. The panels on the Scion come off like lego-pieces and the tabs are fairly beefy so you shouldn't be too afraid to pull on them, but still be careful!
After taking all of the panels off, I was faced with taking off the push nut. I didn't have a dremel on hand so I resorted to using the screw driver prying method. It took me nearly 30~45 minutes to get under it and pry it off since it's a lot beefier than the push nut that TWM provides and it's on their pretty tight with not much play in the pin. TIP: alternate tapping at the pin with a hammer and prying with the screw driver to get best results.
After getting the pin out, the rest of the install is really easy. In the instructions. It says to remove the wire harnesses from the shifter assembly, but I didn't find it necessary at all to remove them since I was able to install base bushings without any issue. Another TIP: for removing the bottom of the shifter from the shifter assembly, using a needle-nose plier was helpful since you can insert the tip of the pliers into the 'holders' and widen the plier to release the shifter.
The bottom cup on the shifter came off very easily with the tool provided by TWM. After greasing up the short shifter and installing it in place, everything came together easily.
After installing it, I drove around for ~30 minutes with the stock shift **** to get a feel for the shifter. The throws are significantly shorter and provided for much more precise shifts, and I felt that it made it easier to shift through the gears. Since you lose leverage on the shifter, I imagined that it would take more effort to put it into gear, but it was negligible. It does move neutral to a more 'vertical' location so it actually looks like it's in neutral now.
If any, I only have 2 complaints about the TWM short shifter:
1) The reverse-lock mechanism is much more solid-feeling and superior to the stock one, but the grooves for you to pull on are much shallower than the stock reverse-lock so it takes a bit to get used to. It's not too big of a deal since it's not used very often.
2) Because the TWM shifter moves the neutral to a more 'vertical' position, I am unable to rest my hand on the shift **** comfortably while driving. TWM put it as one of their 'benefits' that you don't bump your elbow into the center console while shifting, but I actually liked the old neutral position because I am 5' 7" and havn't had issues with bumping into the center console and I was able to rest my hand on the shift **** and elbow on the center console while cruising in 6th gear. Now that the gap between shift **** and center console has increased, I can't do that any more.
Overall, I think the TWM short shifter is an excellent product and worth every cent spent on it. To summarize:
- shorter throws
- more precise shifting feel
- not much play in the shifter
- better reverse-lock mechanism
- enhances the entire driving experience
TWM Performance Box:
Unpacked:
Installed:
04-08-2011, 03:46 AM
#115
It's interesting that you don't like the smaller handle for the RL. I really prefer the new one. I would constantly fidget with the stock RL and it drove me nuts, but I couldn't stop myself. With the TWM one, it's easy to pull on to release the lock when I want it, but not so out there I have to mess with it all the time.
Anyway, glad you got your short shifter and like it so much. It really is a great investment.
Oh, and would you post pics of your shift ****? I'd like to see how the pattern looks. Thanks!
Anyway, glad you got your short shifter and like it so much. It really is a great investment.
Oh, and would you post pics of your shift ****? I'd like to see how the pattern looks. Thanks!
04-08-2011, 02:26 PM
#116
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 44
hey guys,
just curious, is there any chance you'd be working on a shortened height version as well?
actually.. is that even possible with the reverse lockout?
just curious, is there any chance you'd be working on a shortened height version as well?
actually.. is that even possible with the reverse lockout?
Last edited by djsanchez; 04-08-2011 at 02:31 PM. Reason: rethought question
04-08-2011, 05:04 PM
#119
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 588
It's interesting that you don't like the smaller handle for the RL. I really prefer the new one. I would constantly fidget with the stock RL and it drove me nuts, but I couldn't stop myself. With the TWM one, it's easy to pull on to release the lock when I want it, but not so out there I have to mess with it all the time.
Anyway, glad you got your short shifter and like it so much. It really is a great investment.
Oh, and would you post pics of your shift ****? I'd like to see how the pattern looks. Thanks!
Anyway, glad you got your short shifter and like it so much. It really is a great investment.
Oh, and would you post pics of your shift ****? I'd like to see how the pattern looks. Thanks!
I got the engraving because I figured it would look to plain without it and I thought it would be more distinguishable.