I received my Neuspeed Short Shift Adapter, part 66.20.38 for the 2002-up (?) CL Type S 6 speed and installed it.

The install was pretty straight forward and easy. The instructions that were included were clear. It was nice for Neuspeed to include a drill bit too.

The piece fit in easy, but when I set my shift plate down I had the issue with 1, 3, and 5th gears pushing it out. :thumbsdn: I followed Smitty's dremeling instructions and was surprised. Smitty got away with very little dremeling, I had to remove about 70% of the right tab and most of the white plastic from the top center to the right corner. :swear2: Egads, that was a lot of trimming. I definitely compromised the solidity of the inner plastic ring, but it's all hidden from the outside. I also placed some adhesive velcro strips to aid in holding the plate down. In all, it looks good, but it took me about a hour or so of careful tinkering to get it just right.

Now for the test drive. I HATE IT. I really was not expecting that! Yes, the shifts are a tiny bit shorter, maybe by 1/4 to 1/2 inch on either end, but the stiffness is intolerable. I'm not talking about a little extra muscle, but definite 'yorking' to move the thing. It was like January in the Arctic. I had difficulty finding the gear and my downshifts were impossible to do at any speed, because of the stiffness. I especially could not do a 3rd -> 2nd downshift during a turn. Unacceptable.

So I'm returning it. I took it out and went for another test drive. Ahh, nice easy shifts again; easy, precise, quick downshifting. Yes, that's how it should be. With my short Voodoo Titanium S2000 knob maybe my shifts were short enough. Oh well. Hopefully the folks at Neuspeed will authorize the return with refund. We'll see.


...it makes me wonder...

I wonder if our shifters and cable linkage are slightly different car to car. I know a lot of you have had complaints of notchiness between gears, and I've never really had any. I know that my butter-smooth shifts disappeared with this device -- I'm thinking that some of our linkages may be slightly different so that some have hard shifts, and others (me) have easy ones. Just a thought.

 

I just got mine today. I guess I'll wait on my shift knob before making a decision.

 

The nice thing about it is that it really is not that hard to go back to the stock linkage -- just remove that bracket. I doubt the drilled hole compromises the stock bracket's integrity at all.

If I did it again, I would do the test drive before dremeling the shift plate. Dumb me. Evaluate it before you customize it.

 

ugh.....i might cancel mine if it's that stiff.

 

I love the Voodoo shift knob countersunk that is all you need and for $30 its cheaper than the short shifter adapter....

thanks guys for experimenting on this one I had my doubts so I held off boy am I glad I did...I love my shifts with the voodoo

 

wha? voodoo knob is $120, no?

 

The Titanium one is, I think he meant the aluminum one which is around $30

http://www.ricks2k.com/products/shiftknob.php

 

I dunno Slimey I like it. I have no problem with shifting into gears and downshifting. It is easier. It isn't even that stiff at all with it on. The shifter is one of the easiest to engage I have driven, and even with this adapter it still seems real easy to get in gear. Did you try putting some oil on the cable? It says to do that on where the cable attaches. I oiled the bottom of the cable also where it slides in and out. I am pleased with mine and dont think I could ever miss a shift with this adapter. The only negative is shaving the white trim, but that isn't a big deal at all and it doesn't compromise the solidity of the piece, or didn't for me.

 

I was just thinking that this difference in feel could just be because of your knob. I am using the stock boot and knob right now, but if I was using the voodoo maybe it would increase the stiffness alot more dunno without trying. It does feel like a 30% decrease in throw to me

 

I really wanted this thing to work, beleive me. It just doesn't. I'm not upset that I tried it and it didn't work; it's not like I've lost faith in Neuspeed's products. I'm just stating the facts. There's really no loss (except some time and unseen plastic) from the experience.

And I wouldn't discourage people from trying. It has obviously worked well on some. My only rec would be to try it out with the plate off for a while before you shave plastic, so you can see if you like it. At worst, if you don't like it and they don't take it back, you're our $50 and some time.

It really makes me think that each shifter (linkage, etc) may be slightly different. Look at all the reports of stiff shifting and notchiness in the stock form. I know that a few of us had no issues with the shifting. I also know that I had to shave A LOT. I should take pics -- the underside of my plate looks like a frankenstein job. It wasn't a subtle shaving at all.

And I did try shifting without the lowered knob. Same thing.

I lubricated the end link with grease, but not the entire cable. This mod isn't important enough for me to exchange out the cable.

 

Damn, soory it did not work out for you... but just like a few others I am using my stock shifter knob and boot... So maybe, just maybe your Vodoo shift knob might be compromising something....

Is there any way to shorten or adjust the shifter cable?..


Smitty

 

pics!

 

I'll try to get some pics tonite if I have time.

 

by just changing to a small ball type shift knob, the shift throw should shorten. Its simple geometry. The total height of the shifter goes down, the angle stays the same and the distance along the shift arc is smaller. No change to linkage nesseccary. Shifts will take a bit more effort because of reduced leverage. Its not clear that the short shifter mod will give you much shorter shifts than the shift knob change.

 

Here are some pics on how much I had to shave so the new adapter wouldn't push out the cover. You can see that I had to shave off most of the tab that insets on the right. The adapter bracket kept bumping into the plastic overhang, so I took it off. I uses some very wet ink on the bracket to mark the plastic where it bumped. This is the final result, I shaved only a millimeter or so at a time (it took me a good hour of insetting, removing, dremel'ing, instetting, removing...). You can also see the velcro that I put on the underside to hold the thing down so it wouldn't budge during shifting.




And the completed look. It actually sits more flush then the photo looks. The shadow in the bottom left of the photo is deceiving. I should have taken the picture with flash to fill in shadows.


And to restate what doesn't seem to be understood: I agree that the shifting is shorter with the new knob. I also tried shifting without the lowered knob. The problem was still very much there. The change in the linkage did not work with me & my car. It has nothing to do with the knob.

 

Show me a pic of your Linkage set-up... I want to see the Neuspeed installed pic... got any??

Smitty

 

Sorry, I didn't take a pic with it installed. It looked like your pics did. The thing fit fine (and I only think it can fit one way because it's molded to the stock bracket). I'd set it up again for a pic, but the bracket is on some truck or plane back to Camarillo.

I included a letter explaining what the problem was and the pics/links from this site. Hopefully they'll learn so future generations of short shifters won't have to trim the plate cover.

 

Neuspeed doesn't believe that this is a problem. They are about ready to complete their first production run of the shifter and are getting ready to start their next run. I asked if the problems with the need to shave the plastic that has been reported (allegedly some via email) will be addressed in future production runs, and I was told that it would not. Was speaking to Shawn, who was talking to the Technical lead while I surfaced this issue. Was told their original prototype required some work on the trim piece, but this was resolved before the production run. Could it be that the work they had already done to accomodate the pre-production prototype wasn't an issue with the production model, therefore since the plastic was already trimmed away, they didn't notice any problems like those that have been reported by those who have installed the shifter? just a thought

 

Are you suggesting that they don't have 10 M/T CL's sitting around for testing and prototyping?

Good thought and good point. Hopefully they're reading this.

 

also, my voddoo knob reduces almost as much throw as this "shaving kit". Count me out of this stupid short shift kit attempt.

 

I am about to order Neuspeed short shifter for my 2003 Acura CL-S 6 Speed:
http://www.sportcompactonly.com/Acur...-57720_v-2.htm

I am wondering if the problem got fixed from Neuspeed yet?

 

^
Call them before you order. Pretty sure that line item has been discontinued.

Same part #, different website.

http://www.upgrademotoring.com/perfo...d_shifters.htm

 

if you're interested in it, i have one for sale, along with a shortened lever you can install

 

Has anything else become available for a short throw application?
PSpec is out of business, this Neuspeed has many many negative reviews, and JTC Customs is out of stock since... Im not sure when. I just picked up an 03 CLS and a short shifter is high on my list.

 

Nope. Unless you can find a PSpec or Neuspeed, you're out of luck. Many had issues with the Neuspeed as it's not a true short shifter. PSpec was a good solution but expensive.

 

That stinks. Im trying to figure out if they make a shifter adapter that fits the bottom of the shift arm kind of like the accords and such. I had one for my 7th gen and it was freakin great! Just need to find if they make one (for another model) that fits the CL.

 

These cars are 9+ years old. There isn't much left out there and they didn't make much to start with. Don't think you're going to find anything or that it's even worth the time searching. It's the kind of thing that would have come up in the past 9 years if it were available. The factory knob is big. Throw a smaller one on there and it's good to go.

 

nothing will go on the bottom of the shifter as those are designed differently. you could potentially pick up an accord or TL shifter (and cables) and then buy the adapter, but the neuspeed pretty much did the same thing.

i didn't even know p-spec went out of business. i guess i have 2 rare short shifters for the car now

 

If you can get a Neuspeed kit along with some CorSport aluminum shifter bushings, you won't be disappointed.

 

what if i did both the neuspeed with bushings? would that make it too tight or just super precise?

 

A lot of people didn't care for how the Neuspeed made the shifter feel and the effort required.

Simply replacing the factory bushings with new factory bushings can make a big difference. They are rubber and wear over time. The aluminum ones offer less give but can also wear the transmission points they contact. If that pin breaks off (I know shops that have seen it happen) it means pulling your transmission and dismantling it to replace it. Not worth it for the slight increase in shifting feel. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between my car with new factory bushings and the aluminum ones.

Most of our little bit of slop comes from the shift cable not the bushings or shifter itself. Until someone makes a rod shifter (never going to happen), we just have to live with it.

 

That's what I have in my beast and I like it. The bushings will firm up the shift and give more feel. The Neuspeed will shorten the throw a bit.

I don't think it's too stiff at all.

 

so dont go with aluminum bushings like the ones Hybrid makes and just get OEM replacements?

 

I think the OEM ones are just fine. Some people like the aluminum more. Some find they make things a bit notchie.

 

makes sense. i guess im looking for the same feel as i had with my short shifters in my camaros (even though i know thats impossible). i was even happy with the adapter for my accord. damn these cars for only making 3500 and no support for the simple mods =/

 

Many people didn't like the feel the Nuspeed short throw kit gave. It made the shifts more difficult since it's not a true short shift setup.

 

Is it just me or is the stock shifter just about perfect? Nice short throws, easy engagement, and I can still no-lift-shift at 192k miles even with worn motor mounts....

 

JTC Custom short shift are now back in stock

http://www.jtccustoms.com/products/J...-Short-Shifter