TWM Replacement Shifter
 

Whos got one of these installed? Impressions?

Right now I have a E4P Short Shifter, and while its nice and I have had no issues with it...theres this slight play in the shifter when the car is in gear (any gear). I figure thats the stock shifter plastic pieces that are giving a bit.

Anyone have one of these? What did they have before and what are their impressions? Would they do it again if they knew the difference it made?

I tried searching the board, but got only cept for the 1 thread in the TWM Section but those dont go into detail if its worth it or not...

I had the e4p shifter in my car and I know exactly what you're talking about. The play is caused by a loose screw, if you take out the sts and flip it upside down you will see a screw inside. Mine actually fell out and the shifter was very wobbly, i tightened the screw and all was well

FYI its not worth switching to TWM full replacement if you have the e4p sts with shifter bushings. Especially for the price that they are asking

Our shifters are a night and day difference when compared to the E4P short shifter.

One of the biggest differences are the tolerances being so low with the E4P shifter. In addition, we've heard stories of rattling, vibrating and wobbly shifters.

E4P doesn't exist anymore, and our shifters have only improved. The impressions of our full replacement short shifters are excellent and its one of our highest selling products.

We're currently have a Black Friday sale with a pretty good amount of savings being given. Just send us an email to get your discount code!

Sales@TWMPerformance.com

This was one of my favorite changes I made to my car. The piece is made perfect and precise. Shifts are CRISP and there is no slack anywhere.

since i am a noob. how does one go about getting this installed? Any local auto shop?

Last time i had my shifter replaced was in 1998 on my civic and it was shotty. The boot no longer connected to the shift ball and it looked stoopid.

thanks and sorry if this is a dumb question.

I have the E4P, and everyone who has the full replacement is glad they got it. They really are not in the same league, to be honest. If I had the $, I would get it.

It's an easy installation, everything is done inside the car and we provide a detailed installation manual with pictures of every steps!

Well I broke down and Bought it with the Short Shift Plate.

I hope its not a let down, and by let down I mean that I dont want to install it and feel little difference to what I have right now. I like my E4P shifter and all that...so heres to going out on a limb and hoping it was a worthful buy.

I'm curious to see what you think. I also have the E4P shifter and bushings and have been debating getting this.

I've driven a car several times with the TWM full replacement, and while I like how my shifter feels with a SSP the full replacement is leaps and bounds better.


Tapadatass

I can vouch for the TWM STS it is amazing one of the best things i got! its really a night and day difference from the stock.

All gears go in perfectly with no play when in gear.

I love it

So if u had a choice, price aside, based on feel, you would pick the TWM? Does the replacement change the feel of the transmission as well? I think one of the weakest point of this car is the lack of smooth/precise shifts. Does this come close to how a Honda transmission feels?

I would pick the full replacement setup with the base and shifter over any other shifter or shift plate. It removes the vagueness and heaviness of a weighted knob and removes the notchyness of a lightened setup. I would compare it to a Honda shifter definitely.

I don't have one myself yet simply because of the price. A SSP offers improved shifting (albeit not as nice) at less than 1/4 the cost.


Tapadatass

Even with rmm,base bushings,ford syn fluid,counter weight and ssp I still was not satisified with the shifter. I was ready to pull the trigger on the TWM but ended up getting the JBR shift knob for 35 bucks...It made a huge difference, so much that I am no longer considering the full replacement any more, or atleast for a while lol ....But if you start adding up all the lil pieces, you are talking at least 2 bills and Im sure the TWM is worth the extra 160-180... The only way I would change to TWM is if I tried one out on someone elses car and it blew me away.

NOT hating on TWM at all .. I would of got it if I wasn't trying to be cheap and thinking I would completely love just a SSP, hell no, you need every lil piece to make it feel good.

Thats my worry.

I have a Short Shifter, Bushings, RMM, Ford Fluid, Counter Weight as well... Really the only main difference is the Shift Knob and that I went SS and you went SSP. I had a E4P Shift Knob too (the 607 Gram one) but personally I didnt like it, I liked the kinda notchy feel.

Gotta be honest, a bit worried on the purchase if its actually going to be worth it now...

Gonna have to findout the hard way

I've had all the different combinations. SSP w/ stock weight, SSP w/ no weight, SSP w/ really heavy knob, SSP w/ heavy knob(the TWM in my sig), SSP w/ SURE counter weight and the same combinations with the E4 SS. Nothing has ever felt quite right. I like the smoothness that the heavier knob gave but the shifter felt heavy and would come out of gear in autox. If the replacement make the shifting smooth and light I think it would be a winner and I would consider getting it.

good info, thanks everyone.

Well I got the replacement shifter in, however the short shifter plate is NOT in. I will reserve my comments on the situation so far until I install everything at once. I totally plan to do a through comparison of the two.

Just installed the one I got from double flush, seems nice..might need tomget a shorter boot cuz it's all bunchy now, but the install is easy and the shifts feels solid...it's just as tall as a miata shifter now

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...acement-69073/

Hey scarms3

Does it feel lighter? More precise?

I don't know why it would feel lighter, but more precise yeah, engagement feels solid, side to side movement while in gear is greatly reduced. Feels like I could pound into gear as hard as I want and nothing will go wrong...love the 2-3 shift, feels fantastic. So far it's great, going to go drive some more now.

TWM Stage 1 + SSP FTW! :cool:

just bought mine, moving to an apartment where I cant work on my car. i dont like being told what I can and cant do.

You can sit inside the car and handle the job...

I know perfect mod for just moving in yet still letting the rebel inside me out lol

I have it, love it.

Second twm I've bought.

So heres a short update of the situation:

Got the Full Replacement in, however the SSP is not in still. What bothers me is that they havent called me or emailed me to let me know of a ETA. Infact originally I had to call to have it arranged so that I get the Full Replacement shipped out first then the SSP after. Granted TWM did take care of me and is willing to ship them out separately (even though I have paid for shipping), it bothers me that there was no updated, especially when after calling I am being told that the SSP wont be ready till First week of January and thats still a maybe. So theoretically I could have been waiting till January (or longer) to get the whole order (with no update as of yet, other then ME having to call). I wont be installing the Full Replacement until I get the SSP then I'll be doing my measuring to see actual reductions as they post it on their website.

Not necessarily bashing TWM, but I am giving my full account of whats going on.

So...Great but not so great service thus far

First off, we'd like to apologize for the delay in information transmission and response to some customers. With our Black Friday sale we've had a flood of emails and we're working through them as fast and as best we can.

I understand your frustration and if there's anything we can do for you just let us know and we'll be more than happy to help!

Jordan
Team TWM Performance

I have the TWM stage 2 shifter plus anchors, jbr heavy knob and jbr ssp, let me just say, i can shift so much quicker and smoother now its amazing.

Alrighty! So I had some time to get the TWM Replacement Shifter installed and SSP installed as well. Was balls cold here and it warmed up for a bit so I decided that I could install this. Installation took about an hour and a bit (like hour and 15 minutes), from start to finish (not including the test drives and all that).

What I HAD:
Stock Shifting Unit
E4P Solid Shifter Mounts
E4P Short Shifter
Stock SSP
No-Name Counter Shift Weight (1/2 of stock weight)

What I INSTALLED:
TWM Replacement Shifting Unit (Full Replacement – Including Shortshifter)
TWM Solid Shifter Mounts
TWM SSP
TWM Counter Shift Weight (Set to about 1/2 of stock weight)

I got a few compare shots to the TWM unit and the stocker. I can say the TWM unit is definitely a quality unit. Its solid and feels strong. The stock shift unit feels a bit flimsy if you start to play with it (like twist it a bit feels like you can eventually make it give a bit).

http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install004.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install005.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install006.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install007.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install008.jpg


I did have some installation snags/concerned that worried me the main one was the shifter cables need to be installed into the TWM unit and they are supposed to ‘click in’. They are too thick (the TWM plate) to be simply pushed in. I needed to use a mallet and a few taps to get it in. See the pic for what I mean

http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install009.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install011.jpg


Also the cables seem to be strained compared to the stock shifter. I am sure its alright, however I personally don’t like how they feel strained. See the pic for what I mean

http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...Install010.jpg

I also have here some nice comparisons of my old setup and the new setup. Old = the E4P Short Shifter, Solid Mounts, Stock Shifting Unit (plastic piece), stock SSP, modified weight and New = TWM full replacement including SSP and weight.

They were all taken in NEUTRAL then 3rd gear for the upshift (going towards front of car) and 4th gear for the downshift (going towards rear of car).The first set is of JUST the shift knob from the side angle.

http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...al-Compare.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...rd-Compare.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...th-Compare.jpg

The second shot is of Neutral + 3rd + 4th and with shifter lines so you can have a better indication of the improvements. The GREEN lines are the OLD setup and the BLUE lines are the NEW setup.

http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...fterLines1.jpg
http://www.laleetsgarage.com/pics/ph...fterLines2.jpg

Now for my observations/thoughts/review:

It is definitely a solid unit, shifts feel more solid and it is definitely shorter then what I have before. However I need to be more specific on certain aspects to provide a more accurate and through review. Comparing this to stock (if you have stock everything) 100% it is worth it. You will feel a BIG difference in all regards. I would say if you’re stock and want to go this route, I would 100% recommend it. The improvements on all regards are awesome and definitely worth it.

Now I am coming from a half modified setup, what I mean is I had a Short Shifter but no SSP. The throws are shorter coming from the short shifter however not by a huge amount (as in if you were coming from stock there would be a BIG different, here it’s not that much). It does give a definite more solid feel compared to the E4P shifter and stock unit. The shifts are crisper, however there still is a bit of play in the shifter when in gear (not a lot, before the TWM unit it was about 2mm and now it’s about 1mm, yes its half however at this level either case was a improvement over stock). Overall it is an improvement over what I had.

Would I recommend it…hard to say? Personally for me I think the amount of money I spent I couldn’t have bought a SSP and weak my setup to be close to what it is to the TWM setup, however I might not get AS crisp as the TWM unit is. But the thing to remember is ~450 vs. ~100. There’s a definite savings there.I personally don’t feel 100% satisfied, and that’s not because of TWM having a bad product, in fact I think it’s a fantastic product amazing quality BUT for the situation I was in (coming from an already modified shifter product) I don’t think it was worth it.

There is a definite improvement, and honestly to some the change is worth it in all regards (coming from stock or already modified). If you have extra cash and want a upgrade that DOES work this is it, but my caution is that if you’re modified (as in a short shifter, I CANNOT speak for those that just have a SSP, because that still keeps the stock height of the shifter with to me isn’t my thing, still feels like I am rowing a boat) then be careful because your improvements might not be as great as you think.

The quality of the product is top notch. I am NOT knocking TWM on their product, what I am saying is that from where I was coming from (in terms of my setup), I would NOT take this route again. Your Mileage May Vary as some might see the minor improvements worth it for the dollar amount. I am hoping that in the next few weeks I can come back and report and see if there’s any change in my decision once I have logged a bunch of miles on it.

excellent review!

Damn good review man

Nice work man, great review. I think I will buy the TWM stage 1 for my 06 and combine it with the SURE triplets. Possibly buy the a6 as well.

Great review.

@starscream:

I just got this too and am in the same situation as you. Your review is perfect to a tee!

Another thing I don't like so much is it dosen't have a positive return to neutral. By that I mean it doesn't snap back to the center when moving it side to side.

Did you encounter this also?

Yeah.. it doesnt 'bounce' back to neutral, but its not hard either its like the spring is a bit weak. With a little bit of a tap it will go back. Nothing too bad though.

I had the TWM shifter on my speed, and shifts were amazing, like it was a new car.... only part that sucks is the HUGE price tag, which is hard to justify for a shifter...

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Renato
Team TWM Performance

if i just got a shifter would it stop grinding the 2-3 shift. thats my only complaint about the stock shifter.
i dont want to spend alot of money on a whole set up to fix this 2-3 shift, sux
would the sskit or new shortshifter fix this?

I'm with ya on that one too I hate the 2-3 shift and I have have the corksport ssp and weight but I'm not crazy about it. Just don't know of I wanna dish out the money for this.