TWM STS install

[zumin]

well here is the deal! last monday i was just cruising down street on my way to work when suddenly this happened….


yeah… shit was scary

turns out the shifter broke in half right where the hole was drilled for the 'reverse lock-out pin'



im thinking the issue may have dated back farther than what i first thought. the 3 days prior to the complete breakage, i was banging through the gears when i punched the dash going into 3rd. something wasn't right. i realized my shifter had about 1-2 inches of forward movement in it after i had already gone into gear. the movement was happening right where the two pieces of the shifter connect. i knew the shifter would break eventually- i wasn't expecting 3 days later. i have limped around for a week with half a shifter

also, as i recall, my car has always been a PITA to push down to go into reverse. for the last 6 months ive had to beat on it with my fist to get it to go down, even after numerous attempts at greasing. me things the shifter was bent, which eventually lead to breakage!

well luckily for me, about 3 hours before the shifter completely broke in half, i ordered a STS to remedy the play in the shifter.

TWM was my first thought. i had used their STS on my old Mazda6 and was pretty happy with the results.

the install was easy and straight forward and the instructions were very accurate and helpful.



the throws are MUCH shorter and i just feel more confident when shifting. it does take more effort, but im still rocking the TWM weighed knob from the 6 so that makes a pretty big difference.

here is the throw 3rd-neutral-4th


3rd

neutral

4th


i like it, it makes the car fun to drive again, like any mod that makes the driving experience feel 'new' again.

here is the page, i got a student discount by sending them a scanned copy of my student ID, and they have military discounts also.

i went with the STS and aluminum base bushing, i might consider buying/ turning a shifter extender…
MazdaSpeed 3 Short Shifter - TWM Performance MazdaSpeed 3 Short Shifters

oh and end results:


(took most of these pics with my brand new Iphone4 (bought it today) such an improvement over my 3G!!!!!!!! still excited!!!!!)