I wanted to put up a review of the Hurst Billet Shifter, for anyone trying to decide what short throw shifter to install. Long story short, I absolutely love it.
Here are the reasons I went with the Hurst.
price: Once you get the ball shifter installed on your MGW, your up to 320, which is close to $70, or 30% more expensive than the Hurst Billet. It may sound like splitting hairs, but I had an easier time justifying the expense of the Hurst. (320 is close to my monthly payment on the car itself).
look: Obviously personal preference here, but I think the Hurst in a Mustang just makes sense. It is an icon. Again, splitting hairs, but I actually liked the flat shaft of the Hurst.
My concerns prior to the purchase, that are now completely gone.
Feel: This was the biggest question going into the purchase for me. I know the Hurst has been described as notchy. The last thing I wanted was a crappy feel to my shifter. And this is the main reason I wanted to post this review. I would hesitate to describe the Hurst as notchy. I can see why folks might be tempted to describe it that way, but "notchy" has certain negative implications that I dont think are accurate. I would say it is precise. It pops into gears rather than slides into gear -and this feels great. Picture this, the engine revs to 6 grand, then, pop-pop, your in second, pop-pop, your in third. It is great --tons of fun. I enjoy driving my mustang 10 times more than before. I have had no problems finding the gears, or knowing what gear I am in. It is a very sturdy and high-quality feel. I have tons more control over my car, and therefore much more confidence in how I drive it.
Height: I was concerned that the shifter was a bit tall, but now that I have it in the car, it looks natural, and the little bit of extra length gives you more control over the shifts. A short shifter with a short shaft is going to be all the more difficult to shift. The extra height gives you the leverage you need to really slam it from gear to gear.
Noise: The shifter is slightly louder than stock. I would guess this is because the stock dust shield does not fit tightly around the Hurst stick like it does the stock shifter. When reading about shifters prior to the purchase, noise was a major concern of mine. I can report, that though the hurst is just slightly louder, I actually sort of like it. I can hear the engine better. As for gear noise, with the stock shifter, you can sort of hear a few clicks and clucks though-out the shift. Since it is a long shift, in the full second or two it takes to get from 1st to 2nd, you might hear three or four dull click, cluck, click click cluck. With the hurst, that is all compressed into one slightly louder pop, over just a half-second or less. So, it is louder, but not in a bad way, a more precise and overall much higher quality way. I mean, yes, if your going for a refined cab environment, the hurst is probably not going to help in that regard. But if you want a more balls-to-the-wall environment, the Hurst really helps in that regard. And I think, if the louder pops start to get to me, just a bit sound deadening foam placed around the shifter will eliminate this.
Bonus I had not expected:
Before the hurst, while accelerating at WOT, I would always get tons of wheel spin going into second. I thought this was odd considering I have the 3.31 rear ratio. With the hurst, that is completely gone. I have no wheel spin in second gear.
It took me three hours to install the shifter by myself. It is pretty straightforward. I did have to go out and buy a set of hex wrenches. ($5.00)
One question. The Hurst Billet comes with stops. I removed them because the MGW thread informed me that the tranny has built in stops. Is this cool? Is there some reason why I might need stops in the Hurst?
