I have had both Forge and S3, prefer the latter. The Forge at maximum throw reduction felt heavy (as you might expect given the lower leverage) and mechanical. It seemed to want to shift faster than the box itself was comfortable with and this might be where the ‘wearing the synchros’ comment may come from.
Whilst the throw reduction of the S3 is modest, it feels quick and positive in combination with darkside solid bushings and fresh OEM gear oil whilst keeping decent refinement. I can imagine it will shift better with upgraded engine mounts and the restrictive oem clutch bleeder block removed.
That is exactly the problem. These gearboxes hate being rushed unfortunately but as you say, things can be improved by deleting the clutch delay valve and the restrictor in the bleed Tee.
I only just yestarday put the forge short shifter on and what a world of difference it made! Its as if I am behind the wheel of a completely different car.. the gear shifter has become a lot more firm and when putting it into gear, you know its in gear, everything has tightened up now and no more sloppy gear changes. The old short shifter that was in the car was a genuine VW part so im guessing it is not the same as the s3 one but with the forge it has the adjustable pin and at first I tried the full 40% throw reduction but that completely changes the shifter and its as if its being forced into gears therefore i removed it again and adjusted the pin 3/4 and it seems perfect. I literally only have to move it 2cm and it slides into gear itself.. great mod honestly. I also saw the cables and noticed that it has the cable shifter bushings installed as well.
I did however in the past get a small grind in the cold weather when trying to shift into 2nd gear and now that the short shifter is installed, i can notice the grind/resistance a lot more.. Do you guys reckon it could do with a transmission fluid change?? The grind/resistance is only there when its cold outside.. after 3-4minutes of driving it disappears. Yestarday I got home and swapped the short shifters around and took it for a drive and there was no grinding but thats only because the edition 30 was warmed up? Do you guys also get the same grind/resistance when trying to go into 2nd gear in this weather in the cold?? Im not sure when the fluid was changed so thats why i am thinking of replacing fluid. Also it is definately not the forge short shifter causing any problems because the issue started as soon as it winter season kicked in.. the short shifter is just making it a lot more noticeable compared to before. Are all edition 30's like this??
Sorry for long post guys.
Thanks.