Everything Short Shifter + Gear Knob

[BB]

Hi,

I recently bought a Metallic Shadow Blue Mk5 GTI  and installing a short shifter is one of the mods at the top of my list but i need some advice.

3 things,

Firstly, the Component Set Up
The vast majority of content on YouTube etc... is focused on the 'Front to Back' (F2B) Short Shift component however there's also the 'Side to Side' (S2S) part which is as readily available
- Why is this part overlooked and seemingly not utilized ?
- Does any have the 'Side to Side' short shifter, if so what's your opinion on it ? Does it make a big difference vs stock ?

Secondly, Which Brand to go for
- APR (£200 F2B, £110 S2S, £280 Both)
- Forge Motorsport (£90 F2B, £65 S2S)
- WG Motorparts (£40 F2B, £45 S2S, £85 Both)
- CTS (£165 F2B)
- ECS Tuning (£192 F2B)
- Neuspeed (£215 F2B)

What short shifter brand do you have installed ? what has been your experience?
I'm leaning towards WG Motorparts. Not trying to be stingy but for a small piece of cast or milled metal some of these prices seem extortionate and I can get both F2B and S2S parts for half the price of some of the just F2B options.
I haven't seen much content/comments on WG so would love to hear from you if you have one fitted.

Thirdly, The Gear Knob
I want to change my gear knob and would of liked to get the Mk7 Golf ball style but cant bring myself to cut the metal rod to make it fit and bring the height of the knob down to where the stock one was. Additionally all the short shifters above have been engineered with stock dimensions in mind so I don't want to disturb that balance.

Can anyone recommend a gear knob that
- looks + feels good
- doesn't change the height of the gear knob vs stock too much when fit onto the stock rod

[LC5F]

The vast majority of content on YouTube etc... is focused on the 'Front to Back' (F2B) Short Shift component however there's also the 'Side to Side' (S2S) part which is as readily available
- Why is this part overlooked and seemingly not utilized ?
- Does any have the 'Side to Side' short shifter, if so what's your opinion on it ? Does it make a big difference vs stock ?

Front to back can be changed easily by replacing the arm on top of the gearbox - there are even OEM ones that shorten the throw front to back.
Side to side can be reduced, but it is more involved - you need to get into or replace the assembly under the gear stick - not done a Mk5, but usually that means crawling around under the car, exhaust dropped/off, heat shields off.

Look into Diesel Geek stuff, they do really good short shift kits and also rebuild kits for worn bushes in the gear linkage. His you tube guide to aligning gear linkage is the best out there.

Or if you really want to go nuts... you could go for a Coolerworx or CAE shifter - they are copies of VW motorsport shifter
CAE were first to market, Coolerworx are cheaper and reported to be better built.

[BB]

Hi LC5F,

Thanks for the Diesel Geek suggestion, they do some really good install videos. Been watching the videos on this product page "Sigma 6 Six Speed Short Shift Kit" where they install 'Front to Back' and 'Side to Side' components.
https://www.dieselgeek.com/collections/vw-shifter-bushings/products/sigma-6-six-speed-short-shift-kit-for-vw

The 'Side to Side' shift reduction install doesn't look any more involved than the 'Front to Back' and on APR's product page for the 2 assemblies it looks like a similar story.
http://www.goapr.co.uk/products/short_shifter_trans_6mt.html

Side to side can be reduced, but it is more involved - you need to get into or replace the assembly under the gear stick - not done a Mk5, but usually that means crawling around under the car, exhaust dropped/off, heat shields off.

Was the above statement from personal experience ?

Or if you really want to go nuts... you could go for a Coolerworx or CAE shifter - they are copies of VW motorsport shifter
CAE were first to market, Coolerworx are cheaper and reported to be better built.

Both a bit too pricey for me was only looking to spend a couple hundred £ max, the WG Motorparts short shifter kit being my front runner
https://wgmotorparts.co.uk/6-speed-adjustable-short-shifter-quick-shift-kit-for-volkswagen-golf-mk5-gti/

[LC5F]

I've done short shift in a Mk3 & Mk4 - currently drive DSG Mk5 - so cant say if manual Mk5 is different

[colesey]

Whilst it is pretty easy to reduce the travel of the shifter in either plane, this gearbox is not innately the fastest and there are also a number of other impediments (sloppy engine mounts / wrong gear oil / restrictors in clutch line / rubber bushings / dual mass flywheel) which slow the change. 

[pudding]

Fit the S3/ED30 swingarm/cantilever thingy on the gearbox which is shorter fore and aft than the GTI.

Other than that, just refresh the bushes and gear cable ends.

I hate aftermarket short shifters and associated stuff.  In my experience you just end up with notchiness and increased NVH.

All the MK5 needs is decent oil in the box (OEM or Redline MTL), ED30/S3 shifty thingy and tight bushes, and no more.

I have a 2011 MK6/Scirocco gearbox in mine with MK5 shifter stuff and cables and at 152K, it's all super tight and slick.  Most of that from the MK6 gearbox if truth be told, but just throwing that out there.

[BB]

I installed the WG Motorparts 'Side to Side' and 'Front to Back' short shifters.

"6 Speed Adjustable Short Shifter Quick Shift Kit for Volkswagen Golf Mk5 GTI"
https://wgmotorparts.co.uk/6-speed-adjustable-short-shifter-quick-shift-kit-for-volkswagen-golf-mk5-gti/

My feedback from this is DO NOT BUY A ‘SIDE TO SIDE’ SHORT SHIFTER. This may be why you don’t see a lot of people installing this particular component on YouTube etc…
When the ‘Side to Side’ component is installed on its shortest shift setting you cannot access gears 1 or 2 in the conventional fashion, you need to depress the gear stick like you would do to select reverse.

In general, this depressing mechanism is a way to access reverse gear located on the far left, i.e. beyond the ‘boundary’ of gears accessible using conventional gear throws. When shortened this ‘boundary’ seems to have moved to between 1/2 and 3/4 making 1&2 inaccessible using a conventional throw. You have to then use the depressing mechanism to move past this boundary and access these gears now on the left of it.   

Then on its longest adjustable setting you can just about find 1 and 2 but reverse gear is an issue.

When I put the stock ‘Side to Side’ back on after trying these 2 configurations with the WG Motorparts ‘Side to Side’ Short Shifter everything was how it should be, I could cycle through all 6 gears in the conventional fashion then depress the gear knob to select reverse.

My conclusion from this is that the shortening of the gear shift in this plane seems to be targeted at the low gears rather than distributed throughout the range and it works by moving the ‘boundary’ of access using conventional throws (not depressing gear stick) further in.

The ‘Front to Back’ WG Motorparts short shifter works great, and gear shifts feel notchy and short.

[pudding]

Short shifters are all well and good if the gearbox can react equally quick, but the MK5's O2Q can't. 

The later the gearbox, the better the shift.  It's more about the incremental improvements to the internals over the years than it is the external shifting mechanism unfortunately.  You will never get the shift quality a MK7, or Scirocco/MK6 from the MK5 box.