What’s the Deal with Short Shifters: the Turner Motorsport Double-Adjustable Short Shift Kit and Rally Lever Extension
How your BMW feels to drive comes down to how a bunch of systems work together and how they react to your inputs. Your suspension, tires, steering rack, shifter, steering wheel, brakes, throttle, and even your seats all come together to make up your total driving experience. Some of these systems have more of a direct impact on what driving your car feels like more than others, though. Namely, things you directly interact with more than others have the biggest impact. Like the shifter. What your shift knob feels like, how direct the linkage feels, how long the throws are, and how close the gears feel make up a big part of what your car feels like to drive. A shorter throw with engaging and crisp shifts makes your car feel much sportier and enjoyable to drive, which is why we at Turner Motorsport have developed the ultimate shifter kit to make your BMW feel more fun and rewarding every time you change gears. | 
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First, we’re going to talk about why you might want to install a short shift kit in the first place. From the factory, BMW made their manual transmission shift throws long, soft, and comfortable for daily driving. They don’t make them notchy, sporty, short, or engaging, though. That’s what a short shift kit, particularly the Turner Motorsport Double Adjustable Short Shift Kit, addresses.
A short shift kit ideally reduces both the height of the shift lever and the actual throws. Often, ‘quick and easy’ short shift kits just reduce the length of the shift lever, which makes it a ‘shorter’ shifter. Or, they go the other way, and change the lever’s fulcrum position for shorter throws, but don’t address the shifter height in any way. With the Turner Double Adjustable kit, you can optimize your feel with both the throw distance and the height of your shifter. If you want to know more about the technical information behind short shifters in general, check out our Keys to Performance article that goes into detail about short shift kits. |
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The other piece of information you might want is that the shorter your shifter lever itself is, the farther it is from your steering wheel. While it may look cool and feel engaging on the street, it is less than ideal for racing. The reason being, you want to reduce the amount of time you spend with a hand moving from the wheel to the shifter and back. So, the farther away it is from your steering wheel, the farther your hand has to make that back and forth, which means you are spending more time away from the wheel on every gear change. This is not something you want when two hands on your wheel can be the difference between success and failure in a split second.
With the Turner Motorsport Double Adjustable Shift Kit, you can include the optional Rally Lever, that tall shift lever extension, that raises your shift knob up to get it as close to the steering wheel as possible. What’s more, the rally lever installs easily on the Turner shift kit and accepts BMW-style push-on shift knobs, so you can use your choice of shift knob to put the final touch on your shifting experience. You can quickly add the rally lever when you arrive at the track with just an Allen key, race with the extension, and then quickly uninstall it to go back to your street setup before you leave. What’s more, you can do it all from the driver’s seat in just a few seconds. |
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Our double-adjustable kit is designed in-house by our engineers who saw a need for a more precise shift kit that provides all the adjustability they wanted for their cars. Naturally, the project grew to include nearly all manual transmission BMWs so anyone who wants the perfect shifting experience can enjoy it.
Yes, with the double-adjustable kit, you can have the exact shift feeling you want, which is what you engage with most when driving, besides the steering wheel and the pedals. How your shifter feels is a big part of how your BMW feels when you drive it. With a sporty, crisp, and precise shift experience, you benefit from a more engaging, more rewarding, and more fun commute or track day. | | Shop Below for the Turner Motorsport Double Adjustable Short Shift Kits | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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