What is a Short Throw Shifter, and Can it Damage Your Car?

Are These Dangerous Devices?

Those who enjoy driving a manual car have likely heard of a device known as a "short throw shifter". However, while many may have heard of the device, too few are aware of how it actually works and what it does. Perhaps because of this knowledge, many rumors exist as to the damaging nature of the short throw, and how it accomplishes it goal. But, if we take the time to learn a little bit about the short throw system, how it works, and how it is installed, perhaps we can begin to dispel some of the rumors that have grown so common around it.

Perhaps the first, and most important, element to consider here is how the short throw shifter actually works, and why people install them in the first place. In a manual car, the distance between gears (or how far you have to move the shifter to get to the next gear) is known as a "throw". So, a short throw shifter is designed to decrease the time that one spends going between the gears, and allow one to hit the next gear faster and more accurately. Herein lies the other intended purpose of the short throw shifter is to improve the overall feel of shifting, making the shifts seem more balanced and the feel "tighter" overall.

So, with these goals in mind, another great question is how the part actually accomplishes them. While it may seem overly simple, the shifter that came on your car from the factory is likely not optimized for shifting speed. Factory shifters have other goals in mind, such as drivability and overall comfort, and likely the stick is not set up for fast shifts. So, a short throw shifter is just a geometrically improved version of your older shifter. How is it geometrically improved? Well, in addition to the actual stick being slightly shorter, the entire shifter is straighter, and the angle has been reduced, and the position of the bolt has been changed, meaning that the balance is now altered, and the distance between the gears has been reduced in the simplest way possible.