[s-cars] RE: SSKs

[Taka Mizutani]

Paul-
In a road car, the Carrera GT is definitely one of the neatest
sounding cars out there. The high-compression "WHUP!" sounds it makes
is soooo cool. V-10 is very unique sounding. Kind of a cross between
the Panoz Esperante race car (high-comp. Ford 4.6L DOHC V-8) and F1
car (at much lower volume).

I personally don't like BMW shifters- I think they're quite rubbery
and long throw, although they're precise enough that I've never
complained about missing shifts.

I've mixed feelings on short shifters- I like getting the rubber out
of the shifter so that it feels more precise, but very wary about
shortening the shifts. I've driven a few cars with short shifters and
didn't like many of them. The ultra-short shifter kits (40% reduction)
for the A4/S4 were too short, the E36 M3 40% was too short, Subaru WRX
factory kit too short, etc. I find that there isn't enough throw to
accurately tell what gear you're going into.

With the stock STi, I think the shifts are short enough that you may
have difficulty figuring out what gear you're going into, especially
3rd and 4th- STi shifters are quite bad at grabbing a 5 to 4
downshift. I thought it was just me, but Jeff Lorriman on Sports Car
Revolution mentioned the exact same thing, interesting.

Actually, except for the looong throw on Audi 6 spd ZF boxes (never
driven the Aisin equipped B6), I like Audi transmission shifters-
precise enough, gets the job done, better than BMW in that regard, I
would just get rid of the rubber.

IMHO, Hondas and Miatas are still the best in terms of shift quality.
I'm hoping the new Saturn Sky will be similar, that's my next sports
car unless it turns out to be a chick car (I won't drive a Miata
partially for that reason).

Taka