I might add that I am not necessarily looking for a shorter shifter per se; I am looking for that crisp feel with no play in the stick when in gear. Being 6'3'', I have plenty of arm to reach the stick, but in my dealings with shorties, they always seems to have that feel I am looking for.

My wife loves the Mini and until a week ago had never operated my Cobra. I got stuck at PT one day and she had to take it to work. The two things she said that got her attention most were the clutch and the stick. (I have a Centrifugal racing clutch in the Cobra, so it is much more stiff and built for racing as opposed to the ease of clutch operation in the Mini.) She commented that she liked the feel of the throw much better in the Cobra. If anyone here has a buddy or friend with a Mustang and an after market shortie, go thrash on that thing and comment back because that is what my commander and I are looking for. (Commander = wife for those that do not get the joke.)

 

It sounds like you may need to replace the shifter bushings with polyurethane or delrin ones. That will improve the shifter feel quite a bit. Unfortunatley I have no idea where to get them so I'm not much help.

Comparing your Mustang's shifter to the COOPER isn't necesarly comparing apples to oranges. If I remember correctly (Correct me if I'm wrong) the Mustang's shifter directly connects to the transmission. The MINI shifter is not directly connected so there will always be a little "slop" in the shifter. The Mustang also uses a totally different collar for the shifter to sit in. They are inherently different systems so if you expect one to feel like the other you are always going to be dissapointed.